Trying to do too much with a mid tower case?

[camelass]

I need some help. This may be a bit lengthy so bare with me

I want to get a LIAN LI PC-7B plus II case. I really like this case. However, I am beginning to think it may be a bit too small for what I want to do. (I am talking about the hardware physically in the case) I plan on building whenever the new 45nm cpus come out. So, my setup would be something similar to this:

Penryn CPU
at least 8800GTX in SLI (Or something newer if available)
some mobo that supports Penryn CPUs
4gigs of ram (using the fastest the mobo supports)
Sound card
Raptor
Second larger hard drive for storage

Again as a reminder, most of the major components are "future" hardware that isn't available yet.

I was looking at this PSU for reference: Thermaltake Toughpower 850W

There are a few things that worry me about this case.

First, is the length of the case. Depth wise from front to back. I do not know how long this PSU is. I was reading somewhere that it may be as long as 9". Then a DVD-ROM using the top bay is just shy of 7" correct? So that's roughly 16" of the 19.3" accounted for right there. From where I plan on buying the case at, they have an option of drilling a 120mm blow hole at the top of the case, which I would prefer. I don't think I'll have enough room for the 120mm fan, will I? Some may say well just don't use the top bay for the DVD-ROM. Well I want to use the top bay. It would bug the hell out of me if I didn't. So I guess my question is what other PSUs are out there that may be able to fit my bill that's a bit shorter in depth? Or are most SLI PSUs generally the same depth?

The second problem is the second 8800GTX and the hard drive cage. The main 8800GTX should fit just fine. But the hard drive cage I believe is in the way of the second card. I was thinking maybe taking out the hard drive cage and turning it half way so the cage itself would be facing you when you open the case. To me this may gave me the additional clearance for the second 8800GTX that I would need. Doing this though may run into it's problems as well.

1. I don't know if the cage can physically fit that way in the case.

2. Even it the cage itself fits in the case this way, what about the hard drives and their power and SATA cables? They extend from the cage a bit. Would this interfere in closing the case?

3. From the picture newegg provides it looks like I may be able to move the cage forward a tad closer to the front intake fan. This may work too.

I don't know how else I could be able to move or mod the hard drive cage so I would be able to fit the second 8800GTX in the case. Suggestions or ideas are greatly appreciated.

Phew I'm done.

 

[64dragon]

personally i wouldnt want to cram all that top end gear into a small case (personal opinion). what about a lian li v1000 (wouldnt need to mod to fit everything if you want to stay midtower) or for the same price a g70 (tons more room too). with the g70 you could run 2 less wattage psu's and they'd end up running more efficient due to less load. 2 600W's cost $120ish each, so it would cost the same as the thermaltake 850

 

[camelass]

I was looking into a full tower case but there is no way I need that many drive bays. In addition to that a full tower case would be too big for my computer desk. I don't want to have the computer on the floor because it would suck up way too much dust and cat hair.

Here is a picture of someone else's PC-7B with GTS's in SLI.

As you can see the case isn't all that cramped. My main concern is the bottom hard drive cage with the second GTX. After that I don't know how much clearance I would have for a blow hole fan at the top with the PSU and the DVD-ROM.

 

[TechLarry]

I totally agree. I think a V1000 (or V2000 if you REALLY want room) would be a much better choice.

And I have to say, after just putting together a V2000B Plus II system, I think the reverse-ATX design is the Cats-Meow. I really like it.

personally i wouldnt want to cram all that top end gear into a small case (personal opinion). what about a lian li v1000 (wouldnt need to mod to fit everything if you want to stay midtower) or for the same price a g70 (tons more room too). with the g70 you could run 2 less wattage psu's and they'd end up running more efficient due to less load. 2 600W's cost $120ish each, so it would cost the same as the thermaltake 850