iStarUSA 3U Stylish Zinc-Coated Steel Rackmount Server Chassis Front-mounted ATX Power Supply (D-300-PFS)

Pros: Cheap, ATX, Holds everything I needed it to. Fit my mother board and hard drives without issue.

Cons: One of the expansion covers was missing with packaging... but I had extra.

Other Thoughts: love the lockable front part of that case. Be extra careful when buying a power supply for this case and make sure it fits. I had to open my power supply up and switch the direction of the fans.

Pros: pretty good, it's my own fault for not realizing this was too deep for a communications cabinet - i figured a diy case wouldn't be the same as a full depth server, but hey, whatevs. I will say that this is not quite as nice as the other case that's shallower, in terms of steel vs plastic handles etc.

Cons: none really, other than I should think or learn to read.

Pros: love it, my CPU was running at 53 degrees C in my old beige case, it is now running at 39 degrees C in this thing. It is also shallow enough to fit in a communications cabinet. It fit my ATXm board fine. It would accomodate a wider ATX board, but don't plan on using all of the 5.25" slots. Actually, don't plan on using the bottom two 3.5" bays either

Cons: none really

Pros: Lots of room for drives, expansion cards, and fits most motherboards. Built well. Has good ventilation. Rackmounts without needing to use railslides. Easy to figure out how to install components. Only took about 30 minutes from unbox to power up.

Cons: Just make sure the power supply you use fits correctly and you shouldn't have any problems. Fans can be a bit loud but if it's installed in a computer room, it's not a factor anyway.

Other Thoughts: Bought two of these and will buy more in the future.

Pros: Great price. Plenty of internal space (had no interference on my motherboard/power supply combo) not cramped at all. Assembly was easy, and even the dreaded power supply was easy enough to get mounted into place.

Cons: For my application, none. The front-facing power supply is designed for a supply with the fan on the back, not the top. I couldn't find a supply with a good warranty and a rear fan, so I'm using a top-mounted Corsair unit. I figure if I use the drive slot above the power supply it would help with cooling.

The design for the internal drive bays do suck. What, it would have cost an extra thirty cents to install some rails and have them slide in and out with no disassembly? In my case this is an onsite server for a small business so disassembly shouldn't be an issue.

A manual would have been nice, so I didn't search the whole of the internet to find out that the loose plug in the case goes to an add-on that Newegg doesn't sell. Wish they did, because I would have bought the fan alarm module in a heartbeat.

Other Thoughts: Great value. The hard drive mounting is the worst part of this case, but if paying a tech at a data center extra for removal and disassembly then you might want to splurge the extra $100-200 and get a better case.

Pros: The case is solid, strong, and will likely hold up very well. Once I figured out the weird internal design, after MUCH head scratching, parts installation went relatively smoothly.

Cons: Paint/coating scratches VERY easily. Given how extremely non-intuitive the PSU mounting bracket is documentation should be included. I was able to find a PDF on the iStar website but only after, like probably most people, scratching my head for 20minutes. The thing that is beyond comprehension is the 4-drive mounting bracket in the rear of the case. This is such a bad design and eliminates this case from ever being a serious contender for production equipment or datacentre use. To remove a drive you have to remove three screws on the bottom of the case...which in my case means I have to completely remove it from the rack...and then pull out the entire assembly after disconnecting all 4 drives, replace the drive and do the whole process in reverse. What a TERRIBLE design! A drive swap will take at least an hour and the process, especially getting the bracket attached when loaded with drives, is exceptionally awkward and requires a balancing act and maybe/preferably three hands.

Other Thoughts: I spent the first half hour (literally) after unboxing the case finding all the screws that came out fo the broken bag. A really cheap bag that just burst. Massively annoying. Some screws were jammed into places I needed tools to remove them from.

Again with the design...if you are a home user, such as myself, or don't need to have quick drive change-outs (which I may, unfortunately) then this isn't a terrible case. But if you have a production system or a datacentre, this is the last case you should buy. As I said in "cons" the drive mounting bracket design is utterly stupid. You can't even disconnect/remove a single drive (unless it is the top one and you only have screws on one side) without powering down the server, removing it from the rack, and removing/disconnecting ALL of the (up to) 4 drives in that bracket. If the case wasn't so easily scratched (just from building it on a wooden bench) I would return it for another one. 2/5 for solid build and decent materials.

Pros: The design for this case is very nice and it keeps my components very cool as advertised. The front mounting power supply does a lot for air flow as well and is a great way to save space.

Cons: I bought this case for a performance gaming computer and with my ATX board and my Rosewill BRONZE Series RBR1000-M power supply, there simply isn't enough space to mount that large of a power supply. I had to cut a whole in the front metal grate behind the air filter in order to mount it. Since most people won't have the tools to do that, I would avoid this case if you are using a large power supply with an ATX motherboard. A Mico ATX board with a large power supply might work but I have not tested it.

Other Thoughts: It is also extremely heavy but since it sits in my home rack, it really makes no difference to me. Looks great in my rack! :)

Pros: Solid, rack mountable,descent air flow over the stack of 4 x 3.5 drives.

Cons: The power supply mounting is a nightmare. The case's power cord which connects the power supply to the case is way too large. The end which plug into the power supply sticks out so far that, I had to cut the steel grating to allow it to stick outside the chasis to barely fit the PS into the case. The front of the PS in which the power cables come out of are pushing up against all of the SATA ports and makes for a very poor/unstable connection.

Other Thoughts: I really liked the case, it is just unfortunate, it is not designed very well for a Corsair AX750 power supply and a full ATX motherboard. I am ordering a cooler and will most likely look for a better fitting case since, I will need to take the motherboard out to mount the cooler.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Newegg Customer:
Thank you for choosing the iStarUSA brand to be part of your total computing system. We proudly stand behind our products and hope that you will find your next purchase an iStarUSA brand.
You can actually call us at our customer service line to resolve the power cord issue without cutting the steel grating; or, contact us from our website at www.istarusa.com. The power cable pushing against the SATA port issue depends on the design on your power supply and the location of the cords. We suggest getting a PSU no longer than 6.30” to allow for room between power supply and the motherboard. You can find our installation video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-n9kqdd4C4. Should you have any questions, please contact our tech support for further details.
Thank you for choosing iStarUSA. Please visit us on www.istarusa.com for upcoming news and product releases.
Warm Regards,
iStarUSAcare Service
2011
DYK: Our expert technicians and service team is standing by to answer your technical trouble shoot. Our standard office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30AM – 5:30PM PST. Please call 1-888-989-1189 or e-mail us at tech@istarusa.com

Pros: 1. Cheap, sturdy case.

2. Good HD cooling from rear of case.

3. Dust/sound filters on front doors.

Cons: 1. No documentation at all (could solve 95% of the complaints on these reviews). If iStarUSA sends me 3 free cases, I'll make up an entire illustrated owner's manual for them.

2. Seems to be missing a 60mm fan from the rear of the case.

3. Mystery 2x4 connector for the front LED indicator cluster is un-documented. Looks like warning lights are available for a fan, S1, S2, and alarm. Could be useful if you have the time to pin them out.

Other Thoughts: Many of the reviews were old, so I thought they could use some updating:

1. Every ATX power supply I had in the shop (4 of them) fit this case without problems. The PS goes in the FRONT of the case, NOT in the rear. If you have a non ATX compliant PS , just remove the mounting bracket and stick the PS down with VHB tape.

2. The USB ports currently have 1x5 conventional MB connectors on them.

3. If you skip the optical drives, there are mounts for 8 HDs (7 if you skip the one above the PS).

4. You can flip the fan in your PS so it draws air from the front of the case and blows upwards.

Pros: Nice Design, Good Airflow, Good Price. 3rd Case and so far so good.

Cons: In all 3 units i ran into 1 stripped screw, problem mounting 400w MicroATX modular power supply(Fan Position), switched to 500w ATX modular fits great. stacking 4 drives with only 1 fan... extra fan mount for a push pull would be nice, had to rig a solution.

Other Thoughts: Fits my needs, wished new egg would carry all the parts thats on iStar Website.

Manufacturer Response:

Dear Newegg Customer:
Thank you for choosing the iStarUSA brand to be part of your total computing system. We proudly stand behind our products and hope that you will find your next purchase an iStarUSA brand.
In regards to the stripped screws, please contact our technical support team to obtain new screws.

Again, we apologize for the inconvenience this might have caused you.
Warm Regards,
iStarUSAcare Service
2011
DYK: At our website, you can view product photos, specs, and drawings. Go to www.istarusa.com and enter the model number in the search bar, or, select the product division and find the product series on the left hand side menu.