domiel

What prices are you asking for each component?

Does anyone have a Lian-Li PC-A77B that they'd be willing to part with? I'm wanting the older model with the "Smart Fan Control" at the top of the front panel not the newer PC-A77F.

I'd still like to hear comments from anyone who has removed the fans from their drive cages or performed some kind of mod to them.

Rajahal, OK thanks for the clarification. I must say that's a bit surprising. A thankyou also to AwesomeD. The PC-P80 was one of three strategies I was considering for noise abatement but given what you have both said I think I'll have to consider the other two. My current rig is a 4U, 16-bay Chenbro box - I'm pretty sure that no matter how much noise that a PC-P80 produces it'll be nothing compared to the Chenbro (it has 5x 80mm fans that produce 45dBA each!!!) So my other two choices are to replace the fans in the Chenbro with something quieter or to go ahead and build a new rig with a different case. I've got a PC-343b and some cages but I haven't unboxed them as yet because although I'm sure I can build a relatively quiet rig with this I'm not sure where I'm actually going to put it due to its' size, hence the reason for considering the PC-P80 in the first instance.

I think you misunderstood what I said: I wasn't suggesting replacing the front and rear plastic I was planning on removing it all together so all that is left would be would be some metal and a backplane. From what reviewers have said the PC-P80s fans are near silent, not surprising since they are 140mm. I'm working on the assumption that stripped down cages would allow air to flow through them more easily and so with the large 140mm fans at the front and some decent extraction fans at the rear of the case I aught to be able to maintain low-ish temperatures for my spindles. As for the cages you suggest... I should probably have pointed out that I'm in Australia so the brands generally recommended don't apply

I'm looking at building a new rig and I'm weighing up the possibilities of getting some 4-in-3 or 5-in-3 cages and putting them in a case similar to the Lian-Li PC-P80 (http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=131&ss_index=66) which has a swing out front door with embedded fans and then removing the cage fans and possibly the back and front plastic from around the cage so that all that is left is the metal chassis of the cage and the backplane. (I'm hoping this will increase airflow/ventilation) Has anyone else done something like this? Has anyone done any kind of modding to their cages? I'd also love to hear from anyone who has simply decided to take the fans off of their drive cages and just use the in-case fans, how has that worked out?

Can anyone point me at other cases similar to this one? (ie. front door with fans and 5.25" bays the whole height of the case) I'm toying with the idea of getting a case of this type and filling it top to bottom with 4-in-3 cages. (And then removing the cage fans and just relying on the case fans) Has anyone else actually done this?

I certainly hope that your ambient is in Farenheit!

Yeah I thought about going for some 5-in-3 cages but most of what I've read indicates that there are pretty significant heat dissipation issues - this server is going to have all my data so I'd rather not risk it - besides with space for 24 spindles I can always just upgrade some of them. Also, my SAS controllers are 8-port so 4-in-3 cages are a nicer fit in that respect - I could get extra controllers but it would mean wasted ports and I'd also have to buy a new motherboard so I could fit more controllers on it

I am interested in what you said about the lack of airflow over the drives but if you wouldn't mind could you do the same test with the Kingwin and post the results? Thanks To those who have been following this thread - sorry for the delay in following this up. Both the EX-H34's and the right-angled cables arrived a couple of weeks back but I've just been way too busy to even unpack them. That said I did have a quick peek at one of the EX-H34's and the cables and they seem to be the right way around - so if anyone else (Kode?) is thinking of going down this route I can recommend the span.com cables with relative confidence.

I had thought about doing something like that, however I've just mailed span.com. Let's see what they've got to say about those cables. I'm pretty sure the photo is a mirror image, but, the cable does run the right thing in relation to the 'L' shape on the connector. When I get a reply I'll post a message here. Span are amazingly quick! It seems that they are the right way around. When the local supplier gets some more stock of the EX-H34's I'll order some and I'm going to order the cables now. I'll let you know how it turns out.

I had thought about doing something like that, however I've just mailed span.com. Let's see what they've got to say about those cables. I'm pretty sure the photo is a mirror image, but, the cable does run the right thing in relation to the 'L' shape on the connector. When I get a reply I'll post a message here.

Fantastic! I've already found a couple of similar cables: (http://www.amazon.com/CableHero-Multi-Lane-SFF-8087-Discrete-RIGHT-ANGLE/dp/tech-data/B003BIV17Y, http://www.xpcgear.com/multi-lane-sff-8087-mini-sas-to-4x-sata-right-angle-internal-data-hard-drive-forward-break-out-cable.html) But both of these have the cable facing in the wrong direction (so that they would cover the ventilation holes) but if the photo on the span.com website is correct (I think it's actually a mirror image) then that will fix our problem! I'm going to email them and see if I can find out more.

I just did a bit of searching wrt fans and it might be possible to use this http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/products/casefans/slipstream-120-slim-1200 in conjunction with the EX-H34 and then have some cable headroom. What do you think?

I've just started building a new fileserver based on the Lian-Li PC-343B http://pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=14613 to replace my current rig http://www.digiconcepts.com/chenbro_cases_35.htm which is a very solid and reliable bit of kit but it's just too noisy for my office. So I'm looking to add some "4 in 3" HDD racks to my new box. I've done a fair amount of research on the web and have narrowed it down to the "native" Lian-Li EX-H34 http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/product06.php?pr_index=285&ss_index=12 and the new Kingwin KF-4001-BK http://www.kingwin.com/products/cate/mobile/racks/kf_4001_bk.asp. These two have made the list simply because they seem to be the only ones with 120mm fans - the 80mm fans in my current rig are the main source of noise. Weighing them up so far: EX-H34 Pros 120mm fan "Native" solution (same brand as case) user replaceable fan looks like it has good airflow [*]Cons tight fit between backplane and fan for SATA connectors - my SAS controller has SFF-8087 multilane connectors and it's almost impossible to find an appropriate cable [*]KF-4001-BK Pros 120mm fan trayless looks like the fan is replaceable but I'm unsure no problems with cabling headroom [*]Cons I'm unsure about how well the ventilation and heat conduction will work also unsure about build quality unavailable in Australia - will have to mail order from the USA (edit) The Kingwin website describes the unit as "hotswap" yet the manual says "Please do not remove the hard drive unless the power is off" (edit) Based upon what I can tell from online pictures Kingwin seems to have used a fair amount of plastic in the construction So I'm wondering does anyone have any experience with either of these and can comment on the pros/cons I've outlined above. (edit) I just read this review http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=2372 of a similar unit (perhaps the same OEM) branded as ICYdock and the comments on the build quality at the end of the review are a little concerning