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I'm looking to get an extra large, closeable, ~portable case. It's ok if it's bulky and couldn't possibly fit as a carry-on on a plane, but I hope to transport it in a car and occasionally clear it off my desk and store it in a corner/closet. Major bonus points if it can be closed while patched.

The two top contenders for me right now are:

• Case from Lake 15U 126HP
• mdlrcase 14U 126HP

I like having 1U rows, so I've discussed a custom build with Case from Lake about adding two 1U rows to the middle section, bringing it to 17U 126HP. This is totally feasible and really a dream case for me. I want this to be my main case for the next 10+ years. I may make the big investment in it sometime next year, but I am concerned about power. I want to hear others' thoughts and get my math checked before I go really overboard and compromise or spend extra money unnecessarily.

Here is a very rough idea of how this case could be filled to get an estimate for power requirements: https://www.modulargrid.net/e/modules_racks/data_sheet/2018565

The case would come with three power supplies by default, powering the top two rows, the middle three (1U + 3U + 1U), and the bottom two. It has quite a few power-hungry modules. In my estimate, I could be using up to 1850/795 mA (12V/-12V) per power supply based on the totals in the last two rows.

Case from Lake says the default power supplies (Meanwell RT65Bs) can go to 2000/800 mA without overstressing. 795 mA is very close to 800 mA on the -12V rail, which is why I'm concerned. Maybe some modules have under-reported power usage, or maybe I'll buy even more power-hungry digital modules in the future. I don't want to have to compromise the rack's layout and be worrying about power if I'm going to invest in this.

So I could add an extra power supply to the top section and the bottom section. These Meanwell RT65Bs are pretty cheap, so that doesn't seem like a big deal and might be enough to address my concerns.

Alternately, I could "upgrade" to the Doepfer PSU3, but that supports 2000/1200 mA total, so using the "80% rule" it might start overstressing at 1600/ 960 mA, which is definitely not enough. I'd probably need five Doepfer PSU3s for this case, but those are significantly more expensive and it looks like it might add something like $900 to the cost (practically doubling the price). It seems these Doepfer power supplies are really well regarded, and part of me thinks if I'm going to invest in this as my main case for the next 10+ years, I am willing to spend more for very high quality that I can depend on. I just don't know if it's worth it... Maybe there's (more) detectable noise with the Meanwells? I've heard stories of certain digital modules using a spike in power at boot-up and not working with lower-end power supplies, but I don't know if this is something I should even be worrying about (is this actually a problem for many people?) or if Doepfer vs Meanwell is meaningful for these concerns.

Ooooor, I could get the mdlrcase 14U 126HP case with its 85W power supplies that can provide 4000/2500 mA to each 7U section. These cases seem pretty nice too! I'd be sacraficing a 3U row, but these seems to give plenty of power headroom at a better price point than five Doepfer power supplies. A big question here is if the mdlrcase power supply is significantly better than a couple Meanwells, and if that would make it worth dropping the 3U row.

In summary, things I'm considering:

• Get the Case from Lake case with the default three Meanwell PSUs, knowing that I am riding the line of overstressing, but also knowing I could simply not fill the case (probably a good idea anyway?) or learn DIY skills and upgrade/add the PSUs myself later.
• Pay a little more for five Meanwell PSUs. Replace them later if there are any issues.
• Pay a lot more for five Doepfer PSU3s instead of three or five Meanwells because I want it to be super-dependable
• Stop debating all that and just get the mdlrcase with its overpowered PSUs, but lose some rack space.

If you read this far and are willing to share some thoughts, thanks in advance!

EDITED Nov 24th 2022, 00:10