1. I was wondering if anyone has tried the xclio Nighthawk case with 3 3x5.25 hotswap cages in it? Should I try it or go with a more popular case?

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811103026&cm_re=blackhawk-_-11-103-026-_-Product

 

2. For mobo selection, I have a ASUS A8N-sli Deluxe with a 4200 x2 sitting in my closet.  I was wondering if this board is supported and if it will be an easy boot.

 

  I tested my flash drive with an old socket A board with a 3200 xp cpu (has no sata connections) with 3 ide 80 gig hdds and everything worked awesome.

 

  I'm wondering if I go with the ASUS and buy a cheap vid card if it will give me the same results, or would it be easier to just buy new hardware that is supported?

 

3. If I do go with the ASUS should I get a PCI vid card and leave both pci-e x16 lanes open?

 

Thanks the the help.

1. I was wondering if anyone has tried the xclio Nighthawk case with 3 3x5.25 hotswap cages in it? Should I try it or go with a more popular case?

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811103026&cm_re=blackhawk-_-11-103-026-_-Product

I don't have any experience with that case... maybe someone else will.

 

2. For mobo selection, I have a ASUS A8N-sli Deluxe with a 4200 x2 sitting in my closet.  I was wondering if this board is supported and if it will be an easy boot.

That is an NForce 4 based board which is NOT recommended for use.  Those boards have a tendency to corrupt data.  Have a look through the Hardware Compatibility Page for more information.

 

I'm wondering if I go with the ASUS and buy a cheap vid card if it will give me the same results, or would it be easier to just buy new hardware that is supported?

If the Asus passes some testing then that should work fine and you would not need to by new hardware.

 

3. If I do go with the ASUS should I get a PCI vid card and leave both pci-e x16 lanes open?

You should be able to do that.  Some motherboard manufacturers did set up there boards so that ONLY video cards would work in those slots.  There is no way to tell short of trying it yourself or talking to an ASUS tech rep.

nVidia nForce series 5 or above (nForce4 or below NOT recommended, except Asus A8N-SLI

 

Guess I could give it a try with a vid card I have in one of my systems.

 

Would be nice to save as much money as I can to throw into more 2tb hds

I haven't used that case either, but I don't see anything wrong with it.  Give it a shot, let us know how it goes.

I have the nighthawk case from xclio which is very similar. It's ok but the hard drive cages that are included are a bit rubbish but if you are going to use different ones you may fare a bit better.