Need "Light" cases. Build or move from CoolerMaster 120s

[GooeyGUI]

I never thought there would be a problem with these towers. I can't deal with these without needing to see the chiropractor after working with them - now.

I haven't even seen one case that I know about any longer. Please help me through this time warp I'm in. Aluminum is great and that's about where I would start. That and no more 12 bay towers. :/

Edit: This would normally fit the bill as far as approximate number of bays. Don't like the bay arrangement much. I'm looking for four 3.5" internals. Just an example of weight comparison. Still too much.

* Chassis Material: Aluminum
* Motherboard Form Factor: ATX and Micro ATX
* Drive Bays:
o 5.25" External: 4
o 3.5" External: 1
o 3.5" Internal: 3
* Expansion Slots: 7
* Front I/O Ports: 2 x USB2.0, 1 x IEEE1394a Firewire, 2 x Audio
* Weight: 12.5kg <-----------------------Still too much.
* Dimensions: 480 x 220 x 430mm (L x W x H)

 

[Zap]

Is it for an ATX motherboard? The lightest case I know of for an ATX motherboard is the Chenming ATX-301. It was made in various colors, and even rebranded as an Antec LAN BOY (the original). Original ones used an 80mm exhaust fan, but later ones used a 120mm exhaust.

 

[GooeyGUI]

They are ATX boards. Both systems, CM 120s, could do with a total replacement, but I thought to try moving what I have (save $$$). A third, steel Chenming case (early), would need to be built entirely new into a lighter case too. I thought it best to see what limitation of size would do to my normal building ways.

I was hoping to build each system w/ 4 HDs and run them Raid 0,1, I'd put in 5 HDs to run Raid 0,1,5, but I'm trying to lighten the load. The definite new system, sans Chenming case and guts, is definitely going to be a new gaming PC w/ Raid 0,1. All systems will have 2 opticals each.

I hate to even think about the disaster, of the space requirements, taken over by the huge graphics card(s) in the small tower(s). I have some brand new PSUs, but they would be too large for smaller cases. I sought more power towards 1,000 -> 1200 watts. PSU size would also need to fit in the case, so I need to know what wattage I'm working with that is possible.

Also, migrating to W7 from XP. I normally expect to get a reduction of price, on the OS, when I buy a new CPU. If I transfer the 2 CM120's I suppose I just have to go the upgrade path but, I really like a fresh install with original disks. Torn here, except three fresh OS installs on these systems would be easier for me to support. It would even be easier if they were three identical systems except one needs to be for gaming. Doing gaming systems, for all three, would be overkill.

 

[Zap]

I see that the weight of the case is the least of your problems. HDDs are basically palm sized bricks, and ODDs add weight too, let alone graphics cards and ginormous PSUs. If you are running three systems, all with multi-drive RAID, why not just build a fourth system that is a pure file server? Accessing files through gigabit is about as fast as local drives, plus then you only need a single HDD per system if you are saving everything to the server. Also, why two ODDs per system? I barely have need for one.

 

[GooeyGUI]

Is it for an ATX motherboard? The lightest case I know of for an ATX motherboard is the Chenming ATX-301. It was made in various colors, and even rebranded as an Antec LAN BOY (the original). Original ones used an 80mm exhaust fan, but later ones used a 120mm exhaust.

Lots of reviews about 8 years ago, anything new keeps showing "discontinued." Thanks, I will go back and read some of them before I get too far along.

 

[Zap]

Er, yeah, guess it is discontinued. I picked up one when xOxide.com was clearancing out before they got bought out, a couple years back. About the best you can do right now is to get a Lian Li aluminum case, and ditch as many extra drives as possible, plus fewer graphics cards and less wattage PSU. Do you really need multiple $500 graphics cards and 1.2kW PSU just to play some games? I'm using a 30" monitor and am fine right now with a single GTX 560 Ti, downgrading from dual GTX 285 SLI.