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Case advice for E-ATX motherboards

Underscore
By Underscore
in Cases and Mods
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Posted

Hey guys (and gals)!

As a sort of follow up to a topic I posted on here a few days ago I was wondering if people here had some expirience/advice/tips on cases for E-ATX motherboards.
The motherboard in question is originally a server motherboard, a Dell T5600. It's 47.1cm (18.54 inches) X 41.40 cm (16.30 inches).

I've been struggeling to find tower cases that would accomodate such a large motherboard so I was wondering if there are any out there or if I would just be better of just straight up going for a 1U or 2U rack because finding an ATX tower to house such a large motherboard would be a foolish endeavour.

 

Any tips are greatly apriciated, especially if it is in regards to names/model numbers or manufacturers of rack mounted cases as this is a market I know virtually nothing about and I would just end up searching 2U or 1U on ebay.

Thank you so much for the read!

A VFX artist dabbling in the dark arts of programming in his spare time

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ATX motherboard is only 12 inch (30.5cm) by 9.6 inch (24.4cm). It is hard to get a case for that motherboard. Even XL motherboard has the length of 13.5 inch (34.3cm) by 10.3 inch (26.2cm).

 

On 3/30/2020 at 10:31 AM, Underscore said:

I've been struggeling to find tower cases that would accomodate such a large motherboard so I was wondering if there are any out there or if I would just be better of just straight up going for a 1U or 2U rack because finding an ATX tower to house such a large motherboard would be a foolish endeavour.

I think you can only go for server rack with the motherboard that size. I don't think any conventional desktop case can fit that motherboard.

 

New Egg do sell server rack. Check the link: https://www.newegg.com/Server-Chassis/SubCategory/ID-412

 

Hope that helps.

I have ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autism_spectrum

 

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On 3/29/2020 at 10:31 PM, Underscore said:

The motherboard in question is originally a server motherboard, a Dell T5600. It's 47.1cm (18.54 inches) X 41.40 cm (16.30 inches).

Thats the size of the case, not the motherboard.

image.png.a643db0b96bd660531ff1d1ddbf4ea79.png

You'd have to open it up to find out the size of the motherboard.

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Unfortunately it looks like that board isn't even remotely standard-- the I/O cutout sticks out past the PCIe slots for whatever reason, so it probably won't fit properly even given a proper rackmount case. You could try to dremel it out, but it might be easier to just find an old T5600 case on Ebay or something.

 

Also, be aware that the 24-pin on these Dell boards is a silly layout so you'll probably have to repin the connector unless you have an original T5600 power supply. More info here:

https://forum.level1techs.com/t/dual-e5-2680-build/105089/37

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On 3/31/2020 at 8:55 AM, TVwazhere said:

Thats the size of the case, not the motherboard.

image.png.a643db0b96bd660531ff1d1ddbf4ea79.png

You'd have to open it up to find out the size of the motherboard.

... ... ... ... ...
Somehow I feel like my lack on knowledge is on VERY clear display right now... But that might just be me... ... 😅

Thanks for pointing that out, sorry about the confusion.

I guess I really have no idea how big the board actually is and some of the cases I found might actually fit it after all 😆

 

23 hours ago, Grabhanem said:

Unfortunately it looks like that board isn't even remotely standard-- the I/O cutout sticks out past the PCIe slots for whatever reason, so it probably won't fit properly even given a proper rackmount case. You could try to dremel it out, but it might be easier to just find an old T5600 case on Ebay or something.

 

Also, be aware that the 24-pin on these Dell boards is a silly layout so you'll probably have to repin the connector unless you have an original T5600 power supply. More info here:

https://forum.level1techs.com/t/dual-e5-2680-build/105089/37

My hope for the IO cutout was that I could maybe just not install an io shield and let it stick out from the IO cutout of the case, maybe with some dremeling to the case yeah.

For the power connector though, really? Is dell really that much of a bastard that they would have the 24-pin connector but have a specialized pin layout in there? Thats nintendo level with their special USB c protocol or even, dare I say it, Apple level of just middle fingering people...
I had heard about dells proprietary power connections of their boards but I figured the whole connector would be proprietary so when I saw the 24-pin I thought I was in the clear. But I guess if that needs reworking too I might just go back to the drawing board on the whole motherboard and just go with something alittle more standard like supermicro or something like that.

Thanks a bunch for letting me know about that particular quirk!

 

On 3/31/2020 at 8:15 AM, Chiyawa said:

ATX motherboard is only 12 inch (30.5cm) by 9.6 inch (24.4cm). It is hard to get a case for that motherboard. Even XL motherboard has the length of 13.5 inch (34.3cm) by 10.3 inch (26.2cm).

 

I think you can only go for server rack with the motherboard that size. I don't think any conventional desktop case can fit that motherboard.

 

New Egg do sell server rack. Check the link: https://www.newegg.com/Server-Chassis/SubCategory/ID-412

 

Hope that helps.

It does indeed! There are some pretty nice ones on there where space would not be an issue regardless of what mb I get. Thanks for that tip!

Edited by Underscore

A VFX artist dabbling in the dark arts of programming in his spare time

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18 hours ago, Underscore said:

... ... ... ... ...
Somehow I feel like my lack on knowledge is on VERY clear display right now... But that might just be me... ... 😅

Thanks for pointing that out, sorry about the confusion.

I guess I really have no idea how big the board actually is and some of the cases I found might actually fit it after all 😆

 

 

Likely your board is an ATX, but as mentioned above it might not be ATX 24pin plug compatible. Pre-builts from Dell and HP tend to use proprietary PSU plugs (and sometimes motherboard form factors too!) so it's not always a guarantee. Your best bet is to open it up and take pictures

 

 

"Put as much effort into your question as you'd expect someone to give in an answer"- @Princess Luna

Make sure to Quote posts or tag the person with @[username] so they know you responded to them!

 RGB Build Post 2019 --- Rainbow 🦆 2020 --- Velka 5 V2.0 Build 2021

Purple Build Post ---  Blue Build Post --- Blue Build Post 2018 --- Project ITNOS

CPU i7-4790k    Motherboard Gigabyte Z97N-WIFI    RAM G.Skill Sniper DDR3 1866mhz    GPU EVGA GTX1080Ti FTW3    Case Corsair 380T   

Storage Samsung EVO 250GB, Samsung EVO 1TB, WD Black 3TB, WD Black 5TB    PSU Corsair CX750M    Cooling Cryorig H7 with NF-A12x25

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