Custom wood case build

[macmanmatty]

Hello I am building a custom case for a i7 7700k massive storage hackintosh machine out of plywood.
My processor will be an i7 7700k of course.
My motherboard will be a gigabyte gaming k7 z270.
My PSU will be a SeaSonic Series S12II 620 Bronze 620W power supply.
I will have 16-32 gb of ram. I was going to put in a 12 sata ii raid controller card (they go for real cheap now) with a bbu or possibly two of them and have 20+ sata 3.5" hard drives .
Plus 2 3.5" dvd rw drives I have many 250 gb to 3TB sata 5400 rpm to 7200 rpm regular hard drives laying around I would like to use.
I will be using 2 m2 hard drives for my main oses mac OSX 10.12 (current version), windows 10, and some version of linux. The graphics card will be whatever I can get cheapest that works with mac osx as I am not a gamer.

I was planning to make the case out of 2 layers of plywood with metal flashing in between them and take an old ATX case and take out the motherboard mounting frame and PCI mounting brackets. Some questions

1. Are PCI and PCI-E mounting cut outs and screws the same?

2. Will having 2 layers of plywood 1/4" with aluminum flashing in between cause any problems as long as I have proper circulation?

3. The metal in the middle should be grounded right? will screwing the mother mounting bracket to it with self tapping metal screws will be enough? or should I ground it directly to the PSU using 10 gauge wire?

4. I was going to have at least 2 140 mm (most likely more) exhaust fans directly connect to the PSU running all the time and then 4 exhaust /' intake fans 120-140mm connected to the motherboard fan headers. Is this enough circulation? Who makes good fans?

5. How would I go about making holders for the 20 + 3.5" harddrives? Are there cheap bays I could buy? Or make my own out of some kind of l brackets?

6. Also what kind of CPU cooling would you recommend? Would taking and old massive solid copper CPU heat sink and attaching some quality fans to it make a good one? Or should I just buy one?

 

[GhislainG]

1. Yes.

2. It shouldn't with good ventilation; it obviously provides minimal heat conductivity.

3. I'd use a wire, but it doesn't have to be that large; 16 AWG definitely is enough.

4. As long as air enters at the front/bottom and exhausts at the back and top, then it will be fine. You need to determine how much air should be moved versus the noise level. This review (and others) may help: http://www.overclockers.com/15-case-fans-tested-ultimate-140-mm-roundup/

5. I'd consider bays like https://www.aliexpress.com/item/PC-DIY-5-25-to-3-5-SATA-SAS-HDD-Hard-Drive-Cage-Adapter-Tray/32262236881.html?spm=2114.search0304.4.15.dsahuE

6. Buy a good air cooler for your CPU.

 

[macmanmatty]

2 more questions
1. are there any cheaper hard drive cases
2. how would I bottom mount the PSU to the case?

 

[GhislainG]

1. There are a few (google can help you find some), but they are cheap and they usually hold 4 drives. Using 4 quality mounting cages should look better.

2. I presume that you'll mount the PSU at the bottom. Drill a 140mm hole for airflow and add a filter, cut a rectangular hole in the back and then consider brackets like https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:929316 Why not cut the hole in the back like it should be (use an ATX PSU mounting template) and then use longer screws to hold the PSU in place? If you can build a wooden case you have the tools to do that.

 

[macmanmatty]

2 more questions
1. where can I buy a bracket like that?
2. what is good 3.0 usb header brand?

 

[GhislainG]

1. You can get it made from metal or fiberglass. You could also buy something like this extender https://www.amazon.com/PE-01B-Black-Power-Supply-Extender/dp/B005NKPH4G and bolt it in the case.
2. Honestly I never ran into issues with USB 3.0 headers. Consider something like https://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/5-25-inch-USB-3-0-Front-Panel-Floppy-Disk-Bay-4-Ports-Hub-Bracket-Cable/232211_1952211102.htmland fit them to your wooden case.

You have to be creative to build your own wooden case, particularly if you want it to look really good.