JONSBO N3 8-Bay NAS case review - A good case got... bigger.
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- Опубліковано 29 сер 2023
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Disclosures: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase. In addition, none of the products shown in this video were provided or sponsored by the manufacturer. All items were purchased with my own money for review.
Stuff used in this video:
JONSBO N3 (8 bay): (Amazon) amzn.to/45Pr0aN (Aliexpress) s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_Ddc... (Newegg) www.newegg.com/p/2AM-006A-000E1
JONSBO N2 (5 bay): (Amazon) amzn.to/44uzd38 (Aliexpress) s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_Ddc... (Newegg) www.newegg.com/p/2AM-006A-000B7
K7 (8 bay, not recommended unless you need mATX): amzn.to/3OV4jv4
Motherboard (original): amzn.to/3L3IGaF
Motherboard (cheaper replacement): amzn.to/3qUMfcv
Motherboard (low power, 12 SATA): s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_DEJ...
CPU (5600G 6 cores, no ECC support): amzn.to/3L3pBWe
CPU (5650G Pro 6 cores, ECC support): ebay.us/2kNMcB
RAM (Non-ECC): amzn.to/47VIjZy
RAM (ECC): amzn.to/3QZoD0M
Drives: amzn.to/47WBJlx (I recommend used enterprise drives)
PSU [See note 1]: amzn.to/3ZbOK77 (as long as you're going a name brand like Corsair, Seasonic, etc. you're probably going to be fine)
Note 1: Most only come with one molex cable which can't reach both connectors. You'll need a cheap molex extender (amzn.to/3OSk5a5) to connect both unless you have a PSU with long enough cables.
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Sony FX30: amzn.to/3uTmAzb
Sony A7IV: amzn.to/3uqGsdT
Sony FE PZ 16-35mm F4 G lens: amzn.to/3JjOdI5
Sony FE 35mm f/1.4 GM lens: amzn.to/3ootA4e
Sony FE 90mm f/2.8 G Macro lens: amzn.to/3bFBVYD
SmallRig RC 220D video light: amzn.to/3E2ZomO
SmallRig RC 120D video light: amzn.to/3YIzoXg
RGB Video Light: amzn.to/3eqVGGs (not my exact light, but similar)
Desview R6 monitor: amzn.to/34CfKUI
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Raptoreum: RSECAdkYjcrGh7BogBYjXdB3oaThYdyFxA - Наука та технологія
If you only need 5 hard drives, the JONSBO N2 is a great option and it's even on sale in some places these days.
ua-cam.com/video/SZEccMmtwr4/v-deo.html
Alternative:
SilverStone SST-CS380 V2 - Case Storage ATX Midi Tower Gehäuse, unterstützt 8x 3.5" oder 2.5" Hot-Swap
@@FARBerserker From what I've read about that one the backplane is really bad and drive cooling isn't great. But it's one of the few ATX options with built in hot swap, sadly.
When I saw that this case existed, I actually hoped in the back of my mind that you'd do a review on it. So thanks! Glad to see Jonsbo are continuing to evolve their N-series cases, even if they've got some frustratingly weird little things they do. An N4 with Micro-ATX and 120mm fan support would have my purchase _almost_ immediately. ITX is just a bit too limiting I think.
Edit: That's a great cat!
This is the first time I watch your video. I love it. It is very useful for me. I haven't able to get all these useful information about any PC case review before.
Thanks for the review! Definitely picking one up later this year.
I will probably not picking this one up because of the price. I wonder if it would be cheaper without the backplane PCB implementation.
I reached out to Jonsbo to ask what the sata power was for and they replied: "If you use all 8 3.5HDD bits, then you need to use all 3 power ports (2 D-type ports + 1 sata).
If you only use 5-6 HDD bits, then just use 2 power supply ports."
There is nothing wrong with connecting all three and since you probably aren't using the cables for anything else it won't be a problem to connect them all.
However 8 drives is no problem for 2 Molex cables in the video. The connectors themselves support 11 amps/max per pin. The mamimum draw during startup for a 22TB Seagate Ironwolf drive is 2 amps on the 12v rail.
The cable is a factor here and you're usually looking at 18awg wire, so unless you have a super long wire (which SFX PSUs never do) or you have a bunch of other stuff connected to the Molex cable, you can easily supply the 8 amps need per cable.
It gets a bit dodgy when you have to take both Molex from one cable, but keep in mind startup current is short lived and they drop much lower after that. I used two cables off a good psu and that wouldn't worry me one bit for 8 drives. But like I said before my wall of text, just connect all three since it doesn't hurt anything. :D
You could probably 3d print plastic rails that would slide easy and still let you use the handles.
100mm fans exist and have been around for a long time. Not common, but certain low profile CPU coolers use them. For example the Thermalright AXP100. Since they use the same mount as 92mm fans, if you want to replace the fans, you can use any commodity 92mm fans, but 100mm provides slightly better cooling in a similar form factor which is great for small form factor cases where cooling is limited, so their usage makes sense.
Too bad that N3 is only ITX... is there any case like that but for mATX?
It's nice that there are cheaper 8-bay NAS chassis out there where you can put whatever it is you want in it that aren't terribly expensive.
Makes for a cheaper alternative to pre-built NAS units, but then you're also responsible for the full systems integration (and making sure that everything works) vs. having someone else do that for you.
thank yu for bringing this case to light im probaly gonna use
Thanks for the thorough review. Any concerns with the backplane? Seems there were quality issues with drive alignment on the N2. Hopefully this one is better.
I haven't heard of anything and the screw mounting locations are in good spots to avoid board flex.
I concur, smaller fans make a lot of sense with the restrictive nature of a small NAS, they do provide much more static pressure than large fans while still moving a lot of air.
Good to see that the mounting holes are for standard 92mm fans, just dropping in some potent yet silent San Ace 9S0912P4F011 or the newer more potent 9RA0912P4G0011 and you should be set for eternity
The 9GA0812P4H001 are really nice. I use 2 of them in my VM server (previous video), and at ~90-95% they're powerful, but still not "server" levels of noise.
@@PeterBrockie ah yes, those are also not bad. How high is the rpm at 0% PWM? The datasheets mention 1500rpm but not for this exact fan
Dunno. Never had to set it that low and I don't remember which channel on my fan controller is for them. Haha
18:17 lol. i was running four red pluses in inwin ms04 for quite sometime and they were around 50-55c months on end. at idle. then i taped a slim noctua under the drive cage and got them down to 45-50c. since then i moved to node 804 and now im seeing 35-40c when its not hot, when its hot outside they get to up around 42-43c. no AC here in EU, lol.
Another advantage of the N3 is that it has room for tower heatsinks, unlike the N2.
N2 65mm, N3 130mm max cooler heights if anyone is curious.
If I didn't get the N2, I would be very tempted by this. I really like what Jonsbo is doing with the N2 and N3 -- some of their choices are odd, but nothing deal-breaking.
Despite the temptation, I think I'm better off with my N2 because it fits perfectly where I put it, and I don't need more capacity or redundancy than 5 drives already affords me.
Really the worst thing about the N series is exposing the fact there are very few choices for ITX motherboards in a 5+ bay config.
I have have read that the SATA connecter is for when you go above five drives. It is odd. As two Molex can easily pass the juice needed for eight drives spinning up.
Thanks & Nice Cat.
Hi, do you make a video on that HDD Cage Expansion you put it on the plastic box on 16:53 ?
Good video but for flex psu's on the k7 you can get the SeaSonic SS-350M1U (they have other higher wattage versions) they are silent and pretty decently priced. As for the fans SilenX EFX-10-12 Effizio its a decent replacement 100mm is very odd but you can find them. Im curious though you said the psu is sfx I wonder if i could get a flexatx in it.
Are you going to post a follow up video showing the drive temps, how loud the fans are, and how well the overall system does in that case?
Nah, like I said in reply to another comment, the specifics for temps usually aren't super important other than "Did the drives cook. No? Good." As I said, temps were good (under 40C in a normal temp room, little over 40C in a hot ~30C room). The included 100mm fans are pretty quiet even at 100%.
Thanks for this review. Which model Noctua CPU cooler is that? Wish there was a way to filter by height on their website
PC Part Picker is great for stuff like that. Just do a search for coolers and you can limit by height and brand. Also works great for GPU length.
pcpartpicker.com/products/cpu-cooler/
I'm pretty sure the cooler is a Noctua NH-D9L.
Hi. PSU only 105mm or more is possible (for ex. 150mm)?
What case works for a microAtx board as I need 2 pci x16+ slots?
I couldn't tell from the video. is there a cut out underneath the motherboard? If so how much space is there? Is there enough space to use a M.2 NVME to SATA adapter to get 6 more SATA ports instead of the PCI-e slot? That way I can use the only PCI-e slot on a mini-itx for an actual graphics cards? If not enough space, can you at least put cooling fins on the M.2 SSD on the bottom of the motherboard freeing up the top M.2 slot for the M.2 to SATA adapter?
There's a large cutout under most of the motherboard, but below it is more metal. So it's more of a recessed area, so I don't think you'd have room for SATA cables to plug into the card. It really depends on the layout of the motherboard, but I suspect you can fit most M.2 cards and most slim (~1-2cm) heatsinks depending on where the motherboard has its slot.
www.jonsbo.com/UploadFiles/202371121728.jpg
The manual has a top down image (Installation Guide #3), it shows the perforated lower section below the cutout - not the drowning though.
www.jonsbo.com/Upfiles/down/N3%20Installation%20Manual.pdf
Their site has some cutaway photos where you can see a bit of what I'm talking about.
www.jonsbo.com/en/products/N3.html
Excellent video!! I am planning in building one of these soon. Would you be able to point me in the Direction of a SAS HBA card you would recommend for this build?
The LSI 9211-8i is the standard recommended card. Works well, cheap. The only catch is if you don't get one pre-flashed, you might need to do the flashing yourself to set it to IT (HBA) mode.
There are reliable sellers like ArtOfServer on eBay who test and flash LSI cards.
Thanks so much for the help! Really enjoy your content. I really like that when you review this stuff you talk real world applications. It really has been helpful and interesting@@PeterBrockie
If this was Micro-ATX I would already own one. Maybe an N4 in the future?
i like your cat
i bet sata power is for the 2 fan connectors, and the two molex are for the drives, was there thinking.
What was that noctua cooler that you used?
Noctua NH-D9L, but it's a little hard to get. The Noctua NH-U9S is available on places like Amazon, does a better job cooling and is only slightly taller.
Where was the side by side comparison with the N2? Would love to have seen a visual of the size difference. Very comprehensive review though, much appreciated
The catch is it still won't give you a real idea for the size in real life other than the N3 is bigger. Hehe Grab an old cardboard box and cut two squares the size of the models based on their specs page to get a better idea.
Since you mention you have the N2 can you make video showing the size comparison between N2 and N3?
I have the N3 boxed up to ship, but what you can do is just cut out some scrap cardboard/paper and use the measurements on their site. The N3 is quite a bit larger than the N2. It's still not huge though.
www.jonsbo.com/en/products/N3.html
www.jonsbo.com/en/products/N2Black.html
I'm I reading their site correctly in that this case only accepts SAS drives on the custom PCB?
SATA + SAS.
Will Noctua 92mm fit if I wanted to replace the 90mm fans ?
Also , are the top 100mm fans PWM ?
The bottom fans can be replaced with any 90/92mm fans. There are no top fans included, however, I installed some 80mm Noctua's.
Would it be possible to fit a PCIe riser card with Dual x8/x8 Slots for bifurcation?
Very unlikely with the space available.
@@PeterBrockie Ok, thanks
For a home nas how important is a hotswap capability, i had assumed that data centeres would want it but smaller nas is luxuary.
It's 100% a luxury. It makes it much faster and easier to swap out a dead drive. It also makes it so you can swap a dead drive without shutting down your server as many non-hotswap setups don't let you disconnect just one drive and replace it due to physical arrangement.
For example, my main NAS has 15 drives in a rackmount case without hotswap bays. I just had a drive die and I will have to disconnect 5 drives to get at it.
can i use the m.2 to 4 sata ports card instead of a sas card? and also add it to the same raid array as the mobo sata ports??
Yes although the SAS cards aren't much more money and are generally more reliable. As for RAID, ZFS doesn't care, so if you use TrueNAS it doesn't matter where the drives are connected.
@@PeterBrockie I’ll be using the pics for a Gpu that’s why I can’t have a sas card, as far as unraid will it work too?
@m7md0077 Yeah, I don't think Unraid cares at all. They just want access to the drives without hardware raid.
I am surprise Jonsbo or anyone hasnt make the rigid HDD handle you suggested as an additional accessory to replace those annoying rubber things.
pretty sure the spacing on these 100mm fans has the same hole size for the 92mm fans.
Honestly it's like they are trying to make a bad design (and they are insultingly expensive), in my opinion a nas good for most personal use's doesn't have to be a very powerful machine, you have to take in account power usage (electricity cost's money) and noise as it most likely going to work near people. The motherboard should be placed preferably on top for good heat dissipation with an air vent or option 2 on the side and top vent, in both cases with enough room for a beefy cooler (to reduce fan usage and noise) . Jonsbo n3 is good but they just had to insult us with not having a top vent and some decent hdd bays also the price so high and your getting so little especially considering that the users are going for this option precisely because they don't want to spend to much money and the build quality could be better !
Well sata power connector can deliver about 54wats max i am pretty sure that is enough for 8 drives :)
I'm pretty sure 54W is the max 3.3v 5v and 12v rails combined. The issue is that nothing uses the 3.3v rail, so that's gone and the startup current on the drive motors is quite high.
Hard drives usually idle 5-7w each, while adding a couple more for actively reading/writing and even more at startup.
Got my hands on one from AliExpress lol since nowere else was selling it does this thing have 2x80mm fans at back and 2x120mm on bottom or are they 100mm going to replace with Noctua Fans in my Nas Build.
Oh and before i mess this up do i need to connect both molex+sata power to backplane im not sure if my last case (Silverstone) shipped a dead backplane or if i buggered it up by connecting all 3 connectors?
Last edit promise 🤣
1. Asus Rog Strix x570 itx
2. Ryzen 5700G
3. 64GB Corsair 3600mhz.
4. Corsair 750 Watt SFX (400 watt costs $100 in some places)
5. Lsi HBA 9270 (IT Mode)
6. 2x 2TB Nvme SSDs (cache/zlog)
7. 8x22Tb Seagate Exos
8.True Nas Scale.
If asking why x570 i ended up with 4 of these boards this summer outa trades or deals.
Other commenters have said JONSBO recommends connecting all 3 power cables. The dual 80mm fans are for the motherboard area and the lower hard drive area takes dual 100mm fans stock, or 90mm fans (aka 92mm). The stock 100mm fans are good and don't need replacing.
@@PeterBrockie I had a Silverstone never run when I did this I do most now then I was considering making the front area capable of holding those AC usb 120m fans it'll blow air right over the HDDs the room where it'll sit is usually a chilly 19c in summer and about a 14-15 in winter. I'll test with drives I have laying around with just 2 molex. And yes shipping was absolutely insane $114 CND total $306 but if this helps my Nas be more Modular and repairable I'll be happy. Ty for being literally only person who reviewed this had I watched them commented first you answered literally every quest I had 🙏
@@shadowarez1337 The shipping issue is not limited to Canada. Aliexpress seems to have gone insane with shipping costs in the last couple years - any computer case is $80-150 USD for shipping. There's no way they're paying that much, so it would be nice if they cracked down on that crap.
eBay had the same problem before they started doing something about it. People would sell something for a dollar and $250 shipping because it was really a $250 item. I see auctions from time to time like that, but I'm pretty sure they can be reported for suspect shipping costs.
@@PeterBrockie thought that was just me seeing this especially on eBay/Ali I even tried using my US address it cost more 🤔 but iv come across this with Newegg in Vancouver back when The Cosmos ll was all the rage I tried new egg wanted $650 shipping to where I was went to BB they charged $20 shipping 🤷 so shopping for parts where I am has become a skill in itself.
How's the power consumption with that setup btw?
Will there be another video showing what thermals you got?
Nope. I generally don't do detailed testing like that simply because it's not something I personally find helpful (and because it's just me making and editing).
My reasoning for this is specific temperatures aren't as helpful as you might think. If I'm buying a case, I just need to know if it is functional. Do the drives overheat in normal conditions? Does the CPU area overheat? That sort of thing. Especially with CPU/GPUs specific temps can be misleading now as newer gen stuff tends to "go faster until I get to x temperature", so you're likely to get similar temperature results no matter what (although clock speeds will change). I do testing as far as using it enough to know it isn't going to cook 8 hard drives and the CPU isn't throttling. :)
Here is my dilemma. I think I need two external PCI Express slots. One would be for a decent graphics card to use for AI video analytics and the other would be a future 10 GB per second networking upgrade. I've only started my search but is there a mini ITX board that could accommodate that? I hope to buy a board with at least one 2.5 GB networking built in and ideally two. But I don't think any mini ITX exist with 10 GB.
Supermicro made the X10SDV which has two 10 GBit, though only one PCIe slot. It’s quite expensive though. I’m not sure if they make it anymore.
Another option is a board with Thunderbolt 3 or 4, and an external 10Gbps adapter. I use a couple at work and other than being quite expensive and getting *very* hot they do work well.
i suspect that the one sata power connector is for the LED's
They work running off the molex no problem. I think it might be so you can use one of each cable if that's all you have, but that's kinda pushing it for 8 drives.
Would the Power supply Blow Up If you Hook Up both molex AND the SATA Power? I am concerned you May pushing Limits with 2 molex and 8 Drives...
@@Crazynin1 4 drives per molex is fine, but if you want to connect all three it won't hurt anything.
If they just made a bit wider, so a mATX board (like the Asrock N100M) would fit in, but no. Finding non expensive ITX boards with enough IO and not a total crap CPU, is like unoptanium these days.
I'd like to see an N4 with dual 120x25mm fans and mATX. That being said, if you don't mind ITX with a disk controller in the slot, this case is a great option.
I used a b550 ITX with a nvme to sata Controller Card. It Looks Like a nvme Drive but with SATA Ports on it instead. I need the x16 for a GPU for Video transcoding. So i have No nvme to Boot from, which is okay for me since SATA SSD Boottimes are Not much longer then nvme and the Server is working 24/7 anyways and i only Run docker Container which arent that demanding compared to VMs. So i have now 10 SATA Ports and a full pcie 4.0 x16 Port for a gpu and all in an ITX Board. Those cards are also available for WiFi Ports but they can fit only 2 SATA Ports. So you can still manage 6 sata Ports If you really need a nvme. Or a third solution: there are ITX Boards with 2 m.2 Ports. So you still can fit another m.2 If you are using a nvme to sata Controller.
The 550i mobo has Realtek controller for ethernet which is not supported (or buggy) in truenas and other Unix bases o/s.
Support has gotten better over the years and it seems to be really specific to some combos these days, so I wouldn't rule out a Realtek board and simply return it if you run into a compatability problem.
Especially with 2.5GbE it can be hard no matter who you go with. The Intel 225/226 has a half dozen hardware revisions which don't work for people at 2.5Gbit.
@@PeterBrockie Lawrence Systems whom I trust completely stays to stay away from realtek ethernet controllers for most "Unix" based systems.
@@be-kind00 I trust them as well, but the truth is most of us are home users - we can take a risk and return it if we run into problems. He's looking at it from the point of view of deploying it to paying customers on a large scale.
At least with 2.5 gig, I wouldn't go near the i225 or early i226 chips which have known hardware issues over Realtek which "may" have issues depending on your OS, etc.
It’s true. I’ve bought that Gigabyte b550i, installed TrueNas Core, then for a couple of hours tried to get it work - got only 1Gbe and returned it. Bought Asus b550i with Intels nic. It started like a charm on 2.5gbe and still working after a year. Then I’ve switched to TrueNas Scale, no problems too.
I’ve build my NAS in N1 case, good case, but now I want N3 :))
Finally!
I dont understand NAS storage being reviewed here! I have an Iomega StorCenter px4-300d from years ago with 4 4tb HDD and only thing I had to upgrade was memory. Do all NAS need you to buy computer board, memory and power supplies????
This is a NAS case. It doesn't have any CPU, etc. There are lots of pre-made NAS systems though. Synology, QNAP, etc.
Ok. Thanks for the clarification. I prefer to buy pre-made. My nas may be old but its got 16TB and 8 meg memory and connect thru my lan.
Hex screws are premium. Much harder to strip than a phillips head.
yeah, but ppl usually overtighten hex's since they think the same, so overall not a difference in a case like this, just frustrating.
I like the Hex screws. I am a machinist. Maybe that is why.@@giornikitop5373
This channel is like Linus Tech Tips but without the startup sweatshop mentality and sexual assault.
Or is it just them before they get caught?!
@@PeterBrockie
It's so easy to spot a GN yes-man nowadays.
@@Deses What?
No RAID?
Hardware RAID is dead like disco, baby.
Maybe bisare in the US, rest of world SFX power and 92 mm fans are in most stores :-) Maybe open your eyes there is more on this globe then the US...
What are you talking about? I said I prefer SFX over FlexATX. There's nothing wrong with SFX other than it costs more than ATX since it's less widely used.
so wait, such a nice case and fans are only ON/OFF without driving them properly using PWM? wtf? ;-)
If you plug them into your motherboard they can be speed controlled in DC mode, they just don't have PWM control.
@@PeterBrockie so the fan in this case is NOT PWM, right? if not PWM then it can only do ON/OFF, wherever you connect it to
@@zyghom The fans are 3-pin non-PWM fans. Almost every motherboard on the planet can speed control 3-pin fans though.
Generally you just change the fan mode in the BIOS from PWM to DC. Direct current mode just varies the voltage to the fan instead of a PWM signal.
@@PeterBrockie ohh, I did not know - so instead of 5V DC (or 12V) the motherboard makes it 3V or so when needed?
@@zyghom Correct. It will lower the voltage from 12v to slow the fan. Usually down to ~7v or so, but on some motherboards you can configure it. Honestly though, I didn't really notice much noise from the 100mm fans and I would personally run them at full for max hard drive cooling.
like!
orang cat