New Contender for the cheapest 4U full depth rack chassis? [$110 USD shipped?] [RACKOWL 13 Bay 4U Server Chassis]

Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.
Prophes0r

Prophes0r

New Member
Sep 23, 2023
28
18
3
East Coast, USA
Note on Updates:
​
I will be updating this OP as I get the units in to provide pictures and my opinion on them.​
​
They are scheduled to arrive on the 26th of October.​
​
Update 1:​
​
Less than 30 minutes after posting this they arrived?​
What? How?​
They appear to be real too. Nothing jumps out as wrong upon first inspection.​
I don't actually have time to look at them this week. The household has a surgery and after that the networking closet takes priority.​
First pictures.​

Preface:
​
I needed another 4U chassis to make migrating my HomeLab server to a new machine easier.​
The go-to brands for the absolute cheapest chassis for the last few years have been Rosewill, iStarUSA, In Win, and on the slightly higher end Silverstone.​
​
While browsing Amazon, I ran across another one with a price low enough to make me stop and wonder where the scam was.​
However, there are some reviews that look like they were written by humans.​
Reviews that have multiple pictures that don't seem to be made by the seller.​

The Thing™
​
(I love how we just accept putting 15 random specifications into a product name now because 'SEO"...)​
​
At $110 shipped, it is ~40-50% of the cost of the competition.​
And this seems to be the normal price too. Not some sale-scam.​
​
Okay. So...what's the catch?​
  • Is it a box of razor blades in the vague shape of a case just waiting to slice off limbs?
  • Will it get here at all?
  • Is it really just a part for a chassis intentionally mislabeled?
I guess I'll find out because I bought 2 on Thursday.​
(I was sick this weekend so I just got around to posting this on Monday.)​
​
Review:
​
Impressions before I receive it based on shop pictures.​
  • This is a 'full depth' chassis. 26" (66cm)
  • The fans all appear to be 3-pin or 4-pin? None of the normal molex nonsense we usually see in ultra-budget cases/chassis
  • The front has 9x 5.25" bays. The configuration isn't ideal though. 3-vert + 3-hor + 3-vert. And it does not appear they can be flipped around like the Rosewill ones.
​
Pictures:
​
They seem real. It is clearly a rebrand of something. They are packed well.​
1_boxes arrive.jpg​
2_chassis reveal.jpg​
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Sacrilego, Samir, Marsh and 2 others
Prophes0r

Prophes0r

New Member
Sep 23, 2023
28
18
3
East Coast, USA
e97 said:
Nice, easy enough to mod to 120mm fans and add another 5x3.5 to 3x5.25 cage to make it 15 drives. Then it would be a similar to the RSV-L4500U Rosewill RSV-L4500U 4U Server Chassis Rackmount Case | 15 3.5 | www.rosewill.com which used to be ~$150 back in the day.
Click to expand...
I have an RSV-4500U (full 26" length not the 20" one) which cost me $250 and now are on-sale for $220.

There are some 4u chassis that are similarly priced but they all seem to be 15", 17", or 20" depth.
The thing that caught my eye about this one was the full 26" depth, which doesn't show up until we get to the $210+ price range.
This also isn't a sale.
Also, free shipping, which isn't always the case on stuff this big.

Bert said:
I got new 4U cases for $10 each so this one is not the cheapest.
Click to expand...
Are they the cardboard boxes that other chassis come in?
 
  • Haha
  • Like
Reactions: JoeSW, Samir and e97
tby

tby

Active Member
Aug 22, 2013
222
111
43
Snellville, GA
set-inform.com
I have two of these. One from eBay, one from Amazon. As far as cheap rackmount cases go, I've worked with worse.

The rack ear brackets extend further back than is typical and I could not make it work with any of the generic sliding rail kits I have because the inner rail is set too far back.

Fans are all 2-wire. The middle fan wall has a PCB they all connect to with a single Molex. The fans are all weak but I'm not sure they're significantly worse than the Artic replacements I'm using.

I put the first one in my unconditioned garage on possibly the hottest day this summer and my build of 11th-gen desktop-class components quickly stopped working. Tried to replace the front 120mm fans with some severe x38mm 22w fans but it turns out that you can't fit thicker fans in those positions without cutting some metal. Ended up getting some magnetic mounts to place a fan on the side in front of the PSU to get some cross-directional airflow across the RAM and other components around the CPU and that seems to have made it happy, but it's also possible that the temps were a bit less extreme and I'll have problems again on the hottest days next summer.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Marsh, Samir and e97
e97

e97

Active Member
Jun 3, 2015
325
197
43
Samir said:
What I'm wondering is how did they arrive so fast? :eek:
Click to expand...
santa through the chimney.. seems a bit early but hoping to get a similar surprise. like ordering stuff from aliexpress and forgetting about it.
 
C

Cruzader

Well-Known Member
Jan 1, 2021
554
565
93
Im confused, is this not normal price for plain cases like this in US?

i was under the impression that they start at 80-90 same as in Europe.
 
Prophes0r

Prophes0r

New Member
Sep 23, 2023
28
18
3
East Coast, USA
Cruzader said:
Im confused, is this not normal price for plain cases like this in US?

i was under the impression that they start at 80-90 same as in Europe.
Click to expand...
For a 26"(66cm) deep chassis?
The next closest in price is the Rosewill at $250 which is usually on sale for $220ish.

There are plenty of 15", 17", and 20" deep ones for just over $100 but not the big boys.
 
C

Cruzader

Well-Known Member
Jan 1, 2021
554
565
93
Paid about 130ea with shipping for the last deep cases i bought earlier in the year, a bit above the cheapest ones since it comes with 6x120mm and decent amount of bays.
1697534342060.png1697534422155.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: JoeSW, e97 and jason879
A

Auggie

Member
Nov 26, 2022
51
54
18
I have a version of this case from 2016, evidently not from amazon as it's not in my purchase history. It's been in constant service ever since. Not bad for a budget case.

On mine you have to unscrew and remove the drive cages before you can access the toolless drive rails?! Fans were definitely complete crap.

Just makes me love the supermicro stuff so much more.

Edit: Found it! Logisys CS6501H. Looks like OP's is a slightly updated version. Found receipt from Microcenter in 2017 for $99.99. Of course Microcenter doesn't keep old listings around, but newegg does:
Logisys CS6501H 4U Rackmount Server Case - Newegg.com
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Prophes0r and Marsh
e97

e97

Active Member
Jun 3, 2015
325
197
43
Cruzader said:
Paid about 130ea with shipping for the last deep cases i bought earlier in the year, a bit above the cheapest ones since it comes with 6x120mm and decent amount of bays.
View attachment 32260View attachment 32262
Click to expand...
Nice, got a link or model number?

edit: found it thanks to google image search.

Inter-Tech IPC 4F28 MINING-RACK, not available for less than $250 to the US.

Fun trip through memory lane of all the budget server case mfgs of yesteryear:

Rosewill
Norco
 
Last edited:
E

EasyRhino

Well-Known Member
Aug 6, 2019
511
388
63
looks like a promising contender to usurp the rosewill case as a budget choice.

Bert said:
I got new 4U cases for $10 each so this one is not the cheapest.
Click to expand...
If this is replicatable for other people, please share!
 
B

Bert

Well-Known Member
Mar 31, 2018
845
399
63
45
If this is replicatable for other people, please share!
[/QUOTE]

That was a local deal, probably not possible to repeat. He has several of them in a storage and wanted to get rid of them to create space. I bought 3 of them new in the box. They only support ATX but I was able to fit an EATX MB in it . They were not flimsy but very basic cases from low grade steel without fan wall. He had so much of them in his hand was begging me to buy more. Unfortunately, didn't know STH effect at that time :)
 
Last edited:
Prophes0r

Prophes0r

New Member
Sep 23, 2023
28
18
3
East Coast, USA
Bert said:
...several of them in a storage and wanted to get rid of them to create space.
Click to expand...
Sounds like you got a killer deal.
It isn't very helpful to others looking to get a case today though.

That's why I posted this one.
If you need a 4U full-depth chassis now and can't find a good deal locally or at a recycler, this seems to be a great option.
 
  • Like
Reactions: e97 and Marsh
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom