Reddit mentions of Kingwin Performance Single Bay Hot Swap Mobile Rack For 3.5” SSD/HDD, Internal Tray-Less SATA Hard Drive Backplane Enclosure, Support SATA I/II/III & SAS I/II 6Gbps and [Optimized for 3.5” SSD/HDD]

hotswap HDD drive bay

sd card reader + usb and other ports - more useful than an optical drive imo.

What I did, before I finally upgraded to larger drives, is install an eSATA controller, and then add an eSATA enclosure. I trolled eBay and found a 4x5.25" eSATA enclosure (with what turned out to be a bad port multiplier) pretty cheaply. I installed a 4-in-3 (4 3.5" drives in 3 5.25" bays) hot swap cage, plus a single 3.5" to 5.25" hot swap cage, replaced the flaky port multiplier, and was up and going.

I later found out that the type of port multiplier I purchased (which is now discontinued, but other manufacturers make them) could be mounted in a standard PCI slot with an adapter available on eBay. This meant I could have used any of the empty ATX cases I had around the house -- D'Oh!

If you duplicate the hardware above (save for the eSATA controller), you could add 10 more drives externally. Keep in mind, with the port multiplier that you will not get massive performance -- the drives are all accessed via a single SATA II link, but it worked perfectly for media storage (I used Plex Media Server, Sonarr, Couch Potato, and sabnzbd, and stored all the media on the external enclosure, using StableBit's DrivePool for combine all the drives into a single storage pool).

Just remove the hard-drive cage and mount the hard-drive in one of the external bays. I use these for that:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00126U0VA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I like to use these and mount the drives in a 9bay PC case I got. I don't run the cable for the lights since mine is by my tv.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00126U0VA/ref=wms_ohs_product

If I were you I would remove the (almost surely present) CD/DVD drive and install something like this as a solution.

I cannot imagine how your DIY path will work out.

This is a zero compromise build with the fastest gaming CPU/ GPU currently on the market. I do think you could easily swap out the GTX 1080ti for just a GTX 1080 and save about $230. You could take it a step further and swap the i7 7700K for a R5 1600 and still get great performance for about half the cost of the Intel components.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel - Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor | $323.11 @ OutletPC
CPU Cooler | be quiet! - Dark Rock 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler | $64.88 @ OutletPC
Motherboard | Gigabyte - GA-Z270-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard | $94.99 @ Amazon
Memory | G.Skill - Trident Z 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory | $124.99 @ Newegg
Storage | SK hynix - SL308 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $87.99 @ SuperBiiz
Storage | Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $66.89 @ OutletPC
Video Card | Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB AORUS Video Card | $738.99 @ SuperBiiz
Case | Fractal Design - Define R5 Blackout Edition ATX Mid Tower Case | $87.99 @ NCIX US
Power Supply | EVGA - 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply | $75.98 @ Newegg
Operating System | Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit | $89.89 @ OutletPC
Software | Microsoft - Office 365 Personal (1 Year Subscription) Software | $62.61 @ Amazon
Monitor | Dell - S2716DG 27.0" 2560x1440 144Hz Monitor | $544.99 @ Amazon
Keyboard | Corsair - STRAFE RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard | $109.99 @ Amazon
Other| Hot Swap Dock| $20.00
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $2523.29
| Mail-in rebates | -$30.00
| Total | $2493.29
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-08-28 13:02 EDT-0400 |

 

EDIT: Decided to put together the cheaper R5 1600 + GTX 1080 build that I was referring to so you can compare.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor | $197.43 @ OutletPC
Motherboard | ASRock - AB350M Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard | $59.99 @ Newegg
Memory | G.Skill - Trident Z 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory | $124.99 @ Newegg
Storage | SK hynix - SL308 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $87.99 @ SuperBiiz
Storage | Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $66.89 @ OutletPC
Video Card | Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1080 8GB G1 Gaming Video Card | $518.99 @ SuperBiiz
Case | Fractal Design - Define R5 Blackout Edition ATX Mid Tower Case | $87.99 @ NCIX US
Power Supply | EVGA - 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply | $75.98 @ Newegg
Operating System | Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit | $89.89 @ OutletPC
Software | Microsoft - Office 365 Personal (1 Year Subscription) Software | $62.61 @ Amazon
Monitor | Dell - S2716DG 27.0" 2560x1440 144Hz Monitor | $544.99 @ Amazon
Keyboard | Corsair - STRAFE RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard | $109.99 @ Amazon
Other| Hot Swap Dock| $20.00
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts |
| Total (before mail-in rebates) | $2077.73
| Mail-in rebates | -$30.00
| Total | $2047.73
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-08-28 13:06 EDT-0400 |

I'm not gonna question what you're doing, here is a list. Very powerful processor, plenty of ram for general use, included 2 hot swap bays that fit into a external 5.25" slot. GT 720 just so you have capability to run multiple motors. Comes to just under $800 before rebates. <edit>If you are serious about upgrading, you should probably spend a little more money on the motherboard.</edit>

<edit2>Here is the link to the hot swap bays, apparently it didn't carry over from PCPP Here</edit2>

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type|Item|Price

----|:----|:----
CPU | Intel Core i7-4790 3.6GHz Quad-Core Processor | $289.88 @ OutletPC
Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-H81M-DS2V Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard | $54.99 @ Amazon
Memory | G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory | $57.98 @ Newegg
Storage | Corsair Force LS 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive | $84.99 @ Newegg
Storage | Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive | $45.49 @ Amazon
Video Card | Gigabyte GeForce GT 720 1GB Video Card | $45.99 @ SuperBiiz
Case | Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case | $49.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply | Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply | $39.99 @ Newegg
Optical Drive | Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer | $14.98 @ OutletPC
Other| 5.25" Hot Swap Bays for 3.5" HDD| $17.99
Other| 5.25" Hot Swap Bays for 3.5" HDD| $17.99
| | Total
| Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available | $720.26
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-01-20 18:43 EST-0500 |

Good! I am thinking of building a second system, and while I have a suitable case and mainboard, I probably just order a N54L as well.

The price is hard to beat. Usually, the server-grade cases cost as much as a N54L at discount.

Protip: Use this to enable

• Hot Swap HDD
  
• SATA II (3.0GBps on all SATA ports)
  
• ACPI v3.0
  
  If you use a 5.25" -- 3.5" swappable bay, you can have 5 disks hot-swappable with option to have 5 more via eSATA extender.
  
  This together for the price you pay is impossible to beat.