Chieftec Dragon Server case nearly stock

[BlackDragon1971]

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I have an almost stock Chieftec Server case. Only mod was a switch to Blue 3mm LEDs+ Blue 5x 80mm fans, back in the day. It was bought from Xocide around 2003. It was the first case BlackDragon was assembled in (we are talking Barton core here). It had been the home of several rebuilds; which I go by Mk +Roman Numeral. Currently at MkV in my Corsair Carbide 400R case.

As said, the Chieftec is 99% stock. I have been remiss to Dremel it. I love Retro Computer builds, the same way there are those that would create a Sleeper 1949 Packard Street Drag Racer, if not a completely stock one.

I am thinking of a Future Upgrade path for ThinkTank, my Windows Home Server 2011 build. I have a Asus Ivy Bridge z75 mobo, currently on an Intel DQ45EK mITX board. Hardware is not the issue right now. The Antec Sonata II case works for what I have, yet depending what I do may change my case needs.

On the Chieftec, other than being built like a Bank Vault, there are a few deficiencies. 1- is the cooling solution, which uses 5x 80mm case fans (3x 80mm front + 2x 80mm rear). 2- is the limitation of the stock Hard Disk mounting system. It can only fit 6 HDD and has been a PIA for disassembly when a video card is mounted + cable clutter.

I remember Back in the Day, everyone would cut the Heck out of these cases, it is part of the reason I kept mine as Stock as possible. I liked the clean look. I let the Blue LEDs + Blue LED Case fans let people know something was lurking underneath the Server Class chassis... would like to continue that maybe. Wondering about going to a 2x 120mm front intake; Hard Disk mount might be gutted and a 90 deg solution sought; removable, as the case is fairly narrow compared to modern ATX cases. A good number 3.5" drives may be fitted that way. Also done, way back was a HDD rack under the PSU mount, as the area was reconfigurable for such or a 2nd PSU or exhaust fans..

I have been grinding my teeth to resist cutting Blow Holes or case side windows on this one since 2003; or mounting Front Panel USB+ Audio to the Bezel. I think if I went with a Water Cooling Solution, I would go with a Swiftech like external rear Radiator mount to keep the look as clean as possible. There are Space restrictions on modifying the rear exhaust to 120mm solutions... as I remember.

What would you do to mod this case and still keep it a Sleeper like look?

-BTW, yes it is a Frakin' HUGE case.. for those that have never owned one, or laid eyes on one

BlackDragon

 

[BlackDragon1971]

Currently, I have 4x 3TB Hard drives + a 500 GB OS drive on ThinkTank. Adding more drives would either be through a changeover to 4 or 6 TB drives; keeping the existing drives but on a RAID card at the same time. It is not yet defined. I am not sure if I want to do a two 3x 5 1/4" racks for extra storage, as it would sacrifice space for other Bay devices. It is an option though.
Mind you, I have enough space for now on my Home Network storage solutions. I could even reduce Duplication of some of the Archived files. just thinking of growing needs > therefore relates to case considerations.
I remember Back in the Day this was stuffed with 2x WD 80 GB SE in a RAID 0 array and 2x 160 GB Maxtors for Data storage... all 4 PATA; 2x Samsung IDE DVDRW also... it was a lot of cabling to sort out