JustPC R910 Server Tower

[PAGETITLE=Introduction] There are a lot of PC case manufacturers today and with so many to choose from, the task of selecting just one can be difficult. Personally, there are a few things I look for in case and there are many people that will disagree with me. I like larger cases with plenty of room for anything that I might want to add down the road. This includes water kits, larger power supplies, extra drives' anything. One company that has caught my eye as of late is JustPC, and to be exact, the R910 server chassis. With that said, let's get a bit of information from JustPC, about JustPC. Just PC (USA) INC. Headquartered in Southern California, JUST PC has become a leading distributor of innovative and stylish PC cases in North America. The creative design and high quality of our computer cases has lead JUST PC to the top rank of Chassis Manufacturer. We at JUST PC aim to bring style, design, and functionality together as one. Leading manufacturers have succeeded in producing quality cases, but have failed to maintain the same level of quality in design and style. Consumers were left with no choice but to choose lower quality cases for the sake of design and fashion. JUST PC aims to give the consumer products on the cutting edge of design and innovation and provide the highest standard of quality. JUST PC continues to offer consumers exciting new ways to enhance their computing experience. New products are consistently in development to offer unique and innovative solutions for maximizing convenience, efficiency, and style. Our products make computing an experience, not a task. JUST PC is a rare company with a unique ideology, seeking partnerships that will expand our vision. If you share our vision of the computing experience, please feel free to contact us. Keeping those words in mind, let's get into the review. Packaging and Exterior The case came to me packaged in a plain brown box. There isn't really anything notable about the packaging, other than it kept the case safe during shipping. Once out of the box, the first thing that I notice about the case is the dual power supply design. This is nice if you are using this case as a server as you can install a pair of power supplies and if one craps out, you still have the second power supply to pick up the slack. Another use for this is if you have a power hungry PC, you can power your CPU, motherboard and drives with one and still have one power supply remaining to power your video cards. If you think of a case that can accommodate the use of dual power supplies, you have to imagine a huge case. With the R910, the case is the same height as my Thermaltake Kandalf but is a few inches longer. With the case out of its box, we see the front. The door runs up and down the entire front covering the drive bays and the intake grill. On the right side of the door there is mesh grill that also runs the entire front of the case to allow airflow to come in. Also on the door, we see the power button with a ring around it. When powered on, this ring glows blue for a nice effect. Below the power button is the reset and HDD activity lights. The door itself is made of plastic and rests on 4 metal hinges. The overall feel of the door itself is cheap but not fragile. With it open, we see space for six 5 '' and two 3 '' drives. Below the drive space, we see the in coming air grill. Just on the other side of this grill is a provided 120mm fan to bring cool air into the case. On the left side of the case there is a lock. Unlike many other cases with locks, the R910 uses a standard looking key instead of the round key most PC cases come with. This is to protect your PC from anyone what might want to mess with it. No case today is acceptable it seems without I/O ports. The R910 has this covered with 4 USB 2.0 ports, 1 IEEE 1394 (firewire) port and the required audio out and microphone jacks. [PAGEBREAK] [PAGETITLE=Interior] On the side of the case, we see that the door not only has a 120mm intake to blow cool air across the video card(s) and CPU, but also an open area near the bottom too. This is to provide a constant amount of air flow across the motherboard, CPU and video cards. One nice feature of the side fan mount is the included screen to filter out dust. The back of the PC is where we notice that the R910 isn't your standard server/SOHO case. There is room for a pair of power supplies should you choose to go that route. Below the openings for the power supplies, we see the I/O space and the grill for a 120mm exhaust fan, also included. Moving onto the inside, we notice a few more nice surprises. The interior of the R910 is spacious to say the least. With only one power supply installed, there is plenty of room for almost anything you can think of. I personally plan to add a dual 120mm radiator to the top of the case but that's another article for another time and place. The HDD cage at the bottom in the front of the case had rubber shock absorbers that go around the mounting screws for the hard drive. This dampens vibrations and should, depending on the number of hard drives you are using, reduce overall noise coming from the PC. This is a small, yet nice feature that I would like to see all case manufacturers adopt. At the back of the case, we see that JustPC has decided to skip the tool free back plate and for one, I am glad. You use a regular old screw to mount your add-in cards for video, sound, telephony or perhaps, even a PhysX card. Included with the R910 is a small box with all the extra screws you could need. Also included are spacers to place between your motherboard and the screws, a speaker as well as the motherboard stand offs. Also included with the other accessories, is a dual PSU connector. This allows you to use a pair of power supplies that will both power on when you power your PC on. At the front of the case, we see the audio hook up, the USB and IEEE 1394 pins, the front power LED Molex connector and the audio connectors as well. [PAGEBREAK] [PAGETITLE=Installation, Conclusion] We already know that the R910 is roomy inside so I am assuming that the installation of hardware will be easy as well. Before we get into the breakdown, lets take a look at what will be going into the R910. Intel E6600. DFI Infinity 975X/G. Kingston 2GB PC2-6400. Powercolor x1650 Pro. Seagate 320GB SATA HDD. Enermax Galaxy 850W. To start off, I needed to place the motherboard stand-offs into the correct threaded holes in the motherboard tray. Since the holes are not marked, I was forced to place the motherboard in the case and visibly identify which holes needed a stand-off and which ones did not. Once this was achieved, the installation was a breeze. With the power supply, the Enermax Galaxy is a huge piece of hardware by any stretch of the imagination. With that in mind, the R910 has more than enough room to accommodate this and another one like it should my system ever get the point where it needs it. With everything inside, there was still plenty of room to spare. For some this is not a good thing. For me however, this is what I look for. Below, if you can see past the cluttered wires, you can see the space that is left in the R910. One good thing is that with all that room, you are afforded more space to route cables and hide them if possible. Conclusion The JustPC R910 server case is a solid chassis with plenty of room to work with. When I first received the case, I was a bit curious to see how it would fit into my desk. I am not one of those people who have their PC on display, but rather someone who keeps it tucked away under his desk. This was a problem for me as the R910 was too long to fit nicely in my desk. Not a huge problem but one worth mentioning. The build quality of the case was top notch and sharp edges were no where in sight. I do however have a few recommendations that I would like to see JustPC consider. First off, the side panels on the case are not hinged at all. In most cases, the side panel has a grooved front to it to help hold it on the frame. With the R910, if the screws are not in to hold the door on, there is nothing keeping it from falling off. Another thing that I did not like was the colored screws. I know this is petty, but to me, this gives the R910 a childish look. Different strokes for different folks. I personally appreciate the space that the R910 has. The rubber mounting cushions for the HDD are certainly welcome as well. With the pair of included 120mm fans, this is a case that is ready to go right out of the box. Pros Large. Spacious. Rubber cushions for HDDs. Dual Power Supply option. 2 included 120mm fans. I/O wires for the front are on one connector. Front door offers great airflow. Lockable front door. Cons Large. Front door is flimsy. Heavy with hardware installed. Side panels could be re-worked. Colored screws seem childish. The JustPC R910 server case has a lot to offer. The space and the quality rank top on my list but something of this size is certainly not for everyone. The case has been looked at from a gamer/enthusiast's point of view. As an 'IT guy', I can appreciate what the R910 offers. The lockable front door is a must and the rubber mounts for the hard drives are small details that JustPC should be commended for. The door is also the biggest weakness that I can see in this case as well. While you can lock the door, you can also pull the top of the door out far enough to get your fingers far enough in to do some damage. The door rests on metal hinges so the base is strong but I would like to see the door strengthened up quite a bit more. When all is said and done, the JustPC R910 is a quality case that I can recommend to anyone who needs the room or wants the room for any custom modding. This is a case with flaws but for this reviewer, the pros outweigh the cons. I am giving the R910 a 7 out of 10, but with small fixes, the next JustPC server case could be a gem. Discuss in our forums! If you have a comment you...

JustPC R910 Server Tower

Page 42 –