Chenbro SR105 and SR107 Server Cases

Enclosures and acoustic damping to help quiet them.

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Josh_Hayes
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Chenbro SR105 and SR107 Server Cases

Post by Josh_Hayes » Mon Dec 01, 2003 1:52 pm

Hello all, I have been lurking for several months now and have decided to join the forums. I have been looking for a quiet and efficient case for a little while now but haven't really found what I am looking for. I was at the Chenbro website looking at the Xpider Case and happened upon their Server/Workstation Cases. This is where I found these monsters:

Chenbro SR105
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Chenbro SR107
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Here is a Flash Presentation from Computex on the SR107 - http://www.computex.com.tw/virtualmall/ ... e=P002.swf

It looks to me that these chassis could be a good base for a quiet workstation. I am running a few SCSI Hard Drives in my system which need active cooling. This prohibits me from having a slient machine but I see no reason why it can't be quiet. These chassis also fit Extended ATX Motherboards so if I decided to upgrade to Dual CPUs it would fit them with no problem. I like the separation of the drives from the motherboard and power supply area in the SR107 and the use of 3 120mm Fans. Both chassis look like efficient coolers and have plenty of room for expansion. The downsides are that no one has done any reviews on them and they are not readily available from any big resellers yet. I guess because they are new and no one does server chassis reviews? The SR107 Chassis was chosen as Intel's reference chassis for dual 3.06Ghz Xeons and passed the shock & vibration tests.

The prices aren't too outrageous at $110 for the SR105 and $180 for the SR107.

Let me know what you think! :)

*Chenbro website is down at the moment so I had to find an alternate link to the pics.

Ralf Hutter
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Post by Ralf Hutter » Tue Dec 02, 2003 5:16 am

Josh_Hayes - WELCOME TO SPCR!!! Round Rock. Isn't that the home of Dell?


Coolcases.com carries several models of stock and modded Chenbros. The case I always wanted was the Genie 104 with the server door and the grills punched out for 120mm fans. These are great cases, they're well constructed and not too expensive in their stock form.

HammerSandwich
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Post by HammerSandwich » Tue Dec 02, 2003 1:54 pm

Ralf Hutter wrote:The case I always wanted was the Genie 104 with the server door and the grills punched out for 120mm fans.
Funny - I just got a Genie from Jim, and he mentioned that I got the last bay door that wil be imported to North America. BTW, I highly recommend Coolcases to anybody.

The Genie is a nice case, and I love the layout. Having the HDs in the back is good for noise and airflow without making the case terribly large. While it is pretty sturdy and nicely finished, Lian-Li does a better job here. Also, the Genie is setup for negative pressure, and my Seasonic AGX doesn't really care for that. As always, you need to pay attention to the details...

I did a good bit of work on this system and should post the details. However, I do not have a digicam, so... Anyone in the Pittsburgh area want to bring a camera over for a few hours and talk PCs?

Josh_Hayes
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Post by Josh_Hayes » Tue Dec 02, 2003 7:15 pm

Ralf Hutter wrote:Round Rock. Isn't that the home of Dell?
Yeppers, that's where I work... :wink:

Ralf Hutter
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Post by Ralf Hutter » Wed Dec 03, 2003 6:17 am

HammerSandwich wrote:Also, the Genie is setup for negative pressure, and my Seasonic AGX doesn't really care for that.
What's the issue with the AGX's and negative pressure?

Both of my P4 systems are running negative pressure (120mm L1A @ 5V as exhaust fan, no intake fan on one and a 5V 92mm L1A on the other) and both of my SS400's stay at 1400rpm all day long, idle or full load. Ambient temps range from 70-95°F, doesn't make any difference to the PSU.

HammerSandwich
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Post by HammerSandwich » Wed Dec 03, 2003 7:13 am

Ralf Hutter wrote:What's the issue with the AGX's and negative pressure?
Perhaps it is more a Genie-specific issue, but here's what I've seen. First off, fans:

Front: Evercool 120 at 5v
Rear: Enermax 120, 5v, turned down to just-start speed
HD: Sunon 92 at 5v.

With both rear fans exhausting, the case is definitely negative pressure. At idle, the SS-350AGX does around 1400RPM, and I cannot feel any air coming from it. Under load, the PSU hits 1550RPM in 25 seconds and 2100 in 40 seconds. When I stop the load, the fan jumps to 2500+RPM for a few seconds.

If I reverse the 92 so it's an intake (unfiltered, grrr!), the case becomes positive pressure. PSU fan idle speed is about 50RPM higher, which tells me that the PSU fan isn't fighting reverse airflow. With 100% load, the fan goes to 1550RPM after about 2 minutes, and it stays there. The post-load jump is only about 2100RPM as well.

I have a little more work to do on this one. The Genie is probably the perfect case for the PSU-channel mod, but not with my bay door, so I'm still deciding how to approach this.

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Post by Katana Man » Wed Dec 03, 2003 11:09 am

I've noticed similar results with the new 120mm PSU's. This is probably true with most of today's quiet PSU's. Since they don't move a high amount of air, it's important to have positive air pressure. Otherwise your case fans will fight the PSU.

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need advice

Post by tay » Sat Dec 20, 2003 11:09 am

Hi katana man,

I am about to get a fortron fsp350 with the 120mm fan facing down. In my chieftec dragon style case, there are 2 7v fans pulling air out at the back and 1 7v pushing air over hd in the front. What should I do to maintain +ve air pressure? It would seem silly to make all fans intakes or make the bottom front an exhaust. I can add another 80mm fan at front bud i'd rather not.

Any ideas? I could build a baffle/duct, but itll be running awfully close to the heatsink. Thanks in advance.

Katana Man
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Post by Katana Man » Sat Dec 20, 2003 1:30 pm

You could not use one of the rear fans, or reduce them even further to 5V. It's hard to say without experimenting and watching your temps. This is why I prefer a single equal 120mm fans in front and back (or more fans in front). I turn the one in back as slow as it can go, and the one in front runs slightly faster. This will keep positive (or even neutral) pressure so that we aren't fighting the 120mm PSU.

ldecours
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Post by ldecours » Tue Nov 22, 2005 8:57 pm

Hello,

I just fired up my new Chenbro SR107 for the first time. Be warned
that the fans supplied with this case are unreasonably loud. These fans
are so loud that I ran my brand new computer just long enough to install
the OS from disc, and then turned the machine off before even booting
into the fresh-loaded OS.

This case is absolutely unusable in its stock condition unless it resides
in an unattended location. I tried to come up with some analog that I
can use to explain the situation, and the best that I have arrived at is
this: go into your kitchen and turn the exhaust fan that is located in
the oven/range hood on its high setting. That is approximately the same
noise that is made by these fans.

All told, this machine cost about the same amount to build as a quite-
decent used car would cost to purchase. Nevertheless, I simply will not
use this machine until I have found a suitable replacement for the fans
that are located in the case.

One noteworthy point is that the supplied fans have three-pin
connectors. While the motherboard that I am using supports the notion
of "fan-speed control", the manual for the board specifies that while
three-pin fans are perfectly usable, such fans will not exercise speed
control, and will hence always run at full speed. I believe this to be a
large component of the problem.

Otherwise, my opinion of this case is quite high. It is well-designed
and easy to work with. It was a pleasure to build a new system around
it.

If you purchase a Chenbro SR107, expect to lay out additional money
to replace the case fans that are supplied. These fans are unworkably
loud. I am confident that running these fans in your bedroom would
eventually result in your deafness. I truly believe this, as I have heard
complaints from those who have spent a career in data-center work
with respect to job-incurred hearing loss. I have been in large data
centers, and this single box puts out more noise than you would encounter
there.

I welcome suggestions as to compatible aftermarket fans from
those who may be "in the know."

Lincoln


a
Ralf Hutter wrote:Josh_Hayes - WELCOME TO SPCR!!! Round Rock. Isn't that the home of Dell?


Coolcases.com carries several models of stock and modded Chenbros. The case I always wanted was the Genie 104 with the server door and the grills punched out for 120mm fans. These are great cases, they're well constructed and not too expensive in their stock form.

Irianta
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Post by Irianta » Wed Nov 23, 2005 10:33 am

Yate Loon D12SL-12 fans are great! By all accounts they're the same fans as the Nexus "Real Silent" 120mm fans, which seem to be the reigning champions of 12V 120mm fans, except that they run ~300 RPM faster and haven't gone through the extra QA by Nexus. I also have some Panaflo L1A and M1A fans that work well and quiet when undervolted, but there's no question in my mind that the Yate Loons are the quietest of the bunch.

You might want to remove the fan grills, by the way, because they will restrict airflow a lot.

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