Case Recommendation

lmao2k · 27 Jul 2009 at 16:55

I'm in need of a new case. I'm not fussed about the looks because it will be in the loft out of sight. The box will be used for backing up other boxes on the network, small amount of personal storage and as a file server used to stream to the 5 media boxes around the house.

A couple of must haves;

Minimum space to install 12 hdds (I will not be installing any optical drives)
Ability to take my sas card (its 32cm long)

I'm a long standing Lian-Li fan, but would consider other brands if they fit the bill. The A70 and P50 look promising.

With this in mind I have a budget of say £160.

What would you lot suggest?

EsaT · 27 Jul 2009 at 19:17

lmao2k said:
Ability to take my sas card (its 32cm long)

That requires E-ATX case...
So P50 is out.

A70 is pretty much the cheapest E-ATX case with lot of HDD bays.

lmao2k · 27 Jul 2009 at 19:26

Ah, I completely forgot that. A70 it will have to be then.

Thanks

lmao2k · 27 Jul 2009 at 19:57

Hmm, this has thrown a spanner in the works. Just seen a v2100+ for the same price as the A70. Not sure what to do. I own a v2100+ already for my main box, so I know its good.

EsaT · 27 Jul 2009 at 20:41

In file server use imbalanced airflow of chambered design doesn't matter because there won't be that much heat production in upper chamber and neither noises from hard plastic HDD mounting would be problem so that would also do well.
Then again do you want two similar cases... at least with different cases you could swap them around if current desktop starts to look too familiar.

Now after this message I'll be "off-line" for a week trying to fill 16GB of memory cards in three days I'm actually in photography worth places... if you want I'll see if sun is visible at midnight from some hill.

lmao2k · 27 Jul 2009 at 21:47

I think i'll get another v2100+. Could do with putting a fresh set of panels on my unit.

I need a new wallpaper, some decent sunset/sun rises or moon photos would be great

mikezero · 30 Jul 2009 at 01:26

I've also been looking for a case for fileserver use.

I will be adding 6 2TB hard drives on a raid 5 configuration with another 6 2TB hard drives as a backup filestore.

It seems the only case that will handle 12 drives is the Lian Li V2100 and finding one isn't easy.

Now just got to look for a motherboard with a lot of sata ports on!!!!

lmao2k · 1 Aug 2009 at 23:34

Gigabyte boards always have a lot of sata ports I have found. However just get some sata controller cards.

You can easily get 23 hdds in a v2100. I would think the max you could put in would be around 26, though to do this you will need to mount a hdd cage above the psu

mikezero · 5 Aug 2009 at 22:37

Managed to get a Lian Li V2100+ :-)

Got motherboard and hard drives, just need a PSU that can handle 12 hard drives to begin with and then an additional 6 hard drives for future use.

EsaT · 5 Aug 2009 at 23:00

mikezero said:
just need a PSU that can handle 12 hard drives to begin with and then an additional 6 hard drives for future use.

HDDs don't consume 100W per piece! Any PSU capable to supporting high end gaming PCs handles those very easily... unless artificial 12V limiters, claimed/lied to be "rails" in BS talk, kick in.
(10W is well enough for idle of normal drive and 12W for seek)