Furious_George
n00b
- Joined
- May 16, 2021
- Messages
- 10
As the title suggests, I want to bolt two of these together, such that it essentially becomes a 4U case. Before I get into what I have in mind, I'd like to explain why I want to do this, in the hope that someone comes up with a better solution that I haven't considered.
The case is designed to take passively cooled CPUs, which is made possible by 3 very noisy case fans.
I already tried active 2U coolers, which may not be louder, but aren't quiet either, make an annoying higher pitched noise, and run at 100% all the time.
I looked into low-profile coolers for HTPC cases, and while some will fit, there isn't going to be much clearance to help with circulation. I'd need that circulation, because even with a 120 mm fan, they are designed for < 100W CPUs while mine are 135W, there are two of them, and they are currently at full load quite often.
I wasn't happy with the "de facto standard" solution to this common problem, which is basically to get slower case fans, or slow them down with a controller. As stated, the server spends a good amount of time at 100% cpu, so that isn't an option.
By contrast, I picked up a spare case for around the cost of two fans, and I have on-hand 4u coolers which are quiet. There's also the added benefit of getting 8 more hotswap bays and 2 more PSUs, the latter I need for spares. Still, I wouldn't mind using the case for its own motherboard instead, so if anyone can come up with a better idea, I'm open to it.
So that brings me to the mod. This isn't my area of expertise. For context, I can use a drill and solder a bit, but I wouldn't describe myself as good with my hands. I was basically going to get square pieces of sheet metal, and either bolt the cases together, or possibly tap out holes to screw the cases together.
I have some concern with the latter approach, because with 16 large spinners in it, FrankeCase would weigh well over 100 lbs. While I take the drives out to move it as is, you never know what boeheadedness a 3rd party is capable of, and I wouldn't want it to come apart in someone's arms.
Potentially, I could attach them top-to-top, so that I wouldn't have to completely destroy on of the cases.
Alternatively, I can take a hole saw to the bottom of one of the cases. I figure I'd need three holes at minimum. Two large ones for the heatsinks, and one small one for power and SAS. Given this approach, I might also make a 4th hole for a case to exhaust heat from the bottom "chamber", since I'd replace the high speed hot swap case fans with the regular kind.
Finally, I ordered some 1/32" U-channel, in case I go with the second approach, and would mount that in the holes I drilled out, after filing them down.
That's it. Any help is much appreciated, especially any pointers.
The case is designed to take passively cooled CPUs, which is made possible by 3 very noisy case fans.
I already tried active 2U coolers, which may not be louder, but aren't quiet either, make an annoying higher pitched noise, and run at 100% all the time.
I looked into low-profile coolers for HTPC cases, and while some will fit, there isn't going to be much clearance to help with circulation. I'd need that circulation, because even with a 120 mm fan, they are designed for < 100W CPUs while mine are 135W, there are two of them, and they are currently at full load quite often.
I wasn't happy with the "de facto standard" solution to this common problem, which is basically to get slower case fans, or slow them down with a controller. As stated, the server spends a good amount of time at 100% cpu, so that isn't an option.
By contrast, I picked up a spare case for around the cost of two fans, and I have on-hand 4u coolers which are quiet. There's also the added benefit of getting 8 more hotswap bays and 2 more PSUs, the latter I need for spares. Still, I wouldn't mind using the case for its own motherboard instead, so if anyone can come up with a better idea, I'm open to it.
So that brings me to the mod. This isn't my area of expertise. For context, I can use a drill and solder a bit, but I wouldn't describe myself as good with my hands. I was basically going to get square pieces of sheet metal, and either bolt the cases together, or possibly tap out holes to screw the cases together.
I have some concern with the latter approach, because with 16 large spinners in it, FrankeCase would weigh well over 100 lbs. While I take the drives out to move it as is, you never know what boeheadedness a 3rd party is capable of, and I wouldn't want it to come apart in someone's arms.
Potentially, I could attach them top-to-top, so that I wouldn't have to completely destroy on of the cases.
Alternatively, I can take a hole saw to the bottom of one of the cases. I figure I'd need three holes at minimum. Two large ones for the heatsinks, and one small one for power and SAS. Given this approach, I might also make a 4th hole for a case to exhaust heat from the bottom "chamber", since I'd replace the high speed hot swap case fans with the regular kind.
Finally, I ordered some 1/32" U-channel, in case I go with the second approach, and would mount that in the holes I drilled out, after filing them down.
That's it. Any help is much appreciated, especially any pointers.
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