May 7, 201115 yr Like many I'm sure, my unraid box began from a bunch of used crap I had laying around...in my case (HAH!) an old Supermicro SC-750A case, an AMD X2 based motherboard, a still decent Enermax Liberty 650W power supply and other odds and ends, it was a sorry looking unit with 10 drives, a true Frankenputer: Well, the case had pretty much reached it's limits for 1:1 mounting points and I'd been eyeing the Lian Li PC-P80 for quite some time (About 2 years+). So I took the plunge. Some of my design goals were to have it remain as quiet as possible, it'd be in the den with me and my wife and you know how that can be... (Altho it does hold her DVD collection so she can't get TOO upset). I also wanted to simplify drive replacement as I was sick and tired of screws. Replacing a drive in my Antec 1200 case takes no less than 16 screw removal/insertions. 2 on the right panel, 2 on left panel, 4 on right side of drive module, 4 on left side of drive module, 4 for the drive itself...and of course 3 SATA connections to disconnect and 4 power connections. PAIN IN THE >ASS<. 'Screw' that! So ya, I bought one for my desktop as well...(yet to be rebuilt). Anyhow, a trayless drive module was a must, very Drobo-like, pop and go. I had considered 5-in-3 modules but the controller I was going to use was a 16 port 3WARE so 4x 4-in-3's made sense. I scoured around and finally settled on the Kingwin KF-4001-BK module. It has vented front doors, metal engaging points, trayless and a nice 120mm fan on the rear that is EASILY accessible for replacement and has a simple 3 pin connection. Fans die, it's nice to not have to spend an hour disassembling something to replace them. I also wanted decent cooling and that is why I chose the Lian Li PC-P80, with the 3 140mm fans up in front of the bays in addition to the 120mm's pulling the air thru the modules, things are going to stay cool. And with the fans in the door, cleaning the filter or replacing the fans is relatively easy. Anyhow, here are some quick snapshots, was sick all last week but finally got the strength to throw it together on Thursday: As you can see, there is BOATLOADS of room in this case, it's quite roomy, about as tall as the SC-750A but much deeper: I could have probably spent a bit more time getting those 16 cables to feed thru a little cleaner but I was still feeling pretty crappy and just wanted to get the thing done. So far the only downsides I see to this case are price (Yes it's a luxury), and there is no cover over the reset/power buttons...cases need these to protect us with 2 yr olds... Anyhow, hope you enjoyed the pics and my rants, not really looking forward to tearing my desktop apart but will enjoy it once it's done. Building fresh is fun, RE-building isn't so much fun...
May 7, 201115 yr Nice build! Generally I wouldn't recommend the P80 for a quiet build because the 120mm fans mounted in the door are somewhat loud, even on the lowest setting. Do you find them to be quiet enough?
May 9, 201115 yr PC-P80 is a nice case. Too expensive tho I agree, much like my own Sweet looking build tho
May 9, 201115 yr Wow very pretty! I need to clean up my wiring. Try routing them along the side instead of having them all in the middle.
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