3.5" HDD coolers/noise reduction?

[therealnickdanger]

I've got two Raptors in RAID-0 inside my Ahanix MCE601 case. There's a 3.5" cage in there that I would like to add a cooling and noise treatment to, any suggestions? I'm not having a real problem with cooling, but when both drives are cranking away, it can get pretty noisy. Naturally, if I can cool them off more, I'll be even happier.

I really liked the idea of the heatpipe solutions, but they require a free 5.25" bay, which I don't have. Any ideas? Thanks.

 

[undeclared]

sadly, I've been looking for something that takes a 3.5" drive and cools it inside a 3.5" tray.. unfortunately, I didn't find anything.

If you want to get rid of noise, you can get noise treatment 'materials' and put them next to the sides of the drive.. However, new problem: more heat.

For cooling in that situation, maybe a 120mm 'silent/low noise db' fan in front of them and behind them you put like a vent (assuming this is a place that has an external opening if you want it..)

 

[Fraggable]

They make water cooling HDD cooler plate things that fit in 3.5" bays.

They also make these but I'll assume you already know those exist.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Go to silentpcreview.com, look at the hard drive suspention forum for idears,lots of pics.

Split the cage, suspend the drives,add a fan. If nothing else uses the 3.5" cage,this would work.

In my 4 external 5.25" bays i have 2-opticals,1-Sunbeam rheobus, 2-PATA drives. The HDDs clear the base, each other and the Sunbeam by .220", an AMD 70mmx15mm fan is mounted on the side of the cage facing the HDDs.

Think out of the box. Check out spcr.

Galvanized

 

[The Boston Dangler]

I love SPCR, and I know exactly what they would say: Don't use 2 Raptors.

That being said, 3.5" devices are going to fit only 5.25" bays. With the MCE601, it appears you could modify the HDD mounting like sandwiching or suspension with 1 drive. It looks like 2 would need some sheetmetal hackery to get it to fit. And if you're going that far, you could install 5.25 mounts.

I'd consider something like this Nexus kit. It has little grommets on the screws for the HDs, and other goodies.

Just curious, how do like your case? PC parts?

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Hey Dangler! Go to mcmaster.com, enter part#9311k138. Those NeXus blue PVC grommets are $8.30 for 25. They work sweet and can be used in mounting fans. Drill the fan holes 1/4"
split the drommet with a razor blade,super glue in place,mount with a washer and non-lock nut just to contact. Lock nut with clear nail polish.

I mount my HDDs with them also, not as good as suspended HDDs but works for me.
Got a slick way of doing it. If intrested,PM me.

To get the quantity discount a buddy went in with me on 6 packs of 25.


Galvanized

 

[therealnickdanger]

Thanks for all the responses.

Yes, Fraggable, I'm familiar with those but I'm still not sure if they really do much to cool the drive... I guess every little bit helps.

Dangler, I love my case. There are a lot of times that I wish I had space for two optical drives, but I deal with it. I'm thinking of moving up to that uNeed case with the LCD on the front... it's pretty unique.

The interior space of my case is great for airflow, there are vents under the HDD cage, above the videocard, above the CPU, and at the rear of the case. Other than the Raptors, it runs pretty close to silent. The PSU is very quiet, I opted for a massive CoolerMaster copper finned/piped CPU cooler with a quiet 90mm fan pulling in air directly from the outside of the case. It keeps my S478 P4 3GHz running under 40C at all times - 23C at idle.

I bought a Arctic VGA Cooler for my ATI 9600 dual DVI 256MB card which keeps my GPU cool and near silent even at full blast, which also helps remove excess ambient air. Aside from the vibrations given off by my Raptors, the whole thing stays quiet and well below unsafe operating temps.

Last night I was messing around and took an older CPU turbine fan and mounted it to the side of my HDD cage to see what would happen. It definitely added a lot of fan whine to the system at full blast, but it did drop the temps on my HDDs between 5 and 10C. The entire HTPC is in an enclosed in an entertainment center, so I can't hear it with the door closed. I'm debating whether or not to keep it on there...

Meh.

 

[govtcheez75]

Here's what I did. Works really well.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

http://www.origenae.com/index2.htm formerly Uneed.

The X15 seems to be the same as the X11, with a $400 LCD touchscreen. I've read mixed reviews, but it shows potential. For $600, it needs more than just potential. Reviewers couldn't get more than 640x480 (1024x768 claimed), and it uses external serial and VGA connections. Even the VFD models still use the external serial plug.