Not really a “Home Lab” person, but, I do have a pretty geeked out music studio that runs both Apple and Windows with audio over IP (Dante), VEPro Server running all my virtual instruments, a Blokas MIDI Router to manage all MIDI traffic and a TB4 switch that allows me to instantly move from Mac to PC setups. All over a 10GigE network.
The PC side I was looking to move to a new Cubase Windows platform over what I have now, and the Home Workstation looks like it’s the right fit. The problem is that I need thunderbolt connectivity, and the ASrock Z750 MB it comes with won’t support a TB4 PCIE card…but a Z790 will.
The most direct answer to your question is I don’t believe a “case only” version of the Home Workstation is offered publicly. Sometimes you can pm info@45homelab.com and they might be able to quote you a price for just the case or case&psu, but that will likely have a premium over 45Drices’ already premium prices.
Why do you think the B760I Lightning WiFi, which is the motherboard currently on the Home Workstation store page (https://store.45homelab.com/configure/workstation); won’t support a TB4 PCIe card? Or, do you mean you need the PCIe slot left free for something else?
The Z790 PG-ITX/TB4 looks to be a standard mini-ITX form factor, so any mini-ITX case should support it. There are a lot of other SFF mini-ITX cases out there. You could search YouTube or DuckDuckGo for something like “smallest mini itx case” without the quotes to get an idea. The one I’ve seen that is closest in design to the Home Workstation is probably the SGPC K39.
Already got the answer. The TB card I was looking at was the Asrock one - called the “Thunderbolt 4 AIC”. I found the compatible board list, and they are all ATX boards - Asrock doesn’t have an ITX board of any flavour that supports TB.
To support the Thunderbolt PCIE card, you not only need the PCIE bus, you also need to connect the TBT port on the card to the Thunderbolt Header port on the motherboard, which allows for the daisychaining capabilities of thunderbolt. Without a thunderbolt header on the motherboard, the Thunderbolt 4 AIC card will not work.
No rush - current system works fine. Was just planning ahead for the future
I rushed my response so I apologize for that - for the second part of your feedback… I like 45Drives because honestly I just like made in Canada products when they are done well and with enthusiasm! Therefore no problem paying a little extra for that.
So thank you for the SFF mini-ITX case suggestion…I currently use a SFF HP Z2 G4 for my VST (Virtual Studio Technology - for you non-musos) host, where I’ve added an Intel dual 10GigE port pcie that I can balance instruments across either port of my choosing. Maxed RAM, i7 processor of a few years vintage, but “latest and greatest” hw doesn’t matter as much for music production - it’s the music that matters! I’m not Hans Zimmer composing for virtual orchestras of hundreds of instruments! I have enough trouble with the 100 instrument template I currently have!
I do see that Asus have ITX boards that have TB headers, so that’s an option. Or, maybe 45Drives will continue to expand their Home Workstation offering with maybe a slightly bigger case that will fit an Asrock ATX board with a TB header? Either way, it was an interesting investigation digging into the 45Drives options!