Storagewhore wants quality ITX case /w 6+ x3.5in

Rune75

Rune75

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Messages
1,347
Looking for a small-ish quality case that is made for ITX (perhaps mATX) with a bunch of storage... 6 or more 3.5inch internal slots. I'll use a modular PSU and crimp my own cables. Video card... Well, so long as a GTX 1070 mini (Just under 7inches long) fits, we're golden.

Ideas?
 
"most" didn't say all mobos. and i did have that mobo. I learn to hate front facing SATA connectors after that...
 
I'm just going to jump in here...

My NAS is currently built into a Node 304. The build experience was remarkably pleasant, especially coming from a chassis with a design much like that Lian Li. Airflow doesn't seem to be an issue.

That being said... If you can find it in your budget, as a fellow storage-whore who recently bit the bullet, having a separate NAS and gaming computer is a really, really, really nice convenience.

You can keep the NAS somewhere quiet and turn your main computer off at night, plus you can set up sharing and streaming options that would otherwise bog down your main rig. EDIT: oh, and it makes your life WAY easier when you want to reinstall windows / restore from a backup. Just something to think about. :)
 
I think I'd just build a NAS and hide it away somewhere, then build a proper mITX gaming PC.
 
You remind me of myself. Currently running in the NCASE with +/- 20tb of storage.

Room for: (all at the same time)
3 3.5in. HDDs
3 2.5in. HDDs
1-2 m.2 slots (2 if you are thinking asus strix Z270)

I actually wanted to find even more room for storage so I mounted an ssd on the inner side panel as there was extra room there as a provision for wider GPUs (even room for 2 more hidden about if you're crazy like me)

I know its not what you are looking for, but you can do a lot with it depending on your situation.

If I went all out I could put 40tb in there easy ($$$)

If you are looking for an ITX motherboard with a crazy amount of sata ports then I'd check out the asrock X99 ITX. Its the one I use and it has 6 internal sata ports in addition to another Esata port which could just as easily be routed internally for extra otions. If you are absolutely mad, you can even find a mini raid card that adds 2 additional sata ports running in place of the mini-pci wifi card. Oh and in liu of NVME storage you could get creative and add a raid card of your choice through an adaptor off the m.2 bandwidth (though honestly you may need a bigger case at that point!)

Good luck!!
 
Rune75 said:
They don't play Skyrim very well...
Click to expand...

So make your own NAS. It can double as a media PC / you can stream games to it through Steam.

That way your gaming machine can focus on being a gaming machine and your data can be secure no matter what happens to it.
 
soccermatt34 said:
U-NAS NSC-800 or 810?
Click to expand...

The U-NAS cases are lovely but you can't put a two slot card in there.

Neapolitan6th said:
If you are absolutely mad, you can even find a mini raid card that adds 2 additional sata ports running in place of the mini-pci wifi card.
Click to expand...

The wifi slots typically not contain PCIe lanes as they are key E.

Motherboard wise I know I would go with the E3C236D2I but then again I am insane :) I would want ECC when running that much storage, me thinks. Warning: the M.2 slot is unusable by itself because it's 2230 and there are no 2230 SSDs. You would need to ask whether the RP44SF fits in a 2230 or not. Based on a different product photo it just might.
 
Last edited:
I definitely agree on ECC, but there's one thing I'll point out; it's actually really difficult to find the right stuff. When I built my NAS, the ram didn't work. I RMA'ed it, and when I got the new sticks back, I realized that even though the Amazon page labeled it as ECC both in the header and in the specifications... It wasn't. People who ordered it were shipped the non-ecc version of those same sticks.
 
Here's my NAS
20130424_171805.jpg

Here's my desktop
Comp2.jpg

I simply want an ITX/mATX case that holds a lot of drives for a JBOD setup.
 
Fair enough. I'm going to mention the Node 304 again; it's a pleasure to build in and holds six 3.5" drives. It's very rare to find more than that in a small form factor, outside of more expensive and (to me, I know the brand has a lot of followers) less polished Lian-li cases.
 
The 304 looks decent... Even looks like it would fit a Gigabyte GTX 1070 Mini ITX card with the PSU next to it... Think the GTX would still allow mounting all 6 hard drive slots? I do build and/or shorten all my modular cables...
IMG_20161231_203550.jpg
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Hmm, lemme see. That card is 170mm long. The Node 304 doesn't specify how much room there is with all six drives, but it does give you 310mm with one drive bay removed. A 3.5" drive is ~90mm long, so... It's going to be a tight fit, but there should be 50mm wiggle room for cables and the drive bay.

Edit: this seems to support that notion. He uses a low profile GPU but it has plenty of room above it.

 
Last edited:
darksable said:
Hmm, lemme see. That card is 170mm long.
Click to expand...
Yep... Just like the ITX Gigabyte GA-Z170N motherboard... (see pic with green trim above)... PCIE power is top mounted on the video card. Wondering how much, if any, those HDD would overhang the motherboard...
 
Rune75 said:
Yep... Just like the ITX Gigabyte GA-Z170N motherboard... (see pic with green trim above)... PCIE power is top mounted on the video card. Wondering how much, if any, those HDD would overhang the motherboard...
Click to expand...

They do not appear to overhang the motherboard at all. From my memory they stuck out just beyond the side of the PSU, and pictures of builds I've found seem to support the same thing.

https://pcpartpicker.com/b/pCmqqs
 
I've been using the PC-Q25 for 4 or 5 years now with asrock Z77 mITX board and an LSI 9260-8i handling the drives. Works great, recently moved from 6x2TB to a 4X8TB drive config giving me a couple drives worth of expansion room once I need it. If I had to build from scratch now, I'd probably end up trying to decide between the PC-Q25 and the Silverstone DS380.
 
Hmmm.... My GTX 1070 Mini is a tad under 7inches long, but it's a few inches tall... Video card might still run into the HDDs. I would also have to SFF the PSU. Something like the Corasir SF600 or something if my SATA ports are not vertical
Untitled.jpg
 
I might end up getting another BitFenix Prodigy... My green one is sexy. I love the one I have now, but I am always looking for new ideas. Thanks, guys
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top