I initially wanted to make it 4U but after measuring I felt it was a bit cramped. I may enclose the case to build a wind tunnel type enclosure if the temperature on the cards are too high with the stock fans. The power supply's will be in the front half of the case so I also wanted to have some space for more air to flow in.
I can fit 8 5U cases in a 42U rack vs 10 4U cases. The power requirements to support 8 cases may already be higher than can be provided as the environment has strict watts per square foot restrictions. I currently have one 20amp PDU to power the rig and I know I can get at least 30amp PDUs when the time comes but don't know if I can get anything higher. By that point I may need to acquire more floor space to accommodate the watts. I will have a better idea how many amps/watts each rig will draw after I get the first one going.
Basically my thinking was that case space was not an issue and I wanted to error on the safe side. If/when I build a second one I will have more experience to see if a 4U case will work. I will also be purchasing a nice mider saw if I build anymore as cutting the aluminum with a hacksaw and then smoothing out the edges with a dremel took a lot of time and effort!