Recently I purchased a [Rock 64](https://steemit.com/cryptocurrency/@scalextrix/my-latest-toy-rock-64-single-board-computer) to host 4 blockchains and the associated wallets, specifically for #Gridcoin, #SolarCoin, #PinkCoin and #MannaBase.

It was a bit of an experiment so I didnt buy a case.  As the little fella was also going to be running #BOINC and be at 100% CPU load most of the time, I wanted some heat-sinks and some active cooling.

The SMRAZA case seemed like a nice solution as it had everything for a very reasonable price.  

# Assembly

The first clue that things might be a little tricky was that it came with an instruction manual.

![20180608_115943.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmaS9J4YGDxfGmB8Vsc1EYPgLc8p2Wv4mooRmzAM7hsMhM/20180608_115943.jpg)

You know a real manual with actual instructions in it.  OK so we begin, its a case made of 9 plastic layers that all have to stack in a specific order, easy enough.  Except remember this is a Raspberry Pi case, and I have a Rock 64, which is 99% the same, but differs in some specific ways.

![20180608_120000.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmZXwoEPZox727zuqGCiQV3idZZ2BPz2pKKz7xSMKNVmFk/20180608_120000.jpg)

To say things wern't stacking up right (pun intended) would be an understatment, the pieces around the power connectors needed some 'adjustment', by which I mean after a trip to the garden shed they had been broken to the extent that they still existed, but only just:

![20180608_115954.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmSAUWnVi4MySYpVn4SSf1rkNPvHBNbY3zcoAtG5yx4To4/20180608_115954.jpg)

After this I needed to assemble the fan with the top cover:

![20180608_120013.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmPoWVvhvXXCyeTzuLyL5nTyB5Q2rkwrg1sorLqQTwft1h/20180608_120013.jpg)

Then plug the fan in to the GPIO power pins, there are two options, either 3.3volt which is slower fan speed and quiter or 5volt which is faster and a little more noise.  After testing the 3.3volt was utterly silent, and the 5volt was still whisper quiet, so its a pretty decent little fan (I had some really noisey ones before):

![20180608_120305_001.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmeR5No37z6jMCgwfp2Ze8Z79dWnjLWrvc3kFu9KtN2359/20180608_120305_001.jpg)

Then just some final assembly, inserting the corner screws and nuts, plugging in peripherals and its all done: 

![20180608_121404.jpg](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmPsiL3cUaJxTFcZqoXWRVEDcuy7XA6ZcerauV7DimiSMz/20180608_121404.jpg)

# Verdict

The case elements are all unique, so following instructions is easy.  The plastic is quite brittle though, I was lucky in the way the parts broke, I was trying to cut them by hand but with little success.  However the final construction is sturdy, seems to have good airflow and the fan is quiet.
Still I had easier cases to use for Raspberry Pis, and drilling a hole in the top to add a fan isn't much harder than modifying this case to fit the Rock 64.

I'd give the experience 7/10