Building a Graphics Workstation: Computer Case
June 19, 2008
How to Choose a Computer Case
The choice of a computer case for a graphics workstation is not dissimilar to the choice of a tripod: almost all will do the job but they will differ in ergonomics - how easy it is to work with them. The choice is ultimately very subjective, but there are few issues to consider:
- overall size
- front/ top ports
- mounting bays for hard drives
- included power supply unit (PSU)
- included fans
- acoustic isolation
- design
While some decision about the case can be done by studying information available online, the best way is probably physically go to the nearest computer shop and have a look what is offered. Despite the fact that case will minimally influence the overall performance of the system, if you initially invest to a good, quality case, it is likely that you will be able to keep it for years and just change the components inside. You will need to think what are your hardware requirements now and also try to predict how these requirements might evolve in the future. If you are satisfied with 1 hard drive now, as your collection of photographs will likely to grow, you might need 5 drives in future.
Overall size will dictate how much 'stuff' you can put inside. Logically, the larger the case, the more mounting bays for hard drives will be inside. On the other hand, if your case is too large, you might end up needing extra long SATA or IDE connectors to reach from the mounting bays from the motherboard.
One of my requirements was easily accessible USB port(s) on front or top of the case. I believe that the best firewall is unplugging the Ethernet cable, so my workstation is generally not connected to internet. While it simplifies the measures for the internet security, it also requires some way of transferring files between computers. I use fast, high capacity USB memory sticks for this purpose and this is the reason for the requirement of easily accessible USB port(s).
Years ago I have chosen mid tower black Thermaltake Tsunami Dream chassis which came with 400W PSU. It has a bunch of ports on the top, from those I am using USB. It has a 12 cm fan in the front of hard drives and another 12 cm fan at back. The third 9 cm fan is on the side panel above CPU. For overclocking - there is a lot of information about cooling available on the internet. I have not observed any problems with adequate cooling and this case: hard drives are running idle at about 25 C, or low 30s C when working hard. CPU reached about 50 C when running Prime for few hours. The case has 5 internal, rubber mounted 3.5' hard drive bays arranged in slide-in cage which allows convenient access. Overall it is quite easy to install components into this case.
I would prefer very quiet workstation and I find these fans still quite noisy but tolerable. PSU fan might the loudest of them. Generally the larger the fans, the slower they need to rotate and the quieter they are.
One might choose slightly higher rated PSU for a graphics workstation - such as 450-500W, with a high efficiency - to have some margin of safety. I found the system stable with included 400W PSU and 5 hard drives connected. I am using low end GPU which does not require high power input though. If you want to get some better idea how much power input your system will require, you can do the calculations e.g. here.
I have not mentioned costs as an issue to consider when choosing the case. Opinions will likely differ on the importance of a computer case, from a basic utilitarian approach to an esthetic one. That will, of course, influence the financial value placed on the computer chassis itself.