[Deviant Khan]

[CASE] ANTEC Twelve Hundred V3 Micro-ATX ($140 + $0)

I personally don't want that case because it's gaudy. I'm sure some don't care about the way it looks, or that's there style. I certainly am taking most of the recommendations you made on internal components to heart.

I was originally looking at T800's setup because I really liked the look of the Fractal case. The fact you have to use a 5-in-3 AND pay for 3 case fans means it'll end up costing about $50 more than the Antec setup.

The Lian Li I linked should only require (1) 4-in-3 and (1) 3.5"-in-5.25" to get to the 16 HDD setup. If I'm comparing them right the setup looks like:

Antec ($140) + 5-in-3 ($25) + 5-in-3 ($25) + 5-in-3 ($25) + 5-in-3 ($25) = $240
vs.
Lian Li ($170) + 5-in-3 ($25) + 3.5"-in-5.25" ($12) = $207

That's saving $33, right? Am I missing something?

[eskro]

you mean,

Antec: $140 + [4 x 4-in-3 ($25)] = $240
vs.
Lian Li: $170 + [1 x 4-in-3 ($25)] + [1 x 3.5" bracket" ($4)] = $199

so yeah, i guess as it is priced now,
the Lian Li is cheaper,,,

However,
im not super sure about the cooling of the drives that
dont have a fan in front of them,,,

i cant be sure but,
i think those 2 front 140mm fans can cover 8 drives correctly
so you may have 2 drives that dont receive any air directly...

and same for the top 5.25" drives bays,,,
once the CoolerMaster is placed in there,
4 more drives are cooled perfecfly,
but to get to 16 drives,
means 2 more drives wont receive any air directly...

im not saying its super hyper bad,
in fact, it might just be ok too using GREEN drives,
but thats something to keep in mind i guess,,,

in the LIan Li case, going all the way to 16 drives
means, again, if im correct,
that 4 drives wont get direct fan cooling,,,
so better to not stack those 4 together one under the other...

Like probably, 2 drives on top completely,
then u install the CoolerMAster cage under them,
then u install the rest of the drives one under the other of course...

the way i see it,
now their both in sale,
but at regular price,
the Lian Li will still be ~$30 cheaper....

But since im freak,
i personalty want all my drives getting direct Fan Air Cooling,,,
buts that me

[Deviant Khan]

You could do the SNT SNT-125B Black 3.5" SATA Hard drive to 5.25" Bay SATA for the one on the external 5.25" to give it cooling as well. You're right about the 4 HDDs on the side. They won't have direct cooling, but I don't know if it will be that big a deal with the WD Greens.

[eskro]

You could do the SNT SNT-125B Black 3.5" SATA Hard drive to 5.25" Bay SATA for the one on the external 5.25" to give it cooling as well.

yes but then,
lets say u buy 2 of those,
thats like $32 right there...

so, $199 + $32 = $231 ($9 away from ANTEC $240)
but you still have 2 drives without direct fan cooling,,,

no big deal as far as im concern..

[T800]

First off .. thanks for the responses. It's really helping me work through this in my head.



The MOBO picked says it has the following.

• (6) SATA 3Gb/s
  
• (1) PCI Express x1
  
• (1) PCI Express 2.0 x16
  
• (2) PCI Slots

Based on eskro's 16 HDD setup he was recommending 2 Port PCI-Express x1 Sata-II Card and 8 Port PCI-Express x4 Sata Card. The first would get you from 6 to 8, and then the latter would get you to 16. That would consume the PCIe and PCIe 2.0 slots, right? You would still have 2 free PCI slots. I want to make sure I understand how I'm doing it before I commit to buying anything.

Hmm .. ok it must have been an oversight when I first read the description of the Fractal case:

• 4 x External 5.25" Drive Bays with one 5.25 > 3.5 inch converter included
  
• 1 x External 3.5" Drive Bay (converted from one 5.25" drive bay)
  
• 10 x Internal 3.5" Drive Bays compatible with SSDs

I took that to mean that it had 11 slots for HDDs and 4 bays available so it'd be a 4-in-3 and then a single bay convert. My mistake. For the 5-bay swap I heard there were some concerns with heat. Is that not a factor with the WD green drives?

In regards to the PCIe/PCI slots that is correct.

There is ten 3.5 slots and four 5.25 slots. The case has one 5.25 - 3.5 bay converters in one of the four 5.25 bays.
I haven't used a 5in3 yet so I don't know.

[T800]

This 5in3 although expensive has got decent reviews:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6817121405

[Deviant Khan]

so, $199 + $32 = $231 ($9 away from ANTEC $240)
but you still have 2 drives without direct fan cooling,,,

$170 + $25 + $12 + $12 = $219 .. but yeah .. it comes down to personal style and concerns related to those hard drives, which I'm not too concerned about.

[eskro]

yepp, so, if your good with it, no problem,
seems like a decent case so, go for it,,,
i wont stir u away from it as Lian Li probably makes the best cases out there...

peace

[T800]

A few updated pics, apologies for the quality. The server has been running well. I'm really glad I went this route.
Started getting parts for my 2nd unRAID server for TV/Music/Pics/etc.

Just fitted 5in3 caddy, whole set up set up to take 16 drives. Swine to fit because of the 5.25 lugs protruding that I had to flatten with a G-clamp and hammer:




Front view with the door open:




Rear view:




unRAID GUI. That Samsung drive looks lonely with all them Seagates
I'm just about to add another drive:

[eskro]

nice T800!!
hard drives are at a nice temp!

[bae0]

Contemplating moving away from my current HP 440ex to something like this to increase my HD space as i'm currently hitting my limit plus expandable ESATA.

Thanks for giving me some ideas. Will find a local retailer to build the box for me as i am rubbish at building PC's!

[Beer40oz]

So how many fans you have in this Fractal? the little fan controller when to lowest setting is it loud? and to the highest? Thinking of buying this case.

[Beer40oz]

Also max would be x16 drives .... 8 for the x16 and 2 for the x1 + 6 for the SATA on board...

What hot swap-able bay did you use?
And on that bay the included rear fan how good is it?

More and more you have a nice system.

On the last page the pics are bad quality for such a nice system.

[T800]

So how many fans you have in this Fractal? the little fan controller when to lowest setting is it loud? and to the highest? Thinking of buying this case.

Only the three stock fans are in there and I have only ever set the controller to half. The harddrive temps are about 20c-30c so actually a little cool sometimes hits 40c even with all the drives running. The room it's installed in is very well ventilated and completely away from earshot so noise isn't an issue for me. I'd say it's no louder than my brothers living room HTPC which doesn't help you much I know but I'd say if you were watching something you wouldn't notice it.

[T800]

Also max would be x16 drives .... 8 for the x16 and 2 for the x1 + 6 for the SATA on board...

What hot swap-able bay did you use?
And on that bay the included rear fan how good is it?

More and more you have a nice system.

On the last page the pics are bad quality for such a nice system.

Max is 16 drives. I got this 5in3:
http://www.inter-tech.de/index.php?optio...79&lang=en

Works fine but the installed fan is loud especially when on full.

I will try and get some more pics as I'm doing some work on them the next few days.