For the longest time I'd been eyeing an upgrade for my home server. My trusty Fractal Node 304 had served me well, but with a growing media library and an ever-expanding collection of Docker containers, its limits were showing. I was maxed out at just 2 HDDs, 2 SSDs, and a single NVMe drive. The writing was on the wall: I needed more bays.
After months of browsing and deliberating, I finally pulled the trigger on the Jonsbo N3 — a compact NAS-style case with eight (yes, eight!) 3.5" HDD bays. Snagged it from AliExpress on a great deal, coupon and all, and the project began. This post is all about the hardware journey, so let's get into the nitty-gritty.
The case
The Jonsbo N3 is a really nice case. Sleek, compact for what it offers, and surprisingly easy to build in. The hot-swap backplane for the drives is a welcome luxury after the Tetris-like experience of the Node 304.
That said, no upgrade is ever completely straightforward, and this one had its share of surprises and necessary part swaps.
The power supply shuffle
First hurdle: the PSU. My old Silverstone Strider 550W 80Plus Gold was simply too big for the N3's unique compartment. The solution? I borrowed the Corsair SF600 Platinum from my gaming PC. The small-form-factor PSU fit perfectly, but it introduced a new problem — its cables were too short to reach the power connector on the drive backplane. A quick Molex splitter order solved that, with the reach and connectors to power all eight bays.
A quieter cooling solution
I'd read online that the stock N3 fans can run a bit loud — a no-go for a server that runs 24/7. So before even starting the build, I swapped them for a mix of Arctic P8 Max PWM and P9 PWM fans, also from AliExpress. Night and day difference. The server is whisper-quiet now.
Motherboard discoveries
My motherboard is a Gigabyte Z690I AORUS ULTRA — a fantastic ITX board, but it only has four SATA ports. With eight drives to feed, I picked up an ASM1166-based SATA card for an extra six ports. Future-proofed.
Here's the funniest part of the whole build: while planning this upgrade, I discovered the board has a SECOND NVMe slot on the back. I'd been running this board for over a year with no idea. A free storage upgrade I never knew I had!
CPU cooler upgrade
With more drives and potential heat, the stock Intel cooler for my i5-12500 wasn't going to cut it. Upgraded to a Noctua U9S and it's been fantastic — low temps, even lower noise. While I was in the BIOS setting fan curves, I also bumped the firmware from F21 to F31 for better stability and compatibility.
The GPU that didn't make the cut
I had a grand plan to retire my old MSI GTX 970 and move my RTX 2080 Founders Edition in, to run local LLMs and image generation straight on the server. Alas — the best-laid plans. The 2080 was simply too long for the N3's layout.
After a moment of disappointment, I decided the GTX 970 stays for now. Not the worst outcome — the server's core job is storage and services anyway, and the GPU fund can wait for a shorter card.
The finished product
With everything buttoned up, I couldn't be happier. Eight bays of breathing room, whisper-quiet fans, and a build that finally matches what the server has become. Onwards and upwards!
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