@dugimodo

Here is a side-on of the inwin case with a mobo installed.

I think we are going be well within the 65mm clearance.

zespri:

 

@kiwifidget sorry to piggy-back on your thread, but I do hope that you do not mind:

 

 

 

This micro-itx you had your eyes on, is it for servers only? E.g. will it accommodate a half-decent GPU, such as RTX 2070?

 

I have a problem with cases. For certain reason I have to move my desktop several times a week, so I want it to be "portable". Currently I have a case that I like a lot, I got it in 2016, it's also micro-itx but they are no longer sold in NZ: https://www.corsair.com/ww/en/Categories/Products/Cases/Graphite-Series%E2%84%A2-380T-Yellow-Portable-Mini-ITX-Case/p/CC-9011065-WW

 

I like that it's moderately compact, has a carrying handle, I can stuff 2 HDD and an SSD or two into it and it accommodates the NVIDIA I mentioned above. It also opens from both sides, and there are no screws to open it up, just handle levers. I'm really happy with this case.

 

I'm also looking to build a new PC for me in a year's time, and I want to pass this one to a family member, so I will need a new case. I was not able to find a case that I would be happy with and yours looks like something I might consider.

 

 

 

@zespri , have you looked at Shuttle XPC cube cases?

http://global.shuttle.com/products/productsList?categoryId=19

They ususally come with their own mobo, but you can put your own ITX one in.

If you can find one that doesn't have an optical drive option, you should have plenty of room for a decent GPU.

Very hard to find in NZ from what I can see.

Or one of these Inwin cases which I am seriously considering for my next desktop even though it has no ODD option.

https://www.in-win.com/en/gaming-chassis/a1-plus/

I have seen these at PBTech. EDIT : I think, actually I cant remember.

Thank you for pointing those out! I'll have a look!

Holy carp!! That was quick!

Congratulations! What is this?

Its the raid card I ordered from ebay on the 9th, sent from China, that arrived today!

Edit : @OzoneNZ lookie lookie!!

kiwifidget:

 

Holy carp!! That was quick!

 

Slightly upset I paid like 50 USD for expedited shipping and it took the same time haha!

Let me know if you're ever on the Shore and I can give you a hand with the firmware cross-flashing

@OzoneNZ , thanks, do you need just the card, or do you need to have the mobo as well for the flashing?

kiwifidget:

 

@OzoneNZ , thanks, do you need just the card, or do you need to have the mobo as well for the flashing?

 

Nope just the card itself, I used a spare PC to do the flashing on my own card

@ozonenz , sweet, I'll take a look at my schedule tomorrow and pm you with some dates.

Try it without flashing first, some firmwares seem to just go past the bios part without problem and then the drives come up fine once booted.

ok, I don't have the mobo yet, hopefully my ducks will line up in the next week or so.

richms:

 

Try it without flashing first, some firmwares seem to just go past the bios part without problem and then the drives come up fine once booted.

 

It will definitely boot but the IBM firmware is RAID/JBOD only, and the odds are pretty low that the card will have already been cross-flashed to "IT" (initiator-target) mode

Wouldn't recommend trying to use the JBOD mode on that firmware. The IT mode firmware is much more suited for the kind of Windows drivepool config that OP mentioned where the OS expects to have full access to the drives as if they were plugged into normal SATA ports directly on the motherboard

Fairly sure the IBM firmware also doesn't support S.M.A.R.T monitoring or disk temperature monitoring either so the OS can't monitor drive health

EDIT: Should say also that one benefit of cross-flashing is that you can omit flashing the card's OPROM/BIOS which will speed up system boot times