Rosewill 4U Server Chassis/Server Case/Rackmount Case, Metal Rack Mount Computer Case Support with 15 Bays & 7 Fans Pre-Installed (RSV-L4500)

Finding the right case for my project has been a real challenge. I have been looking through google and amazon for quite a few months and haven't settled on the right combination yet. I haven't actually tried this case yet....as in actual operation! Although, i want to make some comments. Firstly... i have not been paid or compensated to make these comments, not to say i wouldn't like to be. They are my actual opinions and views.When looking thru chassis & cases i wanted to make my chassis as compact as possible, since i am putting this in a 72 inch white cabinet..."TRIPP LITE 42U Rack Enclosure Server Cabinet (all white) Doors and Sides are screen/vented, 3000-lb Cap SR42UW" in case you want to see what i am talking about...I want this to be a two tone system, and looks is important. So when looking thru cases, most of the cases looked chincy, plastic like, in the pictures. So it was hard to make my choice. So i basically took a gamble when i ordered this case.I am using a large e-ATX motherboard... A Gigabyte MW70-3S0 (Intel C612) Dual CPU Workstation Motherboard. This is a really big motherboard, with two CPUs. And, I have large convection radiator's with fan on top of each CPU... a total of almost 7 inches from the bottom of the motherboard to top of the fan. So this also was a major consideration when choosing a case. Come to find out, the CPU fan just clears the top of the chassis.I have really liked the looks of the Rosewill Chassis for some time (from looking at the amazon pictures) but couldn't find one that would fit the e-ATX motherboard with enough height to fit the CPU cooler. Then, I ran across this case which said it would fit this size of motherboard. Another consideration, there was room for good air flow capability. So i decided to order this, even though I thought it would be chincy.Even though I thought the case would be too small, and flimsy... I ordered this on a gamble as i said.My experience so far.This is what is good about this chassis/case:1) The chassis was at my door step in three days from the time I ordered it till I brought it into my house. I was very surprised upon seeing this big box. Well my interest was surly peeked. The case is double boxed (box inside a box). This is very good, in that it prevents the case from getting bent, or damaged. Very thoughtful of the company.2) When I opened the box, wow, the chassis is so big, and beautiful from the outside. Not chincy looking at all, rather very classy and elegant. The pictures really don't do this chassis justice at all. From looking at the pictures, it doesn't really relate the actual size of this chassis. The actual chassis measures 17"wide x 7" height x 26"deep with the side-wings brings it out to 19" wide. The entire chassis is sturdy galvanized metal throughout. It would be nice if it were all aluminum as far as weight is concerned. But that would bring the cost of the case up to more than double i suppose. There is one plastic part... it is a panel that holds in a foam filter in the folding cover.3) For what you are getting...an all steel case... this is one of the best-values in server cases I have seen (at $90 at the time of this purchase). The chassis is all galvanized so it won't be rusting any time soon. It has an additional bar across the center-inside-top of the case to add rigidity I suspect, and possibly hold down the graphics cards for moving the chassis around... and gives a handle to use when moving the case around during the build. Unfortunately, the bar has to be removed before installing any full-size graphics cards.4) Lots of extra room inside the case. This makes for good air flow.5) I am putting SSD hard drives by Intel, which installs directly into a port on the motherboard, same as would a graphics card. I am installing this"Intel P3600 SERIES SSD 1.3-Inch Solid State Drive SSDPEDME400G401". This is because this computer will be used for CAD. I am a machinist, and inventor and I really like to designand build things. So speed is really important to me. I am putting two of these SSD drives next to each other, and will use a "Raid 1" to Mirror the Operating System drives for reliability, and for speed. These drives have Read/Write Speeds upwards of 2500 to 3000 Mb/sec transfer speeds compared to 400/500 Read/Write speeds for standard SSD drives. This is a really big difference. And so I hope this will help this computer build operate much faster... in that I am starting out with Duel 6 core CPUs, with 3.50 mhz speed. I am considering starting out with a 6 core CPU as a matter of cost, to save money getting this computer built, and have a significant upgrade-path later as I save money for the real deal. This motherboard will hold 2 x 22 core processors. But right now at a cost of about $7000 each. So later, I am hoping the cost of the CPUs to come down. Anyway, I am figuring this chassis/case will be my last chassis purchase for my CAD computer, as it is so roomy and durable.Problems I ran into with this build:1) This bar across the top middle of the case wouldn't fit with my big 1500 watt Digital Corsair power supply. So I had to remove it. Anyway, the case is so strong, it won't make a big problem to just leave it off.2) This is not really a problem in this case... all the screws for removal of the top lid are countersunk, there all flush with the case. You can hardly see them. For me... I would prefer if the screws were large-enough to remove by hand, without tools. So it would be good if the company would include some extra screws that can easily be turned with your thumb and for finger. Just a suggestion.3) All of the fans have standard 4 pin power cables to connect the fans to the motherboard. I wanted to put a power-speed controller by Nzxt into 2 of the open-hard-drive-slots. And, this device requires 3 wire connections on all 5 fans. So this is not really a problem with the case, rather a condition requiring replacement of all the fans " if " I wanted to install this fan controller. Just something to consider if you are going to install something like this to control the speed of all your fans.4) There is a filter in the front lid which has holes in the inside plastic cover which fixes the foam filter. If you desire faster air-flow, you might consider installing larger-capacity fans which are really fast, which develop a lot of pressure to over-come this filter restriction. I myself will be using the air filter. Wherein, having a fan speed controller would be advisable to balance noise, air pressure, and air flow, ultimatly for temperature control.So, all in all, this is a really nice case if you want a roomy build. It's very sturdy, and quite elegant. Need I say more. I will probably get another one in the near future I think this will make a good combination for building another CAD computer to sell. And, I will be using this build as a show-piece. I will post-some high-quality pictures of my build, after I check out the air-flow. I am not putting any water-cooled elements in this build, in that this motherboard/Intel CPU combination cannot be clocked as I understand. So, I don't think it will be necessary. I don't think this case is roomy enough for a grand-water cooled system anyway. It's not a show-off chassis as its a server-style case, and has no viewing-windows.Regards.

Just to get this out of the way, I'm used to Supermicro server chassis'. Thousands of them. I've designed and sold datacenter solutions for a living, so I'm kind of highlighting where the differences are.In one sentence, this isn't a bad chassis for a home or SMB project, or a one-off solution, but I'd never rack a bunch of these things. To be fair, I'm writing this review against the price of the unit, and what the expectations are.Secondarily, since this may be important -- My complete project for my home weights in at 37lbs. Why is this important? If you're racking via ears on a Supermicro box, or any other T1, you can have faith in the engineering that the ears won't fail. As you can see in the picture I have this in a 2-post rack, or what we'd commonly refer to as a telco rack used for communications equipment. Typically, I would never mount a chassis like this in a 2-post rack, but if it's a T1 chassis with ears, the weight isn't obscene, and I trust the rack I'd have no issues if it were my only option. In this case, I trust my rack can easily support the weight. I trust my rack hardware. I don't trust the ears to not flex over 37lbs. I don't expect it to be an issue, but I also don't trust it, so That's why there's a 2U shelf directly below it.Generally most rack 2-post rack failures occur at one of two points. The rack not being able to support the weight, or more commonly, ears failing. There's a misnomer about screws and nuts. If you're using decent quality hardware, it won't be an issue. The purpose of the screws and nuts are not to support the weight, but to create friction to hold the two objects together to allow the rack to support the weight. I'd be more concerned about an inexpensive 1U at 20lbs, than an inexpensive 4U at 37lbs, but I'd rather play it safe.The point is, before I go any further, as someone who has spent over 15 years around servers, I have a very hard time trusting these ears as the single point of mounting/support. I'm sure they're fine, as long as whatever you rack isn't obscene. The unit being 4U helps tremendously. I'm just don't have the same level of faith in Rosewill's engineering that I do with Supermicro.As far as everything else:It's like any other non-purpose built 4U. Tons of space.Default fans are weak and the molex connectors they use are AWFUL. None of the fans are MB managed. Purely molex. If you want/need airflow, replace them. Consider replacing them anyway. They are pretty quiet, but that's likely because they're low RPM fans, definitely not a sign of quality.The built in 3.5" drive trays, while plentiful, are pretty bad. I had a few that wouldn't even install properly, but that's because I think there was some flex to one of the 3.5" cages that came with the chassis. Might want to consider a front loading 3.5" hotswap module for maintenance purposes if you want to use 3.5" drives. Otherwise you'll be sliding the cages out of the front and disconnecting a bunch of wires doing so, or trying to reach back in an awkward position and pulling them out from the rear side, inside of the chassis.If you do replace the cages, or add any 5.25" device, the chassis uses the old style rails for mounting you probably haven't seen since the early 2000's. It's not an awful thing--actually relatively convenient in theory, but my chassis didn't seem to be fully square so mounting a 4x 2.5" drive bay in a 5.25" bay was kind of a nightmare. It took some serious force.Cleaning the fan filter is kind of annoying and requires removal of four screws.The chassis itself isn't ginsu, I didn't see anywhere you could touch that would cut you, didn't have rolled edges, so that's a big plus. Serviceability on everything but the drives is a cakewalk since you're working with a giant open space.Pretty sure there's not much in terms of quality control going on with these.Overall, for the price, I'm happy with it for my purposes. The most annoying thing is the platter drive management, but at least they included modular options to increase the flexibility.If you're using it for an enterprise application, I'd seriously consider something else. Or at least understand that if you want drive serviceability, you're going to be paying additional anyway. IE: If you want easy access to 3.5" bays, 2.5" bays, or whatever.The best use for this product would be a barebones appliance you need to throw together quickly, don't care that it'll eat up 4U's, and don't want to run in to any "gotchas" in terms of chassis issues.