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AeroCool Unveils Cipher Mid-Tower Case with 15 Drive Bays

btarunr

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AeroCool unveiled the Cipher mid-tower case targeted at those with copious amounts of local storage. It features a mostly conventional horizontally-partitioned layout, but with a key difference. Toward the forward-right region of the case, is a fan vent that holds either two 120 mm or two 140 mm fans; and can mount 280 mm or 240 mm radiators. The radiator ends up in the crawl-space behind the motherboard tray, while its fans are on the other side. It exhausts through vents along the right side-panel. The left side-panel has these vents, too, but serves as intake. This is where things get interesting. There are four detachable 3.5-inch drive-cages mounted along the motherboard tray (with clearance for the radiator fans). These cages can either serve as a fresh air-guide for the side-mounted radiator, or hold up to eight 3.5-inch HDDs ventilated by those fans. You can pluck out the drive-cages you don't need.

The storage features don't end there. The bottom compartment has an additional three 3.5-inch bays, two 2.5-inch drives can be mounted behind the motherboard tray, and two on top of the partition, for a total of 15 drives, not counting the M.2 SSDs on your motherboard. Other ventilation options include three 120 mm front fan-mounts behind a mesh intake; three 120 mm top exhausts, and a 120 mm rear exhaust. The expansion slots include two vertical slots. Front-panel connectivity is pretty standard, with a USB 3.x type-A, two USB 2.0, and HDA jacks. All this, in mid-tower dimensions of 205 mm x 485 mm x 485 mm (WxDxH). The company didn't reveal pricing.



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I wonder if there are any anti-vibration mounts or at least some space provision for adding in your own. Judging by the images, there doesn't seem to be any kind of vibration dampening, nor quick-latch/unlatch mechanisms for easy hot-swapping.
 
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I wonder if there are any anti-vibration mounts or at least some space provision for adding in your own. Judging by the images, there doesn't seem to be any kind of vibration dampening, nor quick-latch/unlatch mechanisms for easy hot-swapping.
Indeed there seems to be lack any kind of vibration dampers and drives need to be installed using screws so no quick removal of drives. Granted it's refreshing to see a case with decent 3.5" drive support and with decent airflow as well(Be Quiet 802, Cooler Master CM 694 and Fractal Meshify 2 are the only other options for 3.5" drive users. Though 2 of these dont have quick removal of drives with CM694 only one featuring toolless drive sleds).
 
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I see it has support for a vertically mounted dual-slot GPU, though its airflow is blocked off by the solid side panel. A typical oversight I see so many times.

I also don't get the side-mounted radiator. Where is it attached to exactly? I don't see any room or cut-outs for the pipes, and the vents seem to be quite airflow-restricted, too.

Other than that, I like the design. Shame I don't need space for 15 drives, as I've recently moved all my internal storage to nvme.
 
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as soon as I saw 8 HDD I said take my money.... Cant find a decent ATX case to use as a home server with decent ventilation & HDD space.
 
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I wonder why they didn't mention this in their press release.
 
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I see it has support for a vertically mounted dual-slot GPU, though its airflow is blocked off by the solid side panel. A typical oversight I see so many times.

I also don't get the side-mounted radiator. Where is it attached to exactly? I don't see any room or cut-outs for the pipes, and the vents seem to be quite airflow-restricted, too.

Other than that, I like the design. Shame I don't need space for 15 drives, as I've recently moved all my internal storage to nvme.
The vertical mount is left over from the fact that they base many cases on a common design and reuse stamp dies on multiple clases.

The side ventilation holes are airflow for the hard drives, not radiators.
 
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The side ventilation holes are airflow for the hard drives, not radiators.
The article says otherwise: "Toward the forward-right region of the case, is a fan vent that holds either two 120 mm or two 140 mm fans; and can mount 280 mm or 240 mm radiators. The radiator ends up in the crawl-space behind the motherboard tray, while its fans are on the other side. It exhausts through vents along the right side-panel."
 
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looks good but storage on plastic rails? no thanks i prefer old school
 
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I feel like Silverstone is the only company left making data server chassis? Cases like these, with the lack of so many consumer features, just beg the question — why not go rack mount?

I can’t imagine how much noise this’d make with 11 3.5” drives (odd numbers = why?), let alone the poor airflow for servers with any real load.
 
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Indeed there seems to be lack any kind of vibration dampers and drives need to be installed using screws so no quick removal of drives. Granted it's refreshing to see a case with decent 3.5" drive support and with decent airflow as well(Be Quiet 802, Cooler Master CM 694 and Fractal Meshify 2 are the only other options for 3.5" drive users. Though 2 of these dont have quick removal of drives with CM694 only one featuring toolless drive sleds).

I just saw that the other day when looking to see if there was anything new from CM. I don't recall seeing any press releases etc, but the Australian pricing I saw amounted to about $150 USD.
 
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On the subject of other large-HDD oriented cases, Fractal Design is releasing or has released a new case, the Define 7 XL, that can hold up to 18 HDDs + 5 SSDs. It also features some vibration dampening on the sleds.
 
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Funny I can only count 14 drive bays/sleds in those photos where's number 15
 
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Plastic rails have been used for over 20 years.
yeah, but i have bad experience with plastic tray, plastic rails
after some period the plastic will lose the grip and risking the hdd sliding off
 
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