USB 3.0 Cases

[LiamC]

Coug, love your work

 

[LiamC]

~~snip

Miscellanous components : DVD burner (~20$) and boot drive (Intel 320 series 80GB - 160$).~~snip

Here, fixed it for ya

boot drive (Intel 320 series 8MB - paperweight)

 

[LunarMist]

8MB paperweight? Is that an issue now?

 

[LiamC]

Yep. Intel has been aware of the issue for a while, but has yet to fix it.

http://techreport.com/discussions.x/21299

http://communities.intel.com/message/131623

 

[CougTek]

Hmmm, I thought only the 120GB model was subject to the bug. It seems I was wrong. Anyway, it only occurs during a power loss and I've included a decent UPS, so a suddent shut down of the system should not happen. I suppose we could swap the 320 for a 510 series for a small price increase. On an almost 18K$ budget, I don't think it matters that much.

 

[CougTek]

While it is not as small as most of the cases Time showed in the original post, the latest NZXT enclosure beats them all on price :

NZXT Source 210 Elite - only 49.99$.
Top 140mm fan, space for routing cables, bottom space for the PSU, front USB 3.0 port with a USB motherboard header and tool-less design (except for the motherboard).

I've got one for a customer build and for the money, it's impressive. I paid it 53$ (it was on sale by 10$), a price comparable to Antec's One/Two/Three Hundred enclosures, but it feels a class higher. The chassis is much sturdier than the Antec trio. Better than something like a Thermaltake V3/V4 or Cooler Master Elite 310 too. In fact, it is more comparable to enclosures I normally get in the 80$-100$ range.

The USB 3.0 internal connector is a 20-pin one, but there's no USB 2.0 header adapter, so you don't put a cheap motherboard in there. Time was right regarding its size : this is no small case. It is about one inch deeper than the Antec Three Hundred, but also almost an inch shorter (in height). I have yet to put the motherboard inside (I haven't received it yet : Asus P8Z68-V LE) so I can't tell you how quiet are the bundled 120mm (rear) and 140mm (top) fans are, but NZXT folks normally put above-average fans in their enclosures so I'm not worried.

The conclusion is simple : this is my new favorite 60$ case. I haven't seen anything yet comparable in that price range. Not from In Win, not from Antec, not from Cooler Master or Thermaltake. Silverstone tower enclosures are more expensive if you want front USB 3.0 ports and I haven't tried BitFenix's products yet. I don't think Lian Li makes enclosures that cheap and Xigmatek doesn't offer enclosures with front USB 3.0 ports in my neck of the woods (and their enclosures have other quirks too).

 

[Mercutio]

That's the conclusion I came to as well. I still have to stick with HEC cases that include a bundled PSU most of the time, but if I'm building a reasonably nice computer, that's what I'm going to use from now on.

 

[CougTek]

A few critics regarding the Source 210 Elite :

• Two holes where the motherboard standoffs go were very hard to screw. I had to take a long nose to tighten them.
• The internal fan connectors should be small PWM 4-pin types. Instead, they are 3-pin type and take their power from a 4-pin molex connector. Also, one of the two cables isn't long enough for some motherboards. I left them unplugged from the motherboard and 7-volted the molex connector.
• The case fans are noisy. The noise isn't so bad when you 7-volt them, but at 12V, they are annoying.
• A hole to pass the 12V motherboard connector on the top of the motherboard plate would be nice to route that cable.

The rest was fairly ok, especially considering the price.

 

[time]

Silverstone PS07B
31 liter Mini-tower, 400mm depth, 5x 3.5" + 1x 2.5" HDD, 3x 120mm fans.

Very good usability review

Manufacturer product page

Exceptionally well-thought-out design for large tower coolers and just $79 from NewEgg. Not bad.

 

[CougTek]

Anandtech also reviewed it a few days ago.

 

[CougTek]

Am I the only one here eager to get my hands on the upcoming Silverstone SG09? Put an Asus Rampage IV Gene into it, with a Xeon E5-2687W, a Cooler Master TPC-812 cooler, a 32GB 1600MHz memory kit, a slim slot-load DVD drive, 2x 4TB Hitachi 7K4000 drives and 4x Samsung 830 series SSD and you've got one Hell of a system. A modular PSU is mandatory too, as well as a graphic card matching your 3D needs (or lack of).

 

[CougTek]

Am I the only one here eager to get my hands on the upcoming Silverstone SG09?

You lucky wallabies! The SG09 is available for sale in Australia, but still not here.

 

[Mercutio]

Cooler Master Elite 120 Advance



mITX. 3x3.5" or 4x2.5" drive bays, 5.25" bay, supports full size video cards, one front USB3 port, uses a standard PSU. And they're $50.

 

[CougTek]

Here's a new one, about the same size (19.5L) as the Cooler Master Elite 120, but better IMO : Fractal Design Node 304. No external bays, but internal space for 6 drives and capable of hosting heatsinks up to 165mm high. Accepts standard PSU too. Two front USB 3.0 ports of course. ~80$.

 

[LunarMist]

Where do you put the optical drive then?

 

[CougTek]

You don't put an optical drive. Use an external USB-powered one if you must, but optical drives no longer are mandatory IMO.

 

[CougTek]

Am I the only one here eager to get my hands on the upcoming Silverstone SG09?

There's a review of this case at nanandtech. I'm just waiting for it to be in stock at a store nearby to get one.

 

[CougTek]

Just in case anyone is still unsure about it, the BitFenix Prodigy isn't a small case by any mean. Although it can only house a mini-ITX board, the case is bigger than some mid-tower cases. I also don't understand the logic behind putting two case fans with 3-pin connectors and not provide a 2-to-1 3-pin fan connector to the motherboard. Not many mini-ITX boards have two fan connectors. I know they exist, they're simply not the norm. Otherwise, it's a fine enclosure.

 

[Mercutio]

So I put together a system in the Cooler Master Elite 120. It's a sweet little rig, an i5-3570 sitting on an Asus P8Z77 Deluxe, 16GB and a Radeon 7770. I put in a 4-in-1 2.5" to 5.25" bay, which is where the boot drive (a spare X25) lives.
The thermals on that system aren't so great. The fan stays on a fairly high speed all the time, but there's very little clearance inside to mount something different. As a proof of concept, it is an amazing machine.

 

[MaxBurn]

That sounds impressive. They say it supports "Ultra High-End VGA’s (HD7990/GTX690)"

I just got rid of my PC and was thinking about making another and if I do there is a good chance I would go this way. Hmm.

 

[ddrueding]

The gtx690 can produce an insane amount of of heat. I would treat it with a lot of respect.

 

[Mercutio]

With the Cooler Master case I'm referencing, I wouldn't want an i7 or a graphics card much over $150. I wish I could've found an ITX board with 6 SATA ports though. I actually could use all of them in that case, including the 4-in-1 bay.

 

[MaxBurn]

Noted and as I am looking at both I guess I should go elsewhere.

I also have a need for an external drive holder to dock a laptop to via USB3. Something that can hold a 5.25" optical and a couple hard drives, all SATA. Unfortunately this is in the area where a lot of crap is. Any recommendations on one of those?

 

[Mercutio]

I'm given to understand that USB notebook docks all tend to suck, and multi-bay USB enclosures are ridiculously expensive for some reason. The Elite 120 actually has a gasket for running internal-to-external cables, so you could probably get away with rigging up some unholy combination of USB cables and just using it as an enclosure.

 

[CougTek]

I wish I could've found an ITX board with 6 SATA ports though.

Either you don't read what I write or you have a serious attention problem. The board I talked about in my previous post has 6 SATA ports.

 

[Mercutio]

Two of them are shared with eSATA... which I'm also using.

 

[MaxBurn]

I'm given to understand that USB notebook docks all tend to suck, and multi-bay USB enclosures are ridiculously expensive for some reason. The Elite 120 actually has a gasket for running internal-to-external cables, so you could probably get away with rigging up some unholy combination of USB cables and just using it as an enclosure.

We are sort of thinking the same thing.

-Mini ITX case with a power supply and the bays I need.
-A USB3 hub.
-Multiple SATA to USB3 adapters because I can't seem to find any that do multiple drives.

I would have to rig a switch so you can turn it on and hopefully power the adapters from the PS as well. All a bit of a mess inside for that.

$119 for and optical and two drives, not included but I already have.

Not thrilled at this prospect.

 

[Mercutio]

That chassis you linked is a super POS. I've used them before and it's really easy to break the tabs on the front cover.
You could do well with something like this though.

 

[MaxBurn]

Good suggestion, I didn't think of that angle and it solves the power switch problem.

Might not have enough room for all the dongles I'm thinking about.

 

[CougTek]

Random fact : You can fit a Thermalright SilverArrow SB-E on an ASRock Z87E-ITX inside a Fractal Design Node 304 as long as you just install the middle heatsink fan and not the front one. You can also fit a GTX780 if you remove one of the three hard drive brackets.

Of course, the Node 304 has a volume of 19.5 Liters and everything would fit better inside a 23 Liters Silverstone SG09 or SG10 on a µATX motherboard, but still. Both Silverstone cases also occupies less desk space (30mm less width and 20mm less depth).

Food for thoughts.

 

[CougTek]

Built a system today inside a Silverstone RV03 that I bought for 78.88$. Best airflow I've ever had in a case. There are a few things I don't like like the way the front USB ports are connected to the USB 3.0 ports of the motherboard's backplate, but overall, despite the huge size, I like a lot. It took me a little time to figure out where to plug the power cord (bottom, near the front of the enclosure). Not very loud either, considering the amount of air going through it. Now, all I need is money to get another Radeon HD 7970...

 

[LunarMist]

Built a system today inside a Silverstone RV03 that I bought for 78.88$. Best airflow I've ever had in a case. There are a few things I don't like like the way the front USB ports are connected to the USB 3.0 ports of the motherboard's backplate, but overall, despite the huge size, I like a lot. It took me a little time to figure out where to plug the power cord (bottom, near the front of the enclosure). Not very loud either, considering the amount of air going through it. Now, all I need is money to get another Radeon HD 7970...

There are a lot of compromises for the airflow. Do you have hard flooring?

 

[CougTek]

Yes and for the moment, it sits on the coffee table in my living room. Not much dust out there.

 

[CougTek]

BitFenix will soon launch the perfect case : the Prodigy-M. It combines the best features of the Silverstone TJ08E and SG09B. I didn't like the original Prodigy due to its size for a mini-ITX enclosure, but a similar size would be very acceptable for a µATX enclosure.

 

[Mercutio]

I'm trying to build a mid-range-ish living room game system because of reasons. I modded a USB hub and notebook DVD drive in to the 5.25" bay for extra-easy gamepad and flash drive plug-ins. It's kind of ugly but it's a nice feel for something that's meant to be console-like.

I have a Cooler Master Elite 120, a 35W Ivy Bridge i3, 240GB SSD and a whole bunch of different graphics cards to try out, ranging from a Radeon 6850, GT650, 6670, (DDR5) Radeon 5570 down to a GT630 of unknown and clearly worst specification. PSU is a 360W Gold-series Seasonic that's never given me any trouble.

I can't do a whole hell of a lot about the CPU without switching to a CULV chip and I'm already using a cooler sized for an i7 rather than the one it came with, but seemingly the moment I bring up a game that touches the 3D hardware - even something ridiculously light for a modern hardware machine like Q3A - I get a crash within perhaps 10 minutes. It's clearly temperature related, but the CPU is usually under 60C when I check the BIOS and the actual enclosure is supposedly designed to support even dual-slot high-end cards.

I had hoped to use my passively cooled 6670 for this rig but even my low-end cards can't stay running inside that box.

Anyone have ideas for further temperature management in an ITX rig?

 

[CougTek]

Of course, you've double-checked the CPU heatsink installation and insured that you didn't forget to apply thermal paste, so I won't mention it.

You haven't removed the case fan next to the motherboard, targeting the CPU placement? Do you use high-end RAM that needs 1.65V? They do get hotter and could make your system crash. Also, what about the chipset's heatsink? Often the retention mecanism of those is quite poorly made and they end up only partially covering the chipset.

I have plenty of experience with mini-ITX systems, but I don't remember having ever used that enclosure. I felt it was too poorly ventilated. It shouldn't crash playing Quake 3 Arena though.

 

[Mercutio]

The stock fan is in place. The RAM is 1.5V Kingston something-or-other. One 8GB module.The machine is completely fine without the discrete GPU. In Q3A, at least.
It's the graphics card.

I don't really want to cut out the side of the panel to add a 120mm fan to push air out, but that's the only thing I can think of; adding more heat sink without active cooling is eventually just going to prolong the time before the crash.
I was hoping I'd be able to add a hard drive or two in the front bays and there isn't really a good way to draw air through the front of the chassis for a front mounted fan anyway.

The Radeon 5570 supposedly only draws about 39 - 60W. With the CPU at 35W, I should be in PicoPSU territory. I guess I could pull my power supply and try to rig up something that fits in that same space.

 

[Mercutio]

The stock fan is in place. The RAM is 1.5V Kingston something-or-other. One 8GB module.The machine is completely fine without the discrete GPU. In Q3A, at least.
It's the graphics card.

I don't really want to cut out the side of the panel to add a 120mm fan to push air out, but that's the only thing I can think of; adding more heat sink without active cooling is eventually just going to prolong the time before the crash.
I was hoping I'd be able to add a hard drive or two in the front bays and there isn't really a good way to draw air through the front of the chassis for a front mounted fan anyway.

The Radeon 5570 supposedly only draws about 39 - 60W. With the CPU at 35W, I should be in PicoPSU territory. I guess I could pull my power supply and try to rig up something that fits in that same space.

 

[ddrueding]

The Radeon 5570 supposedly only draws about 39 - 60W. With the CPU at 35W, I should be in PicoPSU territory. I guess I could pull my power supply and try to rig up something that fits in that same space.

This sounds like a good plan, the other would be to use heatpipes to route the GPU heat to the chassis.

 

[CityK]

Anyone have ideas for further temperature management in an ITX rig?

The Northbridge/chipset getting adequate cooling?