Question Grounding and mount questions (cabinet consolidation) ?

[Anomaly_76]

In the process of planning a personal rack-mount recording studio, I acquired a Navepoint 15U networking cabinet, 600mm depth. It has some minor damage, but nothing that's a deal-breaker for me, especially for the price.

It's quite roomy after cleaning out some unnecessary equipment that came with it (a CableMatters 48-port Cat 6 patch bay with some networking cables and what appears to be a ADP-40KD BB power adapter if anyone is interested).

I plan to set it on a suitable caster tray, so weight isn't as much of a concern. I'm contemplating the feasibility of mounting computer hardware behind the UPS, effects processor and mixer I plan to install, which include:

My recent HTPC / NAS build, using this RackChoice 2U case, which even at 550mm, is going to be a tight fit. 3600X / Asus Tuf Gaming GTX1650S-4-OC, ID-Cooling IS-55, 2x8 Patriot Viper Blackout 4, Gigabyte Aorus Master, 2 WD Black HDDs, 1 Crucial MX500, 450W ATX PSU.

My gaming rig, in a Fractal Pop Air XL, 5900X / Asus KO RTX3060ti, Asus Tuf B550-Plus, Scythe Mugen 5 Black Edition, 2x16 Viper Blackout 4, Corsair RM850x, Corsair Commander Core with six LL120s.

My old gaming rig, in a Corsair 4000RGB, has 1700 / Asus Phoenix GTX1650OC, MSI B450M Bazooka, 4x8 HyperX Fury, stock equivalent Cooler Master, Corsair CX650F, 1 WD Blue HDD, which may end up serving as a backup NAS / HTPC.

All three machines have Corsair RGB set up for ambience and temperature monitoring that I would like to retain. I've actually considered just setting the HTPC atop the Navepoint cabinet, as it has an optical bay and I don't want to be constantly opening and closing the cabinet for access. My Dell 1130 laser printer could sit neatly on top to complete my "tower of power".

The audio equipment I plan to mount takes about 6-7U, depending, with only about 4-6 inches (up to 152 mm) of depth. The two UPS units are 1U each, with only about 9 inches (228mm). This leaves me 7U-9U of mounting space with the full 600mm depth, and 6U-7U with 13 -16 inches (350-425 mm) depth behind the audio equipment.

I thought of either rack-mounting one gaming rig sideways in an included shelf, or do away with the cases for both, using long bolts with lock nuts to suspend the gaming machine hardware from the cabinet roof behind the audio equipment. With the PSUs mounted to the cabinet as well, would that fly?

I also thought of magnetically mounting open air-chassis to the cabinet's back wall, but I know this is risky with the presence of hard drives. But after some more thought, maybe another set of the vertical rails to the rear would be better?

Also, since I'll likely wind up using a 3U or 6U grille panel to mount 3-6 of the fans for intake, mounting others for exhaust on the side panels and topside for exhaust, with some sort of thin foam to use as an internal dust filter on the cabinet panels and doors....

Maybe a simpler solution would be to mount the hardware for these machines on shelves like this? One was included with the cabinet. Would likely sit nicely behind the aforementioned grille panels. I'm not crazy about the idea of this configuration as it could invite dust buildup without a standard case lid, but with sufficient dust filtration for front and side panels, it might actually be an ideal solution that doesn't break the bank.

Thoughts or alternate suggestions?

 

[Lutfij]

You will need to specify the specs to the innards of both gaming rigs, to see if you can house them xU chassis and consolidate all your hardware into that rack you've listed above. Personally I'd do so, it's better to manage and maintain when in they are all consolidated in racks and not hodgepodge setup.

 

[Anomaly_76]

You will need to specify the specs to the innards of both gaming rigs, to see if you can house them xU chassis and consolidate all your hardware into that rack you've listed above. Personally I'd do so, it's better to manage and maintain when in they are all consolidated in racks and not hodgepodge setup.

Original post updated accordingly, but I'm not sure I'll be able pull that off. Also on a very limited budget (fixed income disability since last year). The larger rack cases are quite expensive and I really can't say I care much for the looks of them.

A couple other things I've pondered... It might make more sense to swap the processors between the old gaming rig and NAS, as this would give my NAS 8 cores and allow me to help a buddy out with a needed upgrade using the 3600X on the MSI B450 board or an ASRock B450M-HDV I have.

My reasons for this are that the Gigabyte B550 Aorus Master has mutliple x8 / x16 slots, as well as multiple M.2 slots, which would allow me to maximize storage and retain my ElGato 4K60Plus.

However, 1st-gen Ryzen support seems to be touch-and-go, if non-existent, with B550 boards. I have seen it done with an Asus Tuf B550-Plus, however, which I happen to have in my current gaming rig. Does anyone know if first-gen support is just a little-known secret with B550s?

I know they make remote power switches that would make it easier to turn on either system, but I was also looking at USB switches for full control with one keyboard / mouse and an HDMI switch for video swapping. Is it also possible to set up one system that can turn the other on / off, if they are in the same cabinet (ie, the NAS able to turn my gaming rig on / off)?