Cage Match: Four Open-Air ATX Chassis

[Crashman]

While lab technicians and competitive overclockers often use no case at all, a few companies produce test racks that look good enough to win over even the showiest LAN party participants. Today we consider four non-enclosed ATX chassis.

Cage Match: Four Open-Air ATX Chassis : Read more

 

[johnny_5]

When I had a desktop I would just leave the door off. It was unfortunately fairly noisy, but these would suffer the same problem anyways.

 

[08nwsula]

the antec is the only frame that doesn't look incomplete

 

[kikireeki]

I though the point of having an open-air Chassis is to be simple and fast but these are far-cry from that! very cool nevertheless.

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]kikireeki[/nom]I though the point of having an open-air Chassis is to be simple and fast but these are far-cry from that! very cool nevertheless.[/citation]

I'm using the Torture Rack 2 right now to test several motherboards, I've added two push-through standoffs to keep them in place without screws.

 

[Onus]

Have you done any EMF testing on these? It seems to me that could be a considerable con on any of them.

 

[thackstonns]

I wanted the Banchetto 101, but found a skeleton for 100bucks new. A friend won it in a land contest and didnt want it. So I went with that. It is a good case the only thing that really pisses me off is I have to unplug all the front panel stuff to slide the tray out. Also I am building a bench for it to set on out of acrylic to house my radiators and pump. I cant figure out a good way to run the cpu waterblock though. The top cage does come off with 4 screws, But I have looked everywhere and cant find thumb screws that fit. Otherwise I would just use that instead of sliding it in and out.

 

[dragonsprayer]

whats wrong with a table or desktop with mobo box and antistatic plastin? works great less hassle! here is a photo from years and years ago! best desk to set up is martin lab testing set up (photo of martin lab persmission given to copy his stuff) - this is the s$#t!: http://s63.photobucket.com/albums/h138/4rothrocks/?action=view&current=Worklog15.jpg

 

[dragonsprayer]

part 2: we build every system on a mobo box with anti static, we burn in the cpu/psu/mob/gou at max oc in the bios for 24-72 hours - i.e. 920 is burned in at 4-4.4ghz air cooled. we have done this since 2003. then hard drives are hooked up and the system programed. this even done for water cooling built with air cooler then converted to water. The gpu, mobo, psu, cpu and hard drives are tested then installed in the case. The system is then run on orthos and 3dmark loops and other tests for up to 7 days. So the mobo box, anti static works great - stick hdd on there bags, use the mobo box from the system.

 

[jellico]

The Antec rack is the coolest, by far! The rest look like plain, old racks.

 

[duolc]

I use a Skeleton for my Case. Dust is an issue but a quick shot of air here and there and I can keep it under control.

I Use an Asus Silent Knight CPU Cooler And It did not fit originally. I had to shave off one of the supports to make it fit.

 

[rooket]

[citation][nom]jellico[/nom]The Antec rack is the coolest, by far! The rest look like plain, old racks.[/citation]

I agree. I could just go down to tap plastics and buy stock plastic and build the rest of those. The antec one looks the best.

 

[dragonsprayer]

I second that jello - i believer that is byproduct of the intel 1 million dollar oem challenge. I was only open to oems, you had make pc's or cases .... a lot of new designs came out after the challenge Such as some itx mini boxes, the skelly, possibly the lian li dubai tower and others. i agree the skelly is dual purpose device - test bench and case. The dust thing is an issue as owners have reported.

 

[syntyr]

I love my Skeleton. It has its issues but if you look at the pics I got a fairly large air cooler in the case without moding the rack or tacking the screws out. Now I am looking at setting up a water cooling solution for it. http://www.flickr.com/photos/7184596@N06/sets/72157622308910331/

 

[eyemaster]

Blanchetto 101 is my favorite.

 

[Kl2amer]

I wonder if my AC Accelero on my Graphics card is too big for the skeleton. If not I might have to get a new case .

 

[Kl2amer]

nevermind, found my answer. Seems a good 6 inch of clearance by unscrewing the top, installing then screwing it down again. May not be able to use the tray to slide in and out (hits the HSF or AC Accelero), but can unscrew the top again i suppose.

 

[spentshells]

pretty nerdy a waste of money
but I do agree only the Antec makes any sense
I always liked having an open case with a floor fan

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]spentshells[/nom]pretty nerdy a waste of money but I do agree only the Antec makes any senseI always liked having an open case with a floor fan[/citation]

I'm using the Torture Rack 2 as a quick-swap motherboard testing platform, so your analysis that it doesn't make sense doesn't make sense

Really, each of these racks is going to work better for one group of people than another, so they all make sense.

 

[Major7up]

Bah, none of these are necessary! The old mobo box and anti-static plastic are free so why spend money on these? I would rather just buy better parts!

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]major7up[/nom]Bah, none of these are necessary! The old mobo box and anti-static plastic are free so why spend money on these? I would rather just buy better parts![/citation]

Have you ever had a graphics card slot "loosen up" from having the card lean over? I've had it happen many times. Having something in place to keep a heavy graphics card from leaning over is a valuable asset.

 

[spentshells]

[citation][nom]Crashman[/nom]I'm using the Torture Rack 2 as a quick-swap motherboard testing platform, so your analysis that it doesn't make sense doesn't make sense Really, each of these racks is going to work better for one group of people than another, so they all make sense.[/citation]
well it doesnt look any easier than my open sided case
which I found next to a dumpster I was living in

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]spentshells[/nom]well it doesnt look any easier than my open sided casewhich I found next to a dumpster I was living in[/citation]

Well now, if you stripped that case down to the motherboard tray, reinforced the slot plate, and made a box beneath it for the power supply and drives, I'd agree.

 

[dragonsprayer]

only the gpu slot that loosed up is an nivdia mobo - i bet it was an evga mobo correct? they are week! I do not use junk (nvidia oem mobos) - sorry i been over this many times - how people give an evga mobo 3 stars on the egg site after 3 or 4 failures and how great tech support - then you get the guy that gets his first in 20 or first in 10 years bad asus mobo and gives it 1 star and will never use asus again. Asus rules!

never seen it ever with an asus mobo, but i have seen it with water cooled systems with evga mobos, both 680i and 780i.

we have run huge cards loose on asus mobo never an issue for weeks on end - complext raid card with 12 hard drives that kind of set up!
here is 4 raptors, plus more an some 1950 xtx: http://s63.photobucket.com/albums/h138/4rothrocks/?action=view&current=DC400031.jpg

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]dragonsprayer[/nom]only the gpu slot that loosed up is an nivdia mobo - i bet it was an evga mobo correct? they are week! I do not use junk (nvidia oem mobos) - sorry i been over this many times - how people give an evga mobo 3 stars on the egg site after 3 or 4 failures and how great tech support - then you get the guy that gets his first in 20 or first in 10 years bad asus mobo and gives it 1 star and will never use asus again. Asus rules!never seen it ever with an asus mobo, but i have seen it with water cooled systems with evga mobos, both 680i and 780i.we have run huge cards loose on asus mobo never an issue for weeks on end - complext raid card with 12 hard drives that kind of set up!here is 4 raptors, plus more an some 1950 xtx: http://s63.photobucket.com/albums/ [...] 400031.jpg[/citation]

If I remember correctly, they were EVGA (Jetway), Abit, Foxconn, and (drumroll please) Asus.