Help Me Design a Simple Compact microATX Case

[Spotswood]

A recent thread regarding the Silverstone DS380 case got me thinking about designing a simple, compact microATX storage case. With 6x 5.25-inch drive bays and a PSU mounted over the motherboard, this is a fairly compact layout.

Click on the image to see an animation :



I'd appreciate your thoughts, comments and suggestions.

Thanks!
Rich

 

[HellDiverUK]

PSU over the board is a total pain in the ass. The PC-Q25B is like that, and it's the biggest fail of the case.

 

[Hanss]

very nice!

 

[Hank C]

if you put the motherboard flat, it would only do mini ITX. For mATX, the only way is probably perpendicular.

 

[cesmith9999]

Cube Server Case

 

[Spotswood]

PSU over the board is a total pain in the ass. The PC-Q25B is like that, and it's the biggest fail of the case.

Placing the PSU over the motherboard is an effective way to reduce the overall size of the case. Its an accepted/desirable "feature" in the SFF community.

Cube Server Case

There's lots of wasted space in that cube design.

This layout looks promising:

 

[HellDiverUK]

Placing the PSU over the motherboard is an effective way to reduce the overall size of the case. Its an accepted/desirable "feature" in the SFF community.

Just because it's common, doesn't mean it's correct IMHO. It's still a PITA.

 

[MatrixMJK]

I like the looks of this!
You could make it a bit wider and turn the drive bays horizontal to give some more room to put the power supply vertically. You might be able to put the PS off to the right side of the board then.
Thats a similar layout to the BrontaStor I mentioned in the other thread. You might be able to use a flexATX power supply to save some space. I'd prefer full height slots, but low profile would work too.
I'll try to attach some images.

 

[Spotswood]

I like the looks of this!
You could make it a bit wider and turn the drive bays horizontal to give some more room to put the power supply vertically. You might be able to put the PS off to the right side of the board then.
Thats a similar layout to the BrontaStor I mentioned in the other thread. You might be able to use a flexATX power supply to save some space. I'd prefer full height slots, but low profile would work too.
I'll try to attach some images.

Ok, with an SFX PSU off to the side:

 

[MatrixMJK]

How about the SFX PS next to the MB to make it a little less wide? Either way it looks promising

 

[HellDiverUK]

1U PSU is more than enough - they're slim, and there's some nice spec ones out there - FSP do some nice 80Plus Gold 250W units which are pretty much silent, and have enough power to run a heap of drives. But SFX is good too, SilverStone do two good ones, I have a 300W one that's semi-fanless, and they do a far better 450W semi-modular one. Both are 80Plus Gold I believe.

 

[TangoWhiskey9]

I like that brontastor! Hot.

 

[BlueLineSwinger]

Ok, with an SFX PSU off to the side:

Rotate each drive cage 90 degrees, move the mainboard over to the left, place the PSU in the remaining space above the drives.

Experiment with mATX/SFX and TFX PSUs to see if thier form factors work better. FlexATX also, but those typically have small, obnoxious fans.

Also consider a 90-degree PCIe adapter to lay the card flat.

 

[Hanss]

Rotate each drive cage 90 degrees, move the mainboard over to the left, place the PSU in the remaining space above the drives.

Experiment with mATX/SFX and TFX PSUs to see if thier form factors work better. FlexATX also, but those typically have small, obnoxious fans.

Also consider a 90-degree PCIe adapter to lay the card flat.

these ideas a little unsuccessful.

 

[BlueLineSwinger]

these ideas a little unsuccessful.

Um, OK. How so?

 

[cesmith9999]

What are the specifications you are looking to fullfil?

10 * 3.5" disks (all hotswap?)
?? * 2.5" disks
mATX MB? ITX MB?
what size PS?

how many exposed slots? 1?/2?/4? full height or half height?

Fan sizes? how many?

space for cables?

Chris

 

[Spotswood]

What are the specifications you are looking to fullfil?

10 * 3.5" disks (all hotswap?)
?? * 2.5" disks
mATX MB? ITX MB?
what size PS?

how many exposed slots? 1?/2?/4? full height or half height?

Fan sizes? how many?

space for cables?

Chris

I'm shooting for something similiar to the SilverStone DS380, but with 10x 3.5-inch hotswap (6x 5.25-inch bays), microATX (full height), SFX PSU and whatever size and quantity fans I can squeeze in. I'm kinda happy with this:

The SFX PSU adds 30mm beyond the 5.25-inch drive bays.

 

[MatrixMJK]

Looks good to me! The extra 30mm could let you add fans behind the drive bays?

 

[Hank C]

you could put a slim dvd/bd drive in there
or you can use 1u power supply? but that probably won't be able to power high end graphic card though..
btw, are are you going to route the power connectors and sata/sas connector?

 

[BlueLineSwinger]

I'm shooting for something similiar to the SilverStone DS380, but with 10x 3.5-inch hotswap (6x 5.25-inch bays), microATX (full height), SFX PSU and whatever size and quantity fans I can squeeze in. I'm kinda happy with this:

The SFX PSU adds 30mm beyond the 5.25-inch drive bays.

Nice, but it'll probably work better with the PSU on the other side of the mainboard (closer its ATX and CPU power connectors).

Use that extra 30mm of space underneath for SSDs?