[GTALUG] Build critique request and the story behind it.

[Russell]

On November 22, 2017 12:01:02 AM EST, William Park via talk <talk at gtalug.org> wrote:
>On Wed, Nov 15, 2017 at 11:51:50AM -0500, Russell via talk wrote:
>> http://www.coolermaster.com/case/lan-box-haf-series/haf-xb-evo/
>
>What is special about this case?  If you stand it on its end, it looks
>like very thick tower, where harddisks are behind the motherboard.

I chose it for the form. I have degeneration in the lower disks of my spine so lift and carry have become issues for me. This form factor is easy to lift and carry. Basically it's an 18 in cube. 

Stand with your arms extended downward, palms facing in and touching your legs. Raise your arms at the elbows and pick something up. If it is too narrow, this forces your elbows out and puts pressure on your spine; if it is too wide this also forces your elbows away from your body, also causing stress. This is why plastic milk crates are the size they are, to reduce the carry load put on the back of the person carrying them.

I don't know what you mean by hard disks being behind the MB but this unit has pretty standardized modular drive cradles. The unit can be opened on the top and sides allowing for ample illumination and access.

The planar mount tray is separate from the bottom of the case and about 1/4 the way up from the bottom. This creates a torsion box for added rigidity. You could pick it up by the top rails with the top and sides with the handles removed and not fear over torquing the pcb.

The p/s mount is at the bottom which lowers the centre of gravity, also good for moving the unit around. Plus extra filters for air cooling. If the p/s intake fan is on the top, you flip it over, fan down and there is a removable filter tray for dust on the bottom. If the fan is on the side by the plug end, there is an included bracket for extra fans. The whole thing is marketed as optimized for airflow. That alone wouldn't have done it, airflow is usually easily managed, just add more and bigger/better fans.

As a total package though, it fit my needs quite nicely. 

>-- 
>William Park <opengeometry at yahoo.ca>
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Russell