Supermicro rear window PSU case mod (SC 836) more to come if there is interest

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Kristian

Active Member
Jun 1, 2013
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Hello everyone,


as the title is suggesting I would like to share pictures of the case mod I did for my Supermicro SC 836 chassis rear window to fit a consumer PSU with SFX-L formfactor (SilverStone SX500-LG) into the SC 836 chassis.

This was done, because I needed the chassis as quite as possible and the 920SQs are somewhat difficult to get in Europe.

As I am working for a metalwork company I would happily build more of those if there a group of persons interested in a part like this.

Those parts would be lasercut items - so better quality than the prototype you are seeing on the pictures.
There is no "price" yet. I would happily take your ideas on what a good price would be.

If one of you would be interested in a similar project for another supermicro chassis: Please feel free to let me know. I have a SC 846A, SC 825, SC 826 right here and I would not hesitate to buy another chassis just to expand the portfolio of rear windows (if there is a group of 25+ persons interested)

(If you would like to use a different PSU - please include the type, so we can eventually check if the mounting points are the same)

The case mod is pretty straight forward (30 minutes)
Remove the parts for the modular PSUs housing (screws, some drilling out some rivets and cutting out one screw-thread - or don't do that and leave one screw unscrewed)

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CyberSkulls

Active Member
Apr 14, 2016
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That looks really good. I was expecting another hack job like we're all used to seeing.

I put the 920SQ's in mine since they are easy to get in the US. But have still thought about taking a rear window from my 846 chassis down and having it put into auto cad and have them remove the redundant portion and add in a standard ATX mount.

So ya, yours looks great!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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vl1969

Active Member
Feb 5, 2014
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nice job, I wish I had the patience and workplace to do just that.
if you don't mind, would you share the specs for it.
my father has the metal shop at his job maybe they can make it for me for cheap. [crossing my fingers]
also what did you use to cut out the back wall?
I have been running my server with PSU just stuck in the case as is, slightly back into the case.
I sure can use those few extra inches for cabling.


PS> I actually did a lot of easy mods to my SM case.
I have an old Supermicro SC846 which looks a lot like yours.
I want to use bigger cpu coolers, so I removed all original fans and mounting the fan wall and the back wall. removed the PSU and the related guts
put a slim silent 80 mm fans on back-wall.
put 3 140 mm silent fans zip-tied together instead of fan-wall (they fit perfectly) used 2 peace of 1/2" wire screen as a fan guard. I did initially used 120 mm fans but they leave too much space at the sides and not very easy to hold in place. I just suspend hung them on 2 thin zipties for a while until I got the 140 mm. (which was about 8 month ;-) ) will have to snap a picture.
the server is virtually silent now.
 
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vl1969

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Feb 5, 2014
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Answering your questions will take about two weeks, because right now I am on vacation.
Please don't hesitate to remind me in case I forget.
no problem, and thanks.
maybe I can make my server look as good as yours, woohooh
 
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defenses_down

New Member
Feb 19, 2017
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Answering your questions will take about two weeks, because right now I am on vacation.
Please don't hesitate to remind me in case I forget.
Hi Kristian,

Would you be so kind to share the specs? Also... How much would it cost me to order one of those things from you? :)

Thanks!
 
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K D

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Dec 24, 2016
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After replacing with 920sq, noise from psu is completely gone. I would definitely be interested if someone comes up with a 3x 120mm fan wall mod.
 
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Rand__

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Mar 6, 2014
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Wouldn't that remove the space for the cables? Or is there enough space left and right then?
 

K D

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Dec 24, 2016
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May have to route the cables in the space behind the psu. It will probably be a tight fit in the 835/836 chassis. Could make it work in an 846 I think.
 

Rand__

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Mar 6, 2014
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Yeah but wouldn't you want to run 140's in the 846?;)
A design that would leave some room between the fans (if total space permits) would be great though :)
 

vl1969

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Feb 5, 2014
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I have modded my 846 like that.

#1 Igut it out the original PSU and dumped the regular ATX PSU instead.
didn't do anything to the case so the PSU just sits there.
now if all 846 are the same than you should have slots in the rail just under the fan wall.
if you take out the fan wall there is a 3/4" or 1" rail running under it with long holes in it. I run all my cables in there, it is a tight fit and need some finesse but it works. it might be even better if my case was SAS instead of SATA as I have to thread full 24 cables to 3 8 port cards all over.

now for fan wall you can just zip-tie 3 140mm fans together. all you need is to figure out how to attach them to the side walls.
I used to have 3 120mm fans with fan guards on them but they do not fill whole space, to big of a gaps on the sides. the 140mm much better. BTW! you really need fan guards on both sides to protect cables from fan blades. in my current setup, I could not find cheap guards for 140 mm fans anywhere, so I used a 1/2" hole hardware cloth (it's a type of galvanized mesh used in construction) to cut out 2 long peace slightly smaller than fan dimensions in height and as long as the case width wise
and just zip-tied the mesh alongside with fans.

I am attaching my first setup with 120mm fans.
the new one is the same just I use 140mm fans and instead of proper fan guards I use galvanize hardware mesh.
 

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Kristian

Active Member
Jun 1, 2013
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Hi Kristian,

Would you be so kind to share the specs? Also... How much would it cost me to order one of those things from you? :)

Thanks!
Hey there... Sorry for the late answer, haven't had much time these days.
The guy that build the prototype in our metalwork-branch is ill and not to be expected back until end of the week.

Buying just one will probably be expensive (but I might be wrong with this opinion) I will try to get back to you with pricing as soon as the guy is back at work.
Are you based in the US?
 

Kristian

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Jun 1, 2013
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@defenses_down :
The guy is back. Well one part would be 90€ + transportation + customs
I understand that is a lot of money...
Price would greatly depend on the ammount of parts ordered.
But it doesn't look like there would be a big order anytime soon.