mATX case

[oolon]

I am going to be building a home server based arround an mATX motherboard, so I am looking at cases for the new system. The front runner at the moment is Lian-Li PC-V354. Which is nearly perfect except the side seems to be attached by 8 small screws, rather than 2 thumb screws at the back.

Are there any options better I have over looked?, my requirements are.

As small possible (please no full tower ATX cases!)
6 x 3 1/2" drive bays
"box shaped" ie not lots of stuff sticking out.
black.
No buttons on the top of the case.
matx

[Attila the Bun]

I like that...a very minimalist design.
How much is it?
I could look myself but I'm guessing you know.

[scaryjim]

If you don't mind getting a 3 into 2 backplane or some 5.25" to 3.5" drive bay converters, you could get something like the Antec NSK-4000B II.

[oolon]

I like that...a very minimalist design.
How much is it?
I could look myself but I'm guessing you know.

Frankly pretty expensive its listed over at scan @ £128. It does however come in black, silver or red.

If you don't mind getting a 3 into 2 backplane or some 5.25" to 3.5" drive bay converters, you could get something like the Antec NSK-4000B II.

I have no problem with 3 in 2 adapters, however if I was going to use them I would have prefered to have been able to do all the drives in adapters then I could use hot swap cages.

[eyezpy]

Silverstone SG01, SG02, SG03 or SG04. Should be smaller than the Lian Li, so less hard drives and no USB 3.0 or card reader on the case.

[oolon]

I like the look of the silverstone ones however due to them being "SSF" (Small Form Factor) they don't fit enough drives for my needs. I want space for 2x250gig "server" drives mirrored (already have these) and 4x3TB drives in raid 5.

[Pob255]

fractal Design - Define Mini http://www.fractal-design.com/?view=...gory=2&prod=58
http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/...pid-13114.html

Antec mini p180 http://www.scan.co.uk/products/antec...r-case-w-o-psu

Nether are as small as the Lian-Li PC-V354 but there's very very few options for 6 hard drive bays in an mATX case.
If you want cheaper you'd have to make or mod it yourself.

[oolon]

Nether are as small as the Lian-Li PC-V354 but there's very very few options for 6 hard drive bays in an mATX case.
If you want cheaper you'd have to make or mod it yourself.

I can afford it, just I want to be sure before I pay the money I have considered all the alternatives.

I had already seen the Antec, while I love my bigger one, this would end up with a half and half design...

However that fractal design case is not one I have seen before... It is rather good infact.... Choices... not so much a fan of flaps on the front however for a server it does give it very clean look. 40 quid less as well... good cooling, nice arrangement, nice spare expansion slot for fan controller or serial in my case.

EDIT

Oh thats a shame the power switch is on the top (which isn't the best place for one if you have cats).

EDIT 2

They also do an arc mini... same thing without the front panel... still buttons on top though,

[MSIC]

For me, the 2 main case manufacturers to consider are Lian-Li and Silverstone, although Antec is a third option.
As such, for me, this Silverstone Fortress FT03 is a front runner.
The commonly-noted downside from what I read though is that the standard fans are on the noisy side.

Edit: Scratch that, i'm an idiot. Doesnt meet your requirements at all.... D'oh!

[Pob255]

Like I said, you've got odd requirements, make it or mod it.

[oolon]

Like I said, you've got odd requirements, make it or mod it.

Nah just exacting, its always a compromise of form and function. The fractal case on paper is better as it has 2 x5 1/4, the question is do I comprise on where the buttons are (I know I could just wire my own switch but that wrecks the look) or do I put up with the case being harder to get into... Lian-Li also do a button on top version, the PC-A04 (which also has 2 bays).

So its a question of If I need to regularly get into the case against have the look I desire. I will be putting a fibre channel HBA into computer for backup, the question how much power will that draw and as I might end up pulling it out, when not needed to keep down the power use.