Recommend me a good case

[MrScott81]

I'm going to be building a little monster, but I don't want the case to be too big....however, I don't want things to get too hot either. So I was definitely thinking aluminum. I will be putting 2 74GB Raptors in a Raid 1 (mirroring), and 4 250GB WD hd's in a raid 5 array. All of the "raiding" will be done on the motherboard.

Can someone suggest me a good case. Price is not that big of a consideration, but I don't want to go too crazy

 

[Howard]

The Cooler Master CM Stacker STC-T01 has a total of 11 5.25" bays (10 if you put a floppy drive in one), each of which can fit a 3.5" HD with elastic suspension (or you can use the included 4-in-3 drive bay).

Unfortunately, steel is also used and the case is quite heavy. 32lbs, IIRC.

 

[MrScott81]

Wow, that must be huge. Anyone else have any smaller suggestions?

 

[Zepper]

Go to http://www.buildtoorderservers.com and look at their S6000 case. That along with a CM (stacker accy.) 4-in-3 hard drive rack will do you. It is very similar to the Silverstone Berserker that I review here: http://www.techimo.com/reviews/

.bh.

 

[The Sly Syl]

Wouldn't almost any case with 4 internal 3.5inch and at least two (extra) external drives of any sort suffice?
(5.25 -> 3.5 converter)

Cooling on the other hand...

 

[Madwand1]

Most cases come with cooling for around 3 drives. Take a look at the Thermaltake iCage -- it's a drive caddy that holds 3 3.25" devices with a 120mm fan in front. It requires 3 5.25" external slots. It's more generally compatible that the similar caddies from Coolermaster because design of its sides accomodates horizontal supports.

You might want to figure out something to filter the dust intake. Some cases, like the larger Thermaltakes, which come with a version of one of these, have a front grill as part of the design for the drive bays.

Alternatively, you can use a case with a front door to cover up the fan (as much as you want to). Then something like the inexpensive Antec SLK3000 together with 1 iCage could hold 6 or more cooled drives. A Thermaltake Tsunami could be a more attractive alternative.

(I've used a Thermaltake Soprano and Kandalf for this sort of purpose. Based on the experience with design quirks in the Soprano, I wouldn't recommend it, although it could do the job. The Antec and Tsunami start off better by having removable internal drive cages.)