Chenbro SR205

With the above requirements, we scoured the internet for potential cases and settled on the Chenbro SR205. Those of you hardcore case modders may be familiar with this case as it was one of the first to offer a front and rear 120mm fan, it even goes beyond that with a 80mm fan in front of the hard drives. The 120mm fan positions can also accommodate 92mm fans as well. As you all know, hard drives are becoming a more substantial source of heat in our systems. With a fan directed at the hard drives, the drives will be kept cool and hopefully have their MTBF's extended. This case has an ample supply of drive bays, with five 3.5" bays and three 5.25" bays. The 5.25" bays use drive rails. I think drive rails are nice, but they are often proprietary so if you lose the set that came with your case, you'll have to contact the manufacturer. This happened to us, and we are pleased to report that Chenbro was very prompt in returning our RMA request and was also very helpful. Clearly they take pride in customer service and stand behind their products. It also supports extended ATX motherboards which not all cases do, even if you don't have an extended ATX motherboard, this alone suggests that the case will be provide adequate room for peripherals and will make working in it a little easier.

A quick inside look at the case in progress –the drives are not installed in bays yet, and we’re running a temporary PSU

A unique feature of this case is the cardholder. At first this appears like a bulky air flow restrictor, but in fact it can be used to provide additional pressure on your PCI or AGP cards, preventing them from falling out during shipping or moving of the computer. This cardholder can accommodate just about any PCI card, except for the very low profile network adaptors. I think more cases should incorporate this to ensure that the cards stay put.

The card holder keeps cards in place

This case is not perfect though. It is clearly designed for a business environment as removal of the side panels to access the interior involves first removing the top cover and then the side panel with a unique handle mechanism. It is not a screwless case either, but personally I prefer the security of old fashion screws, rather than friction or spring based retention mechanism that may fatigue over time. This is a steel case, so it is not a lightweight. The steel is of good quality with a dull grey finish, this is a less expensive steel than the polished shiny steel in the Supermicro case. It uses 1 mm thick steel, and the side panels exhibit minimal flex. In addition, this case won't get too much attention sitting on your desk, which may be a good or bad thing, depending upon your preferences. I would have also like to see some front USB and firewire ports as well.

Mods

So no case is perfect, but the question becomes what are you going to do about it? Well, we're taking our dremel out. The plastic front panel of the Chenbro obscures the front 80mm fan intake. With the stock setup, this 80mm fan has a restricted intake path, reducing airflow and increasing noise. What we've done is to simply cut out an opening in the plastic panel to facilitate airflow. This is a common, previously described mod for the Chenbro SR205 case.

The stock front panel

After the mod

Now the 80mm fan is exposed. (Again, ignore the temporary placement of drives – we’re waiting for our real equipment to come in)]

With the bezel on, it’ll look stock