Silverstone DS380: ITX 8x SAS/Sata Hotswap

[Patrick]

My Silverstone DS380 just arrived. Only have the time to un-box it today. I think that company above forgot my order but they did ship once I nudged nicely.

Initial thoughts:
Size: Slightly bigger than the Thecus N7510 it is sitting next to. Deeper but shorter than the Thecus chassis. I tried putting the Silverstone DS380 on its front and it was only slightly bigger. Key benefits, of course, are that the Silverstone unit has room for up to 12 drives and 8 of them hot swap while the Thecus is a 7 bay unit.
Build quality: Some high points here for things like magnetic air filter covers. I am not a huge fan of the hot swap trays as you essentially need to pinch both sides to unlatch and remove. At least without drives it also took a bit of a wiggle to get this to work.
Power: There is a PCB hot swap backplane from what I saw with 4-pin Molex connectors and 7-pin SATA connectors. I was somewhat worried how the Seasonic SFX PSU would power the drives but am less concerned after an initial glance. I am sure there will be a surprise though.

Now that it is here I am actually more excited.

More to come.

 

[ElementML]

Power: There is a PCB hot swap backplane from what I saw with 4-pin Molex connectors and 7-pin SATA connectors. I was somewhat worried how the Seasonic SFX PSU would power the drives but am less concerned after an initial glance. I am sure there will be a surprise though.

Hi Patrick, do you by chance have a FlexATX PSU laying around? Would love to know what our chances are of being able to mount such a unit in order to make room for an extended ITX board.

 

[Patrick]

I do have a few PWS-203-1H units around which should be around the size. Any FlexATX power supplies you recommend?

 

[ElementML]

I do have a few PWS-203-1H units around which should be around the size. Any FlexATX power supplies you recommend?

I don't have any experience with PSUs in this form factor, so I definitely can't recommend any... That said, i've come across these two as possible options:

AP-MFATX40P8
FSP300-60LG

These are the same height as the 1U SuperMicro you referenced (~40mm), but about half the depth (~80mm vs ~190mm).

 

[Patrick]

IMPORTANT UPDATE for anyone considering trying the Silverstone DS380 with a Seasonic SS-300SFD power supply - this will not fit! Here is a picture

As one can see, the lip on the Silverstone DS380 case extends to where the Seasonic SS-300SFD-SFX fan extrusion is. I likely would have considered cutting the metal lip but the Seasonic fan also extends past where the second PCIe slot is. For me that is two good reasons to try a different power supply.

For those wondering, I did try the fan oriented towards the top air filter but that did not work due to the other side of the PSU extending past the lip.

I just ordered this 450w FSP power supply: Amazon.com: FSP Group Mini ITX / Micro ATX 80 Plus Bronze Certification 450W Power Supply (FSP450-60GHS(85)-R): Electronics It looks like that may fit.

 

[aboof]

IMPORTANT UPDATE for anyone considering trying the Silverstone DS380 with a Seasonic SS-300SFD power supply - this will not fit! Here is a picture

Any particular you reason you're not just using the Silverstone PSU? Price? Already had some other PSUs laying around? Trying to fit a bigger-than-ITX motherboard?

 

[cadamwil]

Yeah, I wondered that myself. The Asrock that is "extended-ITX" will fit with the Silverstone PSU. My other thought is people were trying to find a less expensive PSU or a non-modular PSU. Guys, what is the main reason.

 

[Patrick]

The real reason is just because I have a ton of Seasonic PSUs that worked well over years and that one was on sale for $35.

 

[dba]

...

I just ordered this 450w FSP power supply: Amazon.com: FSP Group Mini ITX / Micro ATX 80 Plus Bronze Certification 450W Power Supply (FSP450-60GHS(85)-R): Electronics It looks like that may fit.

Does anyone sell a Gold or Platinum low-wattage power supply for these?

 

[Patrick]

Somewhat. 450w Gold Amazon.com: Silverstone Tek 450-Watts SFX Form Factor Full Modular Power Supply with 80 Plus Gold, SFX+12V single rail, ST45SF-G: Computers & Accessories

$95 on amazon and newegg (but $6 ship on NE)

The big question is whether the Supermicro 203 PSU fits in here.

 

[cadamwil]

I have the Silverstone SFX 450 Gold in mine. I have jumpered it to power on some hard drives and fans, but I don't have a motherboard so I can't give you any info on running current pull or loudness under load.

 

[aboof]

Yeah, I wondered that myself. The Asrock that is "extended-ITX" will fit with the Silverstone PSU. My other thought is people were trying to find a less expensive PSU or a non-modular PSU. Guys, what is the main reason.

Wait, did you mean to say will not fit? Or do you mean another bigger-than-ITX Asrock other than the one shown earlier in the thread here: https://www.facebook.com/ASRockRack/posts/336285553178293

 

[Patrick]

The bottom edge of the motherboard will be very tight with a decent sized PSU. From that Facebook post Q&A:

ASRock Rack Hello Michael, thank you for the reminder. We didn't assemble this board with SFX power earlier, and we just tried again and it shows the SFX power supply couldn't fit in with this extended-mini iTX board. Thank you very much again!

 

[aboof]

The bottom edge of the motherboard will be very tight with a decent sized PSU. From that Facebook post Q&A:

I took it as "non-existent fit" not "tight fit", which is why I was asking cadamwil to clarify.

 

[cadamwil]

Hmm, I hadn't seen that update from Asrock. I thought that was proven by them. I had previously measured the distance between the PSU and the case wall and it is roughly the width of the "extended-ITX" motherboard with no slack. So I guess it is Mini-ITX only.

 

[TangoWhiskey9]

Patrick and others - any update?

 

[Patrick]

The FSP 450w one fits fine and the fan aligns with the top air vent in the chassis.

Amazon.com: FSP Group Mini ITX / Micro ATX 80 Plus Bronze Certification 450W Power Supply (FSP450-60GHS(85)-R): Electronics

 

[BackWoodsTech]

OK, I don't want to muddy the waters here since this thread is about the chassis and not a motherboard, but certainly the two are interrelated. I'm pretty much sold on the E3C224D4I-14S for the very fact of the LSI SAS controller. That solves a lot of problems for me especially since I'm committed to the Xeon platform.

So, given the feedback from AsRock, can we conclude that no power supply is going to fit in there with the extended mITX? That will be a bummer. This case and mobo combo is probably one of the more exciting options out there for me right now. Based on the feedback/answers I receive from the above, I may start a new thread in the mobo section.

Also, looking at the AsRock pics on FB, it looks like the DIMM slots are actually under the rear fan? Would the actual DIMMs clear that area anyway?

Thanks everyone.

 

[BackWoodsTech]

The FSP 450w one fits fine and the fan aligns with the top air vent in the chassis.

Patrick, any sense as to if any of the PSU's you've tried would support the extended ITX board in discussion within this thread?

 

[BackWoodsTech]

A heads up - I asked ASRock about compatibility for DS380 and E3C244D4I-14, they confirmed it fits and snapped a couple of photos showing the board in the chassis. Details at https://www.facebook.com/ASRockRack/posts/336285553178293.

I think this will almost definitely be my chassis/mobo combo for my ESXi AIO build, it checks all of the boxes!

You know, if you look at the pics really closely, doesn't it look like the mobo is just tied in there with string? Does that mean the screw mounts don't line up???