Question Help needed with motherboard and case

[AceTech1]

Hi, I recently bought a "Gigabyte B365M DS3H M-ATX Motherboard" and wanted to turn it into a simple server with an i7-9700T, etc.. I'm trying to find a case/chassis that lays down horizontally instead of vertically like a tower. How do I know which cases/chassis would be compatible with this motherboard? I was looking at the "In-Win CK709 Micro-ATX S.F.F. Slim Chassis" or something similar to this style of case, but not sure if everything will line up right. What's the best way to know for sure other than buying them and testing them?

 

[Eximo]

As long as the chassis in question supports Micro ATX boards you are good to go, that is why they are standards.

I don't see why that chassis wouldn't work. You just have to use the stock Intel cooler (though the ones included with T class chips are usually very very small) Or get a decent low profile cooler.

In that chassis the CPU sits under the optical tray, so you don't have much more height than the rear I/O cut out. The optical tray may be removeable if you aren't using it.

This should fit regardless.

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/8b92FT/thermalright-axp90-x36-4258-cfm-cpu-cooler-axp90-x36

Keep in mind you only have half height expansion slots for any cards you might want to add.

 

[geofelt]

All MATX or ATX cases will likely be compatible.
No ITX cases will fit the motherboard.
Silverstone makes some nice horizontal cases intended for home theater apps.

 

[AceTech1]

As long as the chassis in question supports Micro ATX boards you are good to go, that is why they are standards.

I don't see why that chassis wouldn't work. You just have to use the stock Intel cooler (though the ones included with T class chips are usually very very small) Or get a decent low profile cooler.

In that chassis the CPU sits under the optical tray, so you don't have much more height than the rear I/O cut out. The optical tray may be removeable if you aren't using it.

This should fit regardless.

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/8b92FT/thermalright-axp90-x36-4258-cfm-cpu-cooler-axp90-x36

Keep in mind you only have half height expansion slots for any cards you might want to add.

Thanks for this info. Also, what if I wanted to attach about 16TB of either SATA SSD or HDD? What would you recommend?

 

[AceTech1]

All MATX or ATX cases will likely be compatible.
No ITX cases will fit the motherboard.
Silverstone makes some nice horizontal cases intended for home theater apps.

The thing that's throwing me off is that the front USB ports, audio ports, etc., don't look like they align with the motherboards USB ports, audio ports, etc.. Do they connect some other way? This will be my first server build. Thanks again.

 

[Eximo]

Front I/O is always via cable, not direct from the motherboard. You only see that with custom solutions from the likes of Dell/HP/Lenovo.

Even if for some reason the cables are too short, you can purchase extensions. That is not usually something you can tell in advance.

Well, SATA SSD are fairly cheap and you have enough room to have 4 4TB drives.

A single 16/18TB hard drive is also an option. Or both, use the hard drive to back up the SSDs. Though I would tend to keep that hard drive as an external backup, rather than have it inside the system. Just depends on how quickly you want to be able to recover things in case something goes wrong.