January 13, 201412 yr My Antec 900 is brilliant but it's just not big enough for my new Supermicro board and my drive cages. So I'm looking for a case that has either 3-4 5.25 bays, or 6-7 5.25 bays. I'm presuming that for the requirement for the Supermicro board (X10SAT) and the drive cage (SS-500) it will be a big case which is fine. Hook a brother up! FYI I like the Fractal / BitFenix look (clean).
January 13, 201412 yr Fractal Design Define XL, Define XL R2, and Arc XL all have 4x 5.25" bays. The BitFenix Shinobi XL has 5.
January 14, 201412 yr I've built many systems with high-end Lian-Li cases, and they're still my favorites ... especially the PC-P80B and the PC-D8000 units. HOWEVER, the Fractal Design Define cases are a VERY nice and much lower-cost alternative. Depending on the total number of drives you want to support, I'd look at the Define R4 (up to 11 drives); the Define R2 (up to 14 drives); and the Define XL (up to 16 drives). As dirtysanchez noted, the latter two both have 4 5.25" bays, which you can install 3-in-2 cages in to support 3 drives in each pair.
January 14, 201412 yr The new Nanoxia Deep Silence 5 has 4x 5.25'' bays and supports 11x 3.5'' drives out of the box (you can buy an additional HDD cage for 3 more drives). http://www.nanoxia-world.com/product/1/56/Deep+Silence+5+
January 14, 201412 yr Author Great options there. I should probably say at this stage that I want to continue using my norco 5in3 cage for drives and that I will not use any internal drive mounts. Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
January 14, 201412 yr Well that changes things quite a bit. You need 5.25" slots for the Norco 5-in-3's right? So basically you need 9 or 10 5.25" bays? 6 for the two existing 5-in-3's, and another 3 or 4 for either another 5-in-3 or two 3-in-2's, correct? I could only find 7 cases that had 9 or 10 5.25" bays, and none of them had the "clean look" you like, at least on Newegg anyway.
January 14, 201412 yr The MS800 case is about the closest you will find with 10 5.25 bays. The Nexus Prominent 9 was also a good case with 9 5.25 bays. I have one of the Prominent nines still sitting around, but they are no longer sold. The MS800 is the closest replacement.
January 14, 201412 yr I got this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112354 But now I see it doesn't fit your needs (and its out of stock). I got it for like $35 after a MIR, and I got it because its clean, held 6 3.5" hdds (sideways, so easier to get in and out) as well as space for 2 2.5" hdds (cache). That left me with 3 5.25" bays that I can add some sort of caddy in, like a 5in3 if i even need one. It also came with 3 120mm fans, so i was sold. I assume you only want easy in/out hdds, hence your desire to keep using the 5in3s, but if you change your mind, there ya have it.
January 14, 201412 yr Author That zalman case is NICE. Also the plus version looks good too. PS - I'm in UK. Newegg is nice for you and all but I can't get their stuff here... Amazon UK or Scan UK are my outlets of choice.
January 14, 201412 yr There's also the Lian Li PC-A77. Not sure if you can find it in the UK (it's out of stock at Newegg here), but it has 12 5.25" bays and a nice clean look. There are also a few derivitaves of it like the A76 and A79. Lian Li makes some great cases, and they can be a bit pricey, but they are very well built.
January 14, 201412 yr Author Thank you for all your advice. Zalman MS800 Plus was the winner and is now ordered as I liked the built in 3x drive cage at the bottom to add to my existing norco setup. I envisage OS related drives in the zalman cages and data drives in my existing norco's. Looking forward to this arriving on Saturday. Cheers guys! Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
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