• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Short case with at least 5 internal bays?

ControlD

ControlD

Diamond Member
I am looking to upgrade my unRAID box. My current case only has a couple of internal 3.5" bays and one usable 5.25" bay that I have adapted with rails to fit a third hard drive. What I am looking for is a case (mATX) with 5 or 6 internal 3.5" bays. This is easy to find. The problem is that this computer sits below a fairly short shelf and I am limited to a height of 17" maximum.

Is anyone using a case that fits this description? I have scoured Newegg but had no sucess to this point.
 
I am looking for a mini-ITX with plenty of bays myself and would get the R2 if it weren't for the price.

Any other suggestions for similar, small cases?
 
The Fractal Define Mini looks like a winner so far. This is a very low power system (Atom D510 right now, low power i3 in the future) so heat isn't much of a concern. It's just a shame that it costs almost as much as my P280 did. Oh well, if the quality is there I don't mind paying for it.
 
You might also want to make sure that the Define Mini's depth (front to back dimension) will work for you. I have one and love it, but it's very large for being a mATX case. Mine measures 16 1/8" x 19 3/8" x 8 1/4" (H x D x W).
 
RaiderJ said:
The case I used for my file server would work, but it's not micro-ATX (link in my sig).
Click to expand...

That is a pretty sweet case. My MB right now is mini ITX so that would work. The only reason I mentioned mATX was I'm not sure how easy it is to find i3 mITX motherboards if I decide to upgrade. I need to do a little research. It would be nice to get away from a tall tower if possible.
 
Carson Dyle said:
You might also want to make sure that the Define Mini's depth (front to back dimension) will work for you. I have one and love it, but it's very large for being a mATX case. Mine measures 16 1/8" x 19 3/8" x 8 1/4" (H x D x W).
Click to expand...

The official dimensions when converted from SI to American: WxHxD = 210x395x490mm = 8.27" x 15.55" x 19.29". Measurement error on your part?
 
DaveStall said:
That is a pretty sweet case. My MB right now is mini ITX so that would work. The only reason I mentioned mATX was I'm not sure how easy it is to find i3 mITX motherboards if I decide to upgrade. I need to do a little research. It would be nice to get away from a tall tower if possible.
Click to expand...

LGA1155 ITX boards are common.l, I'd recommend a 7-series chipset board (B75 or H77) for out of the box compatibility with Ivy Bridge as well as USB 3.0 and SATA 6gb/s. Some examples:

Asrock B75M-ITX $90
Asrock H77M-ITX $100
Asus P8H77-I $100
Intel DH77DF $140 (intel NIC, mSATA slot, ALC898 audio, DisplayPort, otherwise similar to Asus and Asrock H77)

Equivalent microATX boards tend to cost less though so if microATX as a form factor is not too large for your purposes, it's the more sensible option and also easier to work with.
 
lehtv said:
LGA1155 ITX boards are common.l, I'd recommend a 7-series chipset board (B75 or H77) for out of the box compatibility with Ivy Bridge as well as USB 3.0 and SATA 6gb/s. Some examples:

Equivalent microATX boards tend to cost less though so if microATX as a form factor is not too large for your purposes, it's the more sensible option and also easier to work with.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the information, it is much appreciated.
 
jtzou said:
As an add-on to the mITX recommendations , there's also some of the Lian-Li cases (PC-Q25 and PC-Q08). I will comment though that I use a Define Mini for my file server and I'm using another for a separate build. Great cases IMO.

http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/product04.php?cl_index=1&sc_index=25&ss_index=64&num=2
Click to expand...

I've been eyeing that PC-Q25 case. I know that a small tower case is probably easier to work with, but the Q25 just looks like what a NAS should look like to me.
 
DaveStall said:
I've been eyeing that PC-Q25 case. I know that a small tower case is probably easier to work with, but the Q25 just looks like what a NAS should look like to me.
Click to expand...

I have the PC-Q25. It's rather large for an ITX case but it is really easy to work with and it has 5x 3.5" bays with backplane + either 3x 2.5" drives or 2x 3.5" drives for OS/etc.
 
PCTC2 said:
I have the PC-Q25. It's rather large for an ITX case but it is really easy to work with and it has 5x 3.5" bays with backplane + either 3x 2.5" drives or 2x 3.5" drives for OS/etc.
Click to expand...

Did you have any issues in regards to what power supply you used with that case? The reviews seem to point to that being a tricky part of building a Q25 system.
 
I ended up getting the Define Mini. Wow, what a fantastic case. I have always been an Antec guy but this case has me thinking Fractal Design is more than worth a look for any future builds.

Thanks for all of the suggestions.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top