Case Advice

[awalbert88]

I need some advice on what case I should use for a system I'm going to be building over the summer. To give you an idea of what I need, here are the preliminary specs:

1.5GHz Athlon (or fastest available)
ASUS A7M266 (or best available)
256MB PC2100 Crucial 2.5 (2)
IBM Deskstar 60GXP 60GB (4)
3WARE Escalade 6410 RAID Adapter
3Com Etherlink 10-100 PCI NIC (2)
Creative SB Live! X-Gamer 5.1
GeForce 3 64MB (or best available)
Pioneer DVD-305S
Plextor PlexWriter 12/10/32 CD-RW
Adaptec AVA-2906 SCSI controller

I need a minimum of six open 5.25" drive bays for the CD-RW, DVD, and four HDDs (each will have an independent dual-fan cooler -- reliability is critical). I'll use an Alpha cooler on the CPU. With four PCI slots taken up, and all those drive bays filled, I will need solid cooling to keep the system from overheating. I'm not interested in overclocking (I know, I know -- but this system must be rock stable and last me for a few years), so that is not a concern. I'm also not interested in doing case mods beyond adding fans. I'm willing to spend whatever it takes for a good case and cooling fans. Let me know what you think.

 

[mechBgon]

How about the Antec SX1440, that should leave you some breathing room. Twelve exposed 5.25" bays, eight 92mm fans included (with room for a ninth), and a good 400W power supply. You can also use the space to isolate your CD-RW drive from your RAID so that the jarring of the HDD seeks doesn't interfere with your recording process.

 

[DoOLiE11]

yes that is a bad case!

 

[SaiyanGoku]

wow, thats a sweet case.

 

[mechBgon]

Of course, there is also their SX1240 full-tower case, which basically has the HDD coolers built-in for you already... each 3-drive cage has an 80mm fan cage pushing fresh room-temperature air between the hard drives. It has 6 5.25" exposed bays.

 

[awalbert88]

Wow, thanks. The SX1440 is certainly going to fit my needs. I had found a similar case, but it was $600 and didn't include fans, which would have been another $100 or so. The site lists a $499 price tag; is there any place that offers it cheaper?

 

[mechBgon]

Well, since Egghead has a flat-rate shipping setup, they might be a good place to get it: http://www.egghead.com/category/inv/00031363/03901294.htm I see you can get it from TechStore for about $373 if you go through PriceWatch, but they show an estimated ~$65 shipping because of the 87lb weight.