Can I put my PC in a server rack?

Published by Richard Parry on 26th Oct 2023

Yes, you can and it’s one of the most popular reasons why our customers buy rackmount server chassis.

Have a read on our recent article about why you should choose a tower system over a rack system – as that is a good place to start if you’re unsure if doing this is suitable for you or not.

But in short, if you have a cabinet or are thinking of getting one and want to put your PC or servers into a rackmount chassis then it is certainly possible and often done.

Buying a rack chassis is very similar to that of a PC. There’s just a few things you need to bear in mind;

The smaller the height of the chassis means you will be much less limited on what you want to use – for example, a 1U chassis will only work with server grade motherboards. There’s also very little room, so you must use 1U heatsinks. There are also fewer drive bay spaces and expansion slots. Compared to a 4U chassis, which is a much taller chassis and has lots of room inside for normal PC sized heatsinks, plus can often take a normal size PC PSU.
Noise levels. Again with a 1U chassis they use smaller and higher speed fans to cool them. They are much noisier than that of a 4U chassis, for example.
Rail kits – Depending on the length of your chassis you will likely need one.
Make sure your cabinet is deep enough. The most common rack chassis is around 550mm depth. If you are using a comms cabinet, which is generally 600mm depth, then a 550mm deep server case is not going to fit. Check the internal depths of your cabinet, as this often catches people out.
GPU height. Some GPUs are very tall and may not fit in a 4U chassis. If you’re unsure, get in touch with the model number of the GPU you are using and we can check for you. We do have a unique lid on offer for our IW-R400-WC that extends a 4U chassis to 5U to allow for some 40 series NVIDIA GPUs to be used.

We’ve been helping our customers since 2006 choose the right rackmount chassis solution for their needs – get in touch with us on 01283 576162 and we’d be happy to help.