Any cases with just 2x 5.25" and more than 6x 3.5"

whispergear · Post by **whispergear** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 4:35 am

I am trying to find a case with just two 5.25" and more than six 3.5" drives.

It should not have a front door that covers the 5.25"'s.
(Nero ejecting with the door closed syndrom

)

Ideal would be an Antec Solo type case where one can cool the drives with small 80mm fans and a big 120mm fan at the back. Four rather than just 2 USB connections on the frontside would also be nice.

NyteOwl · Post by **NyteOwl** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 10:48 am

I doubt if you are going to find anything but a server case with that much HDD storage and most of those use 5.25" bays for flexibility in holding hot swap carriers (I have seen on that has 32 5.25" bays).

Assuming you wanted SATA not SCSI (they also make SCSI absed backplane chassis) this has 8 hotswap 3.5" drive bays:

http://www.supermicro.com/products/chas ... TQ-700.cfm

Chris Chan · Post by **Chris Chan** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 10:51 am

[vomits at the mention of Supermicro name] Seriously, though, server cases are not designed for silence, especially not those with hot-swap bays. I recommend to the OP that he get a case with many 5.25 bays (Aerocool Masstige comes to mind) and use bay converters. Kama Bays to cool.

edit: *AHA!* Use a P150/Solo and bay converters for the bottom two 5.25" bays. Rig up an additional 80mm in front. Shouldn't be hard, and you get a nice small case to boot.

zepper · Post by **zepper** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 12:53 pm

Yes.

Did you bother to use the Newegg case selector, eh?

If you want more, give more. The no. of drives is only part of the equation.

.bh.

whispergear · Post by **whispergear** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 2:52 pm

Thanks for the answers/suggestions thusfar, this computer will be used mainly for photo editing and not for gaming at all.

I want to put in one DVD burner, at least 6 SATA 3.5 inch drives (I shoot a huge number of pictures), Asus P5B-E Plus, E6600, Scythe Ninja, Seasonic S12-500, MSI GeForce 7600GS, Corsair TWIN2X2048-6400C4. I have some quiet Nexus fans.

Will have a look at the Newegg case selector

zepper · Post by **zepper** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 4:25 pm

Well, some of the Silverstone HTPC cases can handle two opticals and six HDDs in stock form. But that Ninja is going to be a sticking point - it's just too tall for lots of cases. And the Silverstones are pricey, of course...
If you live in the States, I'd suggest a Rosewill R6A series case (only available from Newegg/ChiefValue or on eBay where whoever is selling them bought them from one of those to begin with). Very low cost, very high Casitude (4.5 of 5 on my Casitude scale). Starts with 5, rubber isolated HDD bays, add a Lian Li 23 drive cage (three HDDs in two 5" bays) giving a total of 8 available HDD slots, and you have just two optical bays left over... Maybe you could squeeze one or two of your cooler operating HDDs into the 3.5" external bays and save having to buy the LL 23.
. They just added some new variants on the R6A series (aka HEC/compucase 6A19 series, Antec 3000-B, Tt Tsunami, etc. - all are basically the same inside) w/o door and with interesting color schemes. The 6A series is just a bit over 16" tall, so they aren't too large. Not sure about the width for the Ninja though - well, these are also 8.3" wide so there should be enough room. Best to be sure before ordering though...

Then there is the Lian Li 3077 or 6077. You would also have to use some assortment of add-on HDD cages in those too. They come with one LL 23 cage out of the box. Add a 34 cage to the 3077 and you'd have room for 7 HDDs w/ two optical bays left. The 6077 would have four 5" bays left over. The LLs are plenty wide at 8.3"

.b.h.

Chris Chan · Post by **Chris Chan** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 6:38 pm

Why not a solo with a LL 23? Smaller than a lx6a19.

zepper · Post by **zepper** » Sat Dec 16, 2006 7:04 pm

I just found out that Newegg is continuing it's free shipping for those who pay with PayPal for an indeterminate period - it was supposed to have ended last night. Check the Hot Deals section on http://forums.anandtech.com for the link and specifics.

The pressure! I can't STAND the pressure!!! I've already hit it twice and I thought it was over...

.bh.

NyteOwl · Post by **NyteOwl** » Sun Dec 17, 2006 11:21 am

I agree the server cases aren't particularly quiet but they were the only thing I could pthink of that would possibly have more than 3 3.5" HDD bays. The smaller server cases (8-10 drive bays) from calpc.com have some potential with a little work to be quiet but they are all 5.25" bays (useful for suspending drives).

whispergear · Post by **whispergear** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 3:26 am

I have opted for the Antec Solo and probably will order the Lian Li EX-23 afterwards.

Any cases with just 2x 5.25" and more than 6x 3.5"

Any cases with just 2x 5.25" and more than 6x 3.5"

Re. Nebulous question..

more input

Newegg free shipping

Thanks