I’ve spent more than the past week trying to locate what I was hoping would be a relatively simple, likely commercially manufactured server enclosure consisting of a short depth (similar to the NORCO RPC-431), support for an ATX PSU, ATX motherboard support, but most importantly 3x 120mm fans in the front where I could mount a 240mm or 360mm radiator.
For the life of me though I can’t seem to locate anything like this. The closest I’ve found is the Norco RPC-431 which I should be able to modify to suit the application but they appear to have stopped being manufactured.
At this point I’m starting to think about asking Protocase but I’d like to keep the unit cost <$100 because I need 3 or more of them.
Does anyone know where I might source an enclosure like this?
The one NORCO RPC-431 that I do have I picked up for $86 and there’s a number of other 4U chassis in the sub $150 range but aren’t ideal for what I want to do. Yes there are many server chassis with much higher price tags but no not all of them are as expensive as you think. I just can’t seem to locate one with the design I’m looking for that’s still manufactured.
Protocase is a no go though. Your cost estimate is accurate there.
Have you looked at logic-case?
They resell cheap rack mountables, and distribute with various brand names?
I would probably look for a less cheap used case, but if you want cheap, Logic case resell cases from “tgcipc” (Dong HE seem to be the oem) seem about the cheapest, and they seem to copy Norco and resell as different brands.
They don’t have the same quality as a proper chassis slinger likes Norco or Super Micro, but if you gonna not or bash it around, they are cheaper.
They’re going to be used for a simple application. I’m basically just looking for something short depth, rack-mountable, for some otherwise basic PC’s so they won’t be getting bashed around but I am worried about going the super cheap route like Alibaba because I expect if I do I could see screw-holes that don’t line up correctly and the like.
Just last night I stumbled across the name logic-case and they have good price tags for otherwise fine boxes. If I can find one that suits my application I’ll probably go for them.
Also the site you linked won’t load. Says it couldn’t be reached.
Didn’t intend to actually put a link, just copied the name from a box; they are the own anyway.
One of the chassis I have has stupid hole placement, so I drilled new ones and riveted the rail kit to the case.
The chassis are cheap for a reason in the UK they are resold by servercaseuk and xcaseuk, not sure of American resellers.
If you want a durable case, you’d be better off getting used off eBay or whatever, because you might get what you paid for new
I think I’ve found a chassis that’ll do the job with some minor~moderate modifications. The Rosewill RSV-R4100. With some custom brackets I can rig a 240mm or 360mm radiator in-front of an ATX motherboard and I should have enough clearance for ventilation. Will probably replace the 5.25" covers with something perforated.
The boxes would be $80/each. A cost I’m comfortable with.
Whoops, L1 Servers ≠ General server discussion? When it asked me for category it was the only server category that popped up. Didn’t read that it was only for game specific servers. I thought a server sub-forum would be a better place to ask than a general chassis sub-forum.
Also just out of curiosity what is this?: “This topic will automatically close in 9 months.” Not that I expect to need anywhere near this much time.
Deep enough to hold an ATX motherboard with at least an extra 10cm in front of that for long GPU’s and to hold the radiator in the front.
So 16"~17" maximum depth. I need enough clearance behind the server from the wall to get cables in.
I’ll have to remember the Enterprise Hardware category for the next time. You can tell my my stats that I haven’t spent a lot of time here. I hail from a forum where the chassis sub-forum is almost exclusively gaming rigs. I didn’t know if that would be the same case here or not so I gambled on the sub-forum that said servers.
in the UK they are resold by servercaseuk and xcaseuk, not sure of American resellers.