Looking for an itx to atx size case that will be used for a home server. I am interested in as few lights on it as possible, and as many 3.5" bays as possible. I would like at least 1 5.25" drive slot for a blu ray reader. The build that is going in it currently is my old serer hardware until I decide what I want to finalize on.
At this point, I am more concerned with the case and placement then I am the hardware itself. For now it is being used as an ark server and NAS. I have looked at many Lian-li cases and everything to Antec nine hundreds. Any suggestions are welcome or past experiences of your own. Thank you
The R6 is the same. But it only comes with 6 HDD mounting brackes in the box. But in theory you should be able to fit up to 10 drives as it has 10 mounting points for those said 6 brackets. I´m not sure if you could fit 10 3.5" drives though (I mean I have both of them now actually the r5 being the NAS/Server case and the R6 being the Desktop case, but I don´t have any HDDs what so ever in my desktop). But you probably can fit 10 I´d imagine. The R5 has 8 3.5" drive mounts and the r6 looks about the same except it´s missing one optical mount of the two the r5 had and replaces it with more place for fans and drives (hence why I think you could actually fit 10 3.5" drives in there). And both of them have 2 additional mounting points for 2.5" SSDs at the back too.
They are really about the same otherwise. Power supply shroud is a personal thing. I´d prefer none, but it´s not a big deal. The side panels on the r6 are better, both in looks (actual glass) and easier to remove and add back on. The power button on the r5 was imo more satisfying to press (as it actually moves), but realistically who cares. Otherwise, there really is not a whole lot of difference between the two. The front door on the R5 is also a bit nicer imo. But I´m not sure how the R5 was when it was new, maybe it was the same. But on the R6 you bend the door a lot to open it (lots of flex) as the top part comes loose first, but the bottom part still holds for a while as you open it at the top and then you end up bending the door every time you open it, witch feels kinda wrong. It´s less of a thing on my r5, but maybe that´s just because the hiches where out over time? But I don´t actually open my front door a lot, so I think it´s actually just like that on the r6.
I´d say get the one that´s cheaper of the two for your purpose. They really don´t differ a whole lot for most purposes.
If you can live without the optical drive I say go small…
Fractal Design Node 304 - ITX case with 6 HDD slots.
I don’t really think you need to spend 150$ for their overpriced R6 case. Go for their older ish
Arc Midi R2 or even older Define Mini - mATX cases with 2x5,25" and 6x3,5" drives.
Fractal Node 804 - MicroITX with up to 8 3.5" drives plus a couple SSDs
Fractal Define R6 - Fit up to 10 3.5" drives but need to order additional brackets. Comes with 6, packs of 2 cost about 12 bucks last I checked
Phanteks Evolv x - Up to 10 3.5" drives and 9 SSDs, but again, only 6 drive cages. Also can fit up to an E-ATX board for main system and mini-ITX at the top
For Rackmount servers, the Rosewill RSV-L4000/L4500/L4412 are good options, depending on what you want for drive capacity. Good for airflow and drive capacity, but a plain jane box.
What also is worth metioning that I forgot is when you look at the drive caddies on the r6 in comparison to the r5 here (the r5 being the white smaller one).
The r6 has two more places for screws and while Seasonic Desktop drives worked fine with the r5 caddies I actually cannot properly mount the Ironwolf drives on that one as the screw holes are spaced further from each other on those drives (works on the r6). But it´s manageable, if you just put in 2 screws and the rubber things it´s fine as long as you don´t put your case upside down.
I wasn´t really aware that more enterprisy´ish NAS HDDs come with a different set of screw holes…
Just something to consider as well for a NAS build, when you buy a new case for that purpose alone.
IT does seem overall that especially considering the price of the R5 vs smaller cases that the R5 is likely the best candidate for the job. No point in paying the same amount for a case that may be self limiting. Especially considering how I like the appearance and design of the Fractal cases
If the drive trays on the R5 don’t fully support newer large drives screw holes, then I would rather get the newer case which apparently does. I would rather the the drives fully anchored and damped. FYI the R2 has similar problem with 10TB Ironwolf screws as the R5, so I guess R3 & R4 have similar problems.
I’m considering upgrading my case from R2 to R6, and if I do I’ll be purchasing 4x 3.5 trays and 2x 2.5 trays to have a full compliment (10x 3.5 + 4x 2.5) and also get the USB-C upgrade. I got burnt with the R2 by delaying purchasing the USB3 upgrade so long that the USB3 upgrade was no longer available.
It´s preferable. But as I said it´s not really a big issue. It does not make more noice and it can´t really go anywhere other than theoretically upwards the side it isn´t screwed in. But gravity is a thing. So… not gonna happen. Just gotta either tape down the drives or take them out when moving the NAS to another place entierly.
I’ve replied before but as I semi recently built my new server/NAS in an R6 I figured I’d post again:
R6 can fit 9 3.5" drives if you want to use the 5.25" drive bay (4 2.5" drives as well). Comes with 6 3.5" trays, and 2 2.5" trays, so if you need more you’d need to buy them. I found it difficult to actually get a seller that had these brackets. I had to get white versions of the 3.5" trays as I couldn’t find any black versions of the trays being sold anywhere I was comfortable buying from.
Had no problems building in the case at all, though I will say if you want to mount an AIO in the top, be conscious of the screws at the top. The top air filter/cover has problems staying seated properly due to the screws on my AIO not being flat, resulting in one corner not properly being snapped in. Minor complaint, but still annoying for a $160 case (plus like $50 for the extra brackets).
