Case Question: Front Facing Rear Panel?

[jamesgalb]

Is anyone aware of any mATX or ATX cases out that have the motherboards rear panel facing the front?

I am building a PC for audio production (for someone else), and it would be mush more practicle to have the motherboard/cards audio and video plugs facing the same direction as the power button and media drives.

I am considering using a media panel to get extra connectivity like ieee1134 and eSATA since it will allow me to look at more motherboards that dont offer them integrated, and will also have a Blu-Ray drive and potentially fan controlls if I cant find something mATX. It would be nice to have all of this on the same side of the case.

 

[dma0991]

I don't think there would be a market large enough for such case to exist. If there are, it would most likely be expensive. An alternative is to get a case with top mounted buttons (Fractal Design Define R4, etc) and connectivity and flip the case to the side you want. Can't do much about the drive bays though.

 

[Cerb]

I am considering using a media panel to get extra connectivity like ieee1134 and eSATA since it will allow me to look at more motherboards that dont offer them integrated

Firewire is dead. I have yet to see a LGA1150 mobo with onboard support for it. A card is a must, and extra front panel bits that can fit the card, for front IO. If this is for professional use, get 2 of each, in case of a failure (even now, sellers are into single-digit qtys of Firewire front panels, cards are getting sparse and expensive, and cards with headers are already rare).

eSATA is easy, since basically every port on every mobo works with it, so you just need the bracket or panel (pre-2009 or so, this was not necessarily the case).

 

[fralexandr]

There are rackmount server cases with front mounted motherboard I/O shields.
They aren't that practical for most builds unless you go with the 3U or 4U though.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rack_unit

a thread from avsforum on front io rackmount
http://www.avsforum.com/forum/26-ho...-looking-rackmount-case-front-facing-i-o.html

google search for front io rackmount

It can also be hard to find some with space for optical drives

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You might want to just go with a regular mATX case and get:

1) external sound card/USB DAC to reduce computer component related noise, and allow convenient positioning of audio in/out.

2) HDMI/DVI/etc display switches to place in more convenient locations.

 

[ClockHound]

Silverstone Fortress FT02 & Raven RV05 have top-facing ports (MB rotated 90 degrees). So..you're half way there. Plus very quiet cases. More storage options in the FT02.

 

[Atreidin]

I found this place that lets you make a customized front panel http://www.frontx.com/