Need help in finding the right case

[pigseye2]

Hi,
I need a case with at least 3 external spots for 3.5" peripherals (floppy, zip drive, media reader) and at least 5 spots for 5 1/4" stuff like CDROM, cdrw, dvd, dvdr, blah, blah, blah. I've got a lot of stuff and am adding more.

Willing to spend around $150 to $200 for a great case and probably less than $150 for an OK case.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Steve

 

[Compddd]

Xaser III

 

[safoo]

I think the XASERIII only has 2 external 3.5" bays.

This kingwin case has 3 3.5" bays, but only 4 of the 5.25". review

 

[pigseye2]

Xaser III is a nice case but only has 4 external bays that are 5.25 and 2 external bays that are 3.5

 

[pigseye2]

Hi Safoo the Kingwin is a nice case too but as you point out ther are only 4 5.25" bays.

The Lian Li PC70 has 6 5.25" bays and 3 3.5" bays, but it is a monster. I might have to go with a huge case to accomodate my stuff.

Any others out there?

Thanks

 

[safoo]

Ya I think you might need a *very* large case especially since it seems you have to have 5 drive bays.

bump

 

[Ness]

It'd be smart to keep in mind that you can always use adapters to turn a 5 1/4 into a 3 1/2. The majority of cases don't have any more than 2 external 3.5 bays. I'd head over to directron and take a look at their full tower cases to get some idea of what you might want, they have a good selection and fair prices.

 

[huesmann]

Backing up the 3.5" drive in 5.25" bay idea, I had a Zip drive that came in that configuration. That is, the 3.5" Zip drive came with a panel/bracket to mount it in a 5.25" bay.

 

[pigseye2]

Thanks guys for the suggestions. Problem for me is that if I use the 5 1/4 bays for 3.5" stuff I eat up those bays. I currently have 1 dvd (SCSI) , 2 CDRW (1 SCSI, 1 IDE) and I'm going to get a DVD writer soon. That's 4 bays right there. Then if I want to add any fan controls or temperture monitoring stuff, I'm already up to 5 bays.

On the 3.5 bays I already have a zip, floppy, and media reader. I'd like to be able to keep them all.

Now the only question is Black or Aluminum. I'm thinking black because beige would look like hell on aluminum. At least with black I can die my bezels and buttons to match.

What do you guys do with your aluminum cases and beige peripherals?

Thanks

 

[huesmann]

Looks like you need a full tower then.

 

[pigseye2]

Yup, Gotta go full tower but this is even bigger than anormal full tower case. Oh well.

Thanks

 

[huesmann]

How about Aopen H700 series? 6 5.25" drive bays, only 2 3.5", though, but you could use one of the 5.25" with a bracket for an extra.
Or Lian Li PC-70. 6 5.25" bays, 3 3.5" bays. But a little pricey.

 

[bluntman]

Huesmann, thank you for the case suggestion...you've just ended my search.

 

[pigseye2]

Huesmann! You're the Man! (or woman)

I'm going with the Aopen H700A from newegg. $102 shipped with a 350W powersupply.

thanks alot!
Pigseye

 

[tommie]

DAMN thats a tall case!! the hard drive rack seems kinda far from the board though. fits the bill .

tommie j

 

[S0me1X]

Unless I'm mistaken, the H700 includes a Sparkle 350W power supply (FSP-350BT). So the price is very nice.

 

[pigseye2]

OK, change of strategy. I've got an old Inwin Q500 (remember those?) that came with a 235 W power supply. It's a full tower with 5 - 5/14 bays and 1- 3.5" bay. The power supply is already in another pc so I've just got the shell. (fyi, although it's only 235 W it's a really solid power supply. Good for low power PCs like celerons.)

Anyway, I'm doing some radical modifications (Hello Dremel!) to it to add 3-3 1/2 bays. Then I'll have 9 total external bays which meets my needs. If my modifications fail or it just looks real bad, I'll just dump the case and get the Aopen. If the mods work out, I'll buy a decent power supply and I'll be good to go.

If it works out I'll post a few pics. maybe if it doesn't work out I'll post pics too. Could be good for a few laughs.

thanks for all the help.
Pigseye

 

[ScrapSilicon]

why not grab some firewire/usb 2.0 enclosures and move 1(or 2 or more) 5.25" drives() out...?

 

[pigseye2]

That's not a bad idea but I already have an external harddrive and am not interested in having more stuff hang off my PC.

Got my old case half cut up now and have modified the internal 3.5" rack to make 3 bays external. Looks kind of hacky but hopefully it will clean up good.