With the E5-2670 deluge suddenly enthusiasts look at dual CPU systems and it turns out, it's very hard to find a good case. SSI EEB support is thin on the ground, Supermicro EE ATX even more so.
I might be interested in funding the development of a 4U case which
I might be interested in funding the development of a 4U case which
- Supports all those motherboards based on this http://blog-imgs-72.fc2.com/d/u/a/dualsocketworld/EE-ATX-FFSSSF.png great drawing.
- Uses an SFX-L PSU on its edge. Supermicro cases for EE ATX use 73mm wide 1U PSUs so a 63.5mm wide PSU would fit and would be a lot more quiet than industrial PSUs. There are 700W, 750W and soon 800W SFX-L PSUs. While none has a second 8 pin EPS plug, there are adapters from 6 pin PCI-E to 8 pin EPS and also since these are all modular PSUs perhaps we could get a custom cable. I would put this to the left of the motherboard with the CPU sockets on the right with the fan pointing to the outside, separating the PSU airflow from the case.
- I would leave space in front of the motherboard for two 140x38mm fans with an eye on the Silverstone FHP141.
- Similarly, if you are not using an EE ATX board then the right edge has space for two 140x38mm fans as the EE is 42.2mm wider than normal ATX. If you do use an EE ATX board then you can have two 120mm fans here as the edge only contains DIMM slots and a 120mm fan in a 4U case clears the DIMM height: 1U cases are possible so then there's 3U clearance above the memory and 3U cases sell with 120mm fans. So the airflow would be tons of air from the front exiting on the right. Not ideal but still, there's so much air moving it's OK. Supermicro has a case with a 120mm fan on the rear but noone else does so perhaps only two 80mm fans could happen but we will see.
- On the left, in the front of the case, there's space for a vertical 5.25" bay not that I expect anyone would use a 5.25" drive any more but there are many useful things you can put in one. I would even add an optional cross piece and two small slits in the bottom so that two PCI bracket can be mounted here for additional I/O. Both the 5.25" bay and two PCI brackets require 1.6" so that's good. If we want to be crazy about space usage, one can squeeze a 2.5" disk on the left wall practically touching the PSU -- it's thin enough to not pose a problem for modular cabling.
- Between the 5.25" bay and the edge of the motherboard, the front of case would have the front I/O and the power switch, behind them, on the wall of the 5.25" bay there's space for a 2.5" HDD. Also, there's the DIMM latch clearance area in front of the motherboard (parts of the) front I/O can safely overhang so there's a lot of space here for an I/O panel.
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