Concern regarding SC847 case/backplanes & my existing hardware including Areca RAID card

[arnemetis]

I just bought 8x seagate 7200rpm 18tb drives to update my system, but I need to finally put everything in a proper case. I currently run two RAID 6 arrays on my Areca ARC-1883ix-16-2G via breakout sata cables, 8x hgst 5400 rpm 4tb & 8x wd 5400 rpm 8tb. The internals I want to keep is otherwise consumer level but can sustain greater than year uptimes, a 5600x with 16gb of ram on an msi mag B550 tomahawk motherboard. I also have a nvidia gt710 gpu for display & a mellanox fiber card. This is running in a heavily modified mid atx case with extra drive cages under & over it, and since the internal connectors on the raid card are full I really need to move to something with backplanes.

I believe after much research I will purchase a Supermicro SC847 with the SAS3 backplanes & SQ power supplies, such as https://www.ebay.com/itm/145183804421 I plan on replacing the fan wall with 3x Noctua NF-A14 iPPC-3000 PWM fans framed by either eva foam or TPU 3d printed in a design I will come up with. The cpu cooler and Areca card will require me to modify the top cover to have them protruding out, which I believe it fine and again I can use 3d prints to shroud/frame these out.

1. Are there any major concerns with chopping up the cover to support a protruding cpu cooler and the Areca card I am not aware of? I figure it would be only beneficial actually as it would allow cool air directly to the cpu and Areca card's heatsinks.
2. I know my Areca card's internal connectors are type SFF-8643. I am not sure I am reading the Supermicro manual correctly to determine the connector type on the backplanes. Is it also SFF-8643, or is it SFF-8087? I think it's the same SFF-8643 but I figured I would ask for clarity here.
3. It is my understanding that I can use a cable to connect the backplanes to cascade, but I have multiple connections available on my Areca card. Would it not be better to connect a cable directly from each backplane to my card?

Thank you for your help, I will answer questions quickly as I am hoping to buy soon.

 

[Grebuloner]

1. If you aren't planning on running this in a rack, technically, no. Those fan walls can be structural, though the lid isn't. That said, these cases are designed very well for flow through passive cooling, and even after being filtered through the HDDs, the air is still cool enough to cover your gear. I would consider either a 2U passive heatsink or something like the AMD stock cooler for the 5600X. The Areca card can be run with a riser to fit internally and benefit from the air.

2. The backplanes are 8643.

3. Direct to card is always the best option when available.

 

[arnemetis]

1. If you aren't planning on running this in a rack, technically, no. Those fan walls can be structural, though the lid isn't. That said, these cases are designed very well for flow through passive cooling, and even after being filtered through the HDDs, the air is still cool enough to cover your gear. I would consider either a 2U passive heatsink or something like the AMD stock cooler for the 5600X. The Areca card can be run with a riser to fit internally and benefit from the air.

2. The backplanes are 8643.

3. Direct to card is always the best option when available.

Not planning on running this in a rack, it will be sideways due to the space not having the needed depth for a rack with the oil tank in the way. The fan wall has got to go, the stock 80mm fans will be entirely unacceptable so if things don't seem supported I will have to add additional support over the 140mm fans which will replace the fan wall. I hadn't considered running a riser, I do have a spare one that might work. Just have to find a way to support it over the cpu cooler, I don't think I can turn it over the other pcie slots as I have a fiber card and gpu as well to worry about which will be too tall. I do still have the stock cooler for the 5600x, I had a giant corsair cooler I ended up not needing so I used it instead, hopefully it's shallow enough.

Thanks for the confirmation on the backplanes really being 8643, will make picking up cables easy.

Here's a photo of the current mess, just because I went looking for one as I considered my options: