Cases w/ max # 5.25"bays for HDD suspension

Enclosures and acoustic damping to help quiet them.

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MikeC
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Cases w/ max # 5.25"bays for HDD suspension

Post by MikeC » Thu Sep 23, 2010 10:07 am

Hey guys, SPCR is working on an article about a home server. We're looking for sturdy cases that have a single optical drive cage running from top to bottom -- like the Antec 902. The idea is to elastic-cord suspend all the drives. Share your knowledge, thanks!
Last edited by MikeC on Sun Sep 26, 2010 11:13 am, edited 2 times in total.

speedkar9
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Re: mid-tower case w/ max optical drive bays?

Post by speedkar9 » Thu Sep 23, 2010 12:29 pm

CM Centurion.
Full tower: Antec 1200.
Or mod a 300 like mine :)
Maybe try an R3 with the trays removed to suspend 8 drives with stretch magic? (If the clearance allows).


I remember a thread around here about cases that can suspend many drives...

~El~Jefe~
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Post by ~El~Jefe~ » Thu Sep 23, 2010 5:27 pm

No one would take this suggestion seriously, but well, I have one suggestion that could fit 9 and be really really short.

Or 6 and a front fan. Steel no, aluminum, nah. THick anti-vibration plastic ftw!

SunBeamTech's 9 bay (or 6 if front fan) open face 5 1/4 drives. it has an 80mm top blow hole. One could carve out a 92mm or 120mm out of it if they wanted to and had a drill press to keep it pretty. The case is well made and looks like glass as it's heavy plexiglass vs Lexan which isnt pretty.

I Have 3 bay's in use, 3 open glass bays unused. I wish you would test this thing out for the website. The only major issue is sound baffling as the holes are completely open. Air power is nuts in this case though, I bought some cool looking modders grills for it which beat the heck out of waffle looking mesh stuff most cases have, airflow wise.

MikeC
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Post by MikeC » Fri Sep 24, 2010 6:16 am

So far....

Antec 1200 - 12 bays
Lianli PC-P80 - 12 bays
Lianli PC-P50 - 9 bays
Antec 901 - 9 bays
NZXT Evo - 9~10 bays
Coolermaster Centurion 590 - 9 bays
Silverstone KL01 & KL02 - 8 bays

Any others?

~El~Jefe~ -- if that SunBeamTech case is the VentMax, it's probably a no-go for our guide article, as I can't find it for sale anywhere in a couple quick searches.

~El~Jefe~
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Post by ~El~Jefe~ » Fri Sep 24, 2010 6:46 am

Well, it is this one:

Sunbeam AC9B-T

Its kinda cheap. Weighs less than steel cases too. I like the way it was built. I recommend a full atx board vs my micro as it has only 6 places of secure attachement if you do micro like I did. It seems fine but 9 would be more satisfying being that I have put a huge Grand Kama Cross on my cpu.

Image

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Post by quest_for_silence » Fri Sep 24, 2010 9:47 am

MikeC wrote:Any others?

What about the LanBoy Air?

Regards,
Luca

MikeC
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Post by MikeC » Fri Sep 24, 2010 9:52 am

LanBoy Air has only 3 5.25" bays.

quest_for_silence
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Post by quest_for_silence » Fri Sep 24, 2010 10:57 am

MikeC wrote:LanBoy Air has only 3 5.25" bays.

But movables, if I've well understood the AirMount.

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Luca

speedkar9
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Post by speedkar9 » Mon Sep 27, 2010 4:10 pm

CM Stacker 810
TT V5
TT VI90001W2Z

A bunch more listed here...

Newegg has a bunch with 9 bays, and 12 bays.

Whens this review coming?

Qianlong
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Post by Qianlong » Fri Oct 01, 2010 1:32 pm

What about the Sharkoon Rebel 12 Eco or Value:

http://www.sharkoon.com/?q=en/node/1134

11 5.25 bays + 6 3.5" HDD!

HDD suspension kit for the5.25" bays:

http://www.sharkoon.com/?q=en/content/vibe-fixer

twitch
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Post by twitch » Fri Oct 01, 2010 5:46 pm

Those sharkoon cases can really pack a whole bunch of hdd. Now if we're using green 5400-5900rpm hdd do we really need suspension. Also why not use some 5-in-3 cages from supermicro or the norco ss-500 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6816133030

I'd be really interested in a spcr writeup on a box with many hdd (like for nas+htpc). What is going to be challenging is keeping that puppy cool with so many hdd's in there. Heck if we could make it power efficient to boot then we'd have a killer product.

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Post by KadazanPL » Sat Oct 02, 2010 2:09 pm

Try Chieftec Smart WH-01B. It's 1mm steel, large and heavy, it has 8x5,25" bays. No holes on the left side should be quite efficient at reducing noise leak out :) Plus Chieftec's high quality and understated elegance all around :)
http://www.chieftec.com/WH01.html

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Post by bozar » Sat Oct 02, 2010 3:14 pm

Scythe Fenriswolf anyone? Dunno why it received so many bad reviews, seems really nice in my opinion.

bozar
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Post by bozar » Sat Oct 02, 2010 3:18 pm

KadazanPL wrote:Try Chieftec Smart WH-01B. It's 1mm steel, large and heavy, it has 8x5,25" bays. No holes on the left side should be quite efficient at reducing noise leak out :) Plus Chieftec's high quality and understated elegance all around :)
http://www.chieftec.com/WH01.html
To bad it has ventilation holes on the other side. Chieftec should really try to make a modern designed quiet case, the result would be awesome with a sturdy high quality case and no modding needed.

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Post by MikeC » Sat Oct 02, 2010 3:32 pm

Chieftec has no distribution in the Americas according to the web site linked above. Their cases look awfully familiar but I can't recall what other brand has the same type of cases.

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Post by bonestonne » Sat Oct 02, 2010 4:14 pm

If you had no optical drive, it would be possible to fit 9 hard drives in the air mount setup, from the top of the case to the bottom. One optical drive would still leave you with room for 8 hard drives in the Air Mount setup. The case comes with enough for 6 drives OOTB, and while I can't say it for sure, I would expect you could order 2 more from Antec somehow.

Air Mount setup has it's problems though...will post about it soon.

bradc
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Post by bradc » Sat Oct 02, 2010 10:51 pm

I use a TJ-07, it has 7x 5.25" bays but if a 2x 5.25" to 3x 3.5" bay is used in the top bay and mounted back slightly you get the use of 8 5.25" bays.

The power supply position means that the power supply fan stays quiet and the 6x 3.5" bays down the bottom can removed for a massive radiator or a number of suspended 3.5" bays.

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Post by Jay_S » Tue Oct 05, 2010 10:48 am

twitch wrote:Also why not use some 5-in-3 cages from supermicro or the norco ss-500
I would LOVE to see a SPCR review of some of these backplanes. I've had my eye on the Norco SS500 for a while, but don't have enough drives to warrant the purchase. Looks like they revised the design - the current version has an 80mm fan, old version had a 92mm fan (see here). The new version looks slightly more difficult to fan-swap.

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Post by paul_jr » Tue Oct 05, 2010 1:40 pm

How about the Zalman MS1000?

I've got one built up as a server. Not a bad case and now very quiet now that I've 'adjusted' it. I've been meaning to write it up when I've got time.

P.

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