Pimp Your Rig


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Not really ready to pimp my rig, but more sharing a WIP, as well as looking for some feedback. Bear in mind, this is my first project.. On this side of the case, the cable management needs a lot of work. Can I combine the molex cables without restrictions? I now have only one cable (from the power supply) serving all fans and HD cages. How can I best fasten the cables on this side of the cage? Of course any and all feedback is greatly appreciated! 

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This looks like your PSU:

 

http://www.corsair.com/products/hx750/default.aspx

 

You have "Single +12V rail design providing up to 62A".  That's what is available to power all your Molex plugs.  So you need to add up all the amps used by your various HDDs, cages, and fans.  If the total is less than 62, then you are fine (and chances are it will be, 62A is huge).

 

As for cable management, I generally don't worry much about that side of the case since it will almost always be hidden and it won't affect airflow much if at all.  The open space inside the case is the are you want to keep organized to help airflow.

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Looks great queeg! What are the dimensions?  That is one cramped case, looks like even the Biostar board barely fits!

 

Dimensions(L x W x H) 15.00" x 7.50" x 13.80"

 

It looks cramped but really it's not.  It was easy to work inside the case.  The camera doesn't show the depth of the case very well.  The sata cables are above the cpu fan by 3 inches.  There's lots of air movement, no fans are blocked.  I haven't see the drives go above 36c in the Icy's.  It's very quiet, quieter than the case I migrated from.

 

I used the Biostar A760G M2+ (8.6" x 7.9" ) but I think my slightly bigger Asus M4A78L-M (9.6" x 8.8" ) might have fit.  

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I work for a company that makes robotic media duplication machines. We use embedded PC's to run each device. I was finally able to aquire one and I think it works perfectly for unraid. I havent tested it yet, but wanted to get some pics on here to show you what I am working on.

 

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Not quite pimpin' yet, but it's getting there....

 

I opted for a Fractal Design Array R2. I replaced the original 140mm fan that came with it with a Thermalright X-Silent 140 which is just as quiet but pushes a lot more air. The temps are around 5-10 lower on average with it. Here it is front and back:

 

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I'm currently up to 3 drives in it, 3 more are waiting to be moved over from Drobo:

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And you can see poor Drobo spilling its guts and accepting its inferiority in front of the mighty unRAID box ;D We had some good times, Drobo and I, but lately it was giving me too much grief so it was time to move on. One of the irks I have with it is the woefully inadequate cooling since the drives are practically sandwiched together. Here it is receiving a breath of fresh air:

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One note regarding the motherboard as well. I got the Zotac NM10-DTX before I read about all the problems with the on-board raid. So far I was able to attach multiple drives to it and have them appear individually. Unfortunately the LAST drive in the array does not respond to SMART commands for an unknown reason. Also, jumpered advanced format drives seem to be bringing the entire array down unless they are preformatted correctly. I'm still investigating that tissue.

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Hey folks, built my first unRAID server about a month ago ... just now getting around to posting some pics.

 

Here's my config:

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Antec Nine Hundred Two Case (w/ 1 extra Antec drive cage for 3 total)

SuperMicro X7SPA-HF Mini ITX Board  (IPMI rocks)

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 200-Pin DDR2 (667)

Corsair 650HX 650W Modular Power Supply

Verbatim TUFF-'N'-TINY 4GB Flash

1 x 2TB Western Digital Caviar Black (parity drive)

2 x 2TB Western Digital Caviar Green (WD20EARS)

2 x 2TB Hitachi Deskstar 7K2000

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If I remember correctly ...

Parity build speed ~60MB/s

Parity check speed ~75MB/s

 

Sorry, I'm a lousy photographer.

 

Such a tiny board in such a big space ...

The Verbatim TUFF-'N'-TINY is installed directly into the motherboard.  It's very tiny and barely noticeable.

I took the time to braid all of the exposed wires (e.g. case fans, front panel IO, etc.) even though they are mostly routed behind the motherboard tray.  Looks nicer that way.

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Here's a better view at the drives.  I only have 5 in there right now (8TB data + 2TB parity).  I will expand as I need more.  They're spaced out right now, so the drives stay very cool. During parity checks, the WD Black maxes out at 30 degrees, the WD Greens max out around 28 degrees, and the Hitachi drives max out at 29 degrees.  These temps are with all of the case fans running at their slowest speeds.

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A look at the backside wiring.  Not too bad ... glad it's hidden. Zip-tie anchors are a must-have.

Also bought a nice braided 12" power cable extender to help route the power behind the motherboard.  Without the extender, the power cable wasn't long enough to route behind the MB tray.

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Oooh ... pretty blue lights.  Cast this bad-boy in the next 'Fast & Furious' flick!  Ok ... seriously, I chose this case because it had nine exposed drive bays and it was fairly cheap ... not because of the blue lights.

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The case came with two drive cages ... each holds 3 drives, has a fan, a fan-speed controller, an air filter, and funky disco lights.  I bought a third drive cage from Antec.

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The case has a window ... it sure made me self-conscious about my wiring.

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Nice, the OCD in me has awaken looking at your sweet cable management. I think I'll be off to buy some cable ties after work today :)

 

And yes, it's amazing how much of a difference even a light breeze makes on the HDD temps. I have one 140mm fan cooling six HDDs and just changing that from a 600rpm one to a 900rpm one changed the temps by 5-10 degrees on average!

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Nice, the OCD in me has awaken looking at your sweet cable management. I think I'll be off to buy some cable ties after work today :)

 

And yes, it's amazing how much of a difference even a light breeze makes on the HDD temps. I have one 140mm fan cooling six HDDs and just changing that from a 600rpm one to a 900rpm one changed the temps by 5-10 degrees on average!

 

Zip ties and zip tie anchors are an absolute MUST HAVE for any PC build.

 

 

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Nice, the OCD in me has awaken looking at your sweet cable management. I think I'll be off to buy some cable ties after work today :)

 

And yes, it's amazing how much of a difference even a light breeze makes on the HDD temps. I have one 140mm fan cooling six HDDs and just changing that from a 600rpm one to a 900rpm one changed the temps by 5-10 degrees on average!

 

Zip ties and zip tie anchors are an absolute MUST HAVE for any PC build.

 

 

jmos1277,

beautiful build...wanna stop by in Berlin and help me out with cable management? Mine's a mess, and yours is a thing of beauty.... ;)

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