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Help choosing case for home fileserver

imported_dsp

Junior Member
I'll defer to the guru's here. I currently have a frankenstein machine of old parts functioning as a fileserver for my home. I have a boot drive, 2 mirrored 160gb drives, an Athlon-XP cpu/mb combo, etc..

I want to add a drive to get 4x3.5 drives (1x boot, 3x storage), linux software raid-5.

I also suspect my power supply may be dodgy.

Can you all recommend a case which meets as many of these criteria as possible:

black/silver/metalic (not beige)
at least 4 internal ide drive slots, preferrably 90-degree w/ rails, so easy to install/replace
at least 1 external 5.25"
power supply sufficient for 4 sata drive, 1 dvd-writer, athlon-xp&mb (and reliable)

given the above, smaller is better, the more "tool-less" the better

Oh, and I'd like to do this for < $100 including shipping, if possible.

Thanks all.

David

 
Welcome to the AT Forums.

I find that the sidesaddle drive bays are inconvenient and tend to block air flow. I'm thinking the Antec SLK3700AMB (the entire HD cage comes out with one or two thumbscrews) or if you think you need more power, the SLK3700-B (the same inside as the 3700AMB and Provantage.com has best price) with the PSU of your choice. But if you're really locked into the sidesaddle drive bays, then the Antec SLK3700BQE is as good as any and it comes with a very sturdy PSU (same one that's in the Sonata).

.bh.

:moon:
 
Along the same lines, you might want to look at the Antec Sonata. It comes with a solid 380W PSU, is relatively small and unobtrusive, quiet, and well-built.

-HC-
 
Thanks Guys,

It looks like it's going to be an Antec. The cases fit the bill exactly -- as far as the sidesaddle bays, I'm not committed to them. I guess it's just that I'm coming from cases where the drive cage is a PITA, and they looked easier. But it's not as if I'm going to be changing the drives all that often.

David
 
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