4p systems - Cases and Case Mods

[tuigi69]

Splitting the monster 4p thread for easier access to information. Was busy this weekend so unable to post pics from my Cooler Master 932 mod. Will try to edit pics and post here.

[Norcalsteve]

Looking forward to it, as I will be moding my 932 for a Supermicro (special order) just like yours

[ChasR]

My CM Stacker STC T01-UW certainly looks like it has the room in it. Being that it encases an an active server, I'm reluctant to stick a tape measure in it.

[Adak]

^^^ ^^^

C'mon Charles, where's your sense of adventure?

[CJ145]

Plastic rulers ftw? I have a stacker too, it looks like it might fit. What are the measurements? I will check mine.

[Adak]

Plastic rulers ftw? I have a stacker too, it looks like it might fit. What are the measurements? I will check mine.

The Tyan 4p boards are 16.2 x 13.0 inches

The SuperMicro board SWTX sized, is 16.48 x 13.0 inches

That's a bit misleading however, because you need to line up the i/o manifold area with your case - and then check your measurements to see if your case will handle that board.

In the case of the SWTX board, I had to move it up one row of offset holes, (so that the i/o panel was correctly placed in the case's opening), which made the top of the board, just barely fit in the large CubiTek HPTX Tank case.

It seems like the bottom half of the SuperMicro 4p board is normal in it's length from the i/o panel to the bottom of the board. The upper part of the board, seems to have the added length of the board. Plenty of extra room in this case at the bottom of the board, and no extra room at the top of the board.

First one is looking at the clearance of the Ripjaws RAM heat spreader, to the bottom of the heatsink fan - not much! Point of view is from just below the power supply at the bottom of the case. (The case is on the countertop, on it's side).


The others are self-explanatory bottom clearance mobo to case floor, is 6 inches (3 on tape, + 3 for the body of the tape measure). Top pic is with the roof of the case removed, and shows almost no clearance, even with the top fans of this case, removed. Since the Noctua fans are all blowing hot air upward through the ventilated roof of the case, that should be no problem here. In a case without a ventilated roof, I'm sure it would limit the cooling substantially.

[tuigi69]

Well I had taken a bunch of pictures of my 4p rig and the mods to the HAF 932 case and Hyper 212+ w/ alt mounting system. Unfortunately, my 2-year old got a hold of my camera before I could upload the pics. Whereabouts of the camera is currenly unknown, although I do believe that it is still somewhere in the house. I'll eventually find the camera (I hope). Anyway, I took some more pics with my phone. And here is the grand unveilling.



Notice how the top 200mm fan is now on the outside of the case. I need to get a 200mm grill guard to prevent objects and fingers from getting into the fan.



Without the door. OOOOOHHHHH SHINY. I also added another 120mm fan to the front on the inside of the case. It resides at the lower portion of the 5.25" bay. The front has a perforated internal grill and the holes are just large enough with the correct pattern to add a fan w/o and drilling. Just line up the holes and screw the fan in.



I originally had a Corsair TX750 750w PSU. I upgraded to a Corsair AX 750 750w PSU. I dropped from 610w to about 555w. It's "only" a 60w drop, but over the course of 24/7 356 days a year folding, it adds up to significant electricity and financial savings. An added bonus is that the AX750 is completely modular, so I can reduce the cable clutter. Just four cables used, main power, two 8-pin auxiliary power and SATA power.





Closeup shot of the Super Micro motherboard overhang. Also noted that I strung the power cable from the external 200mm fan, through the water cooling grommets and below the MB. I also had to add a fan power extension cable to it to reach the other side of the MB, where additional case fan headers are located. I have five case fans, 120mm and 200mm in front blowing in, 120mm on the bottom blowing in, 140mm on back blowing out, and 200mm fan blowing up. The hot air now mostly exhausts through the top.

[harlam357]

@tuigi - Do you not have the top of the board secured at all? Based on this last pic it appears there is nothing securing the top. Is that correct?

Are you seeing a considerable amount of stress on the board with the rather large Hyper 212?

[madhatter256]

No screws, but I do see those plastic thingys sticking through instead. Those are likely screwed onto the board or glued....

[harlam357]

I see them now too... however, questions still stand.

[Spotswood]

I've designed these simple trays specifically for 2p/4p benchers.



I've built a few of these for members on some other forums, but none (that I know of) that are members of OC, but maybe that'll change soon.

More pics and info can be found here.

[tuigi69]

@tuigi - Do you not have the top of the board secured at all? Based on this last pic it appears there is nothing securing the top. Is that correct?

Are you seeing a considerable amount of stress on the board with the rather large Hyper 212?

Actually, I only put the case standing for the pics. The system normally lies flat on the back side of the case. I trimmed the part which goes through the motherboard from nylon motherboard standoffs (you can see the part that goes through the motherboard in the closeup of the upper left of the case). This provides a nice flat support for the motherboard. I then actually glued them directly to the motherboard tray, approximately half a cm below (south) of each of the mounting holes along the top of the MB. The MB rests on these standoffs so pressure is more evenly distributed and there isn't any part of the MB hanging.

I will eventually rig something up so that the MB will be attached to the case along the top of the MB. That way I can stand it up and it will take less floor space, which means I can move it around the house to act as a portable heater (albeit a VERY EXPENSIVE, portable heater.)

I'm thinking of using the leftover closet rail system used for the Hyper212 mod to directly mount to the lower MB tray frame. Then mounting the brass MB standoffs to the rail system.

[WhitehawkEQ]

tuigi69, those 200mm fans your talking about, if those are the stock fans that came with the case then they are 230mm if not then disregard

[tuigi69]

tuigi69, those 200mm fans your talking about, if those are the stock fans that came with the case then they are 230mm if not then disregard

Whoops, you're right they are stock 230mm fans.

[TC]

Any tower cases that fit the swtx without mods? Didn't somebody use the xigmatek elysium without mods? Moving a fan is no big deal, but I'd prefer not to have to drill and tap for the mobo, not to mention making up brackets and such.

[MattNo5ss]

What are the dimensions of that form factor and locations of standoffs? The Switch 810 is massive, TJ07 almost fits inside of it... I could check dimensions for you.

[Adak]

The size is 16.48 x 13.0 inches, but the SWTX format is proprietary. We've been looking for quite awhile now, and nobody has a case that is made for this format - no one except the server cases built for it.

Some cases are large enough, and don't need much modifications, but all of them need some drilling for new offsets to be placed into the mobo tray - unless you want to risk not having all the standoff's connected. Tuigi (above) glued plastic offsets to the back of his mobo and to the mobo tray, in lieu of drilling and using the standoffs. I've never tried this, myself.

I left two offsets of my SWTX board build unused, but needed to drill out three offset holes (and chose to tap them as well), not counting the top row, where another three got drilled and tapped.

[CJ145]

I can tell from the above pictures that the board should fit in a Coolermaster Stacker 810. There are many other Stackers that have a very similar interior layout that it should work in as well. You may need to make more standoff holes, but the mobo tray is solid to the top of the case. No need to hack in brackets.

[TC]

I've designed these simple trays specifically for 2p/4p benchers. I've built a few of these for members on some other forums, but none (that I know of) that are members of OC, but maybe that'll change soon.

More pics and info can be found here.

I assume you're fabbing your tray with all the proper holes for swtx then?

[Spotswood]

I assume you're fabbing your tray with all the proper holes for swtx then?

Yes, the SWTX standoff holes are based on a tracing of a SM HFQGi board. Although I haven't had a chance to personally verify the accuracy of the tracing, no one has complained yet. Also, I use female threaded spacers so the board is guaranteed to be supported even if a few of the motherboard holes are off.

It would be nice to get another tracing though.