Cases with HDD suspension

[Zebo]

I need to build a wkstn with 3 hardrives and want them suspended for quieter operation... I know about the Antec Solo which is a good candidate but it's has a poor paint job with lots of orange peel making it kinda of ugly. Any others with suspension?

Specs:

Tyan Tomcat K8E (S2865) $217.00

AMD Opteron 175 Dual-Core 2.2GHz $225.00

3 x Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB $184.86

??? Antec SOLO Quiet Mini Tower ??? $84.99 <<< here is the question mark

Corsair HX Series CMPSU-520HX 520W $106.00

Kingston HyperX KHX3200AK2/2G 2GB Kit DDR400 PC3200 $177.00

NEC AD-7170A 18X Double Layer DVD±RW Drive (Black) $36.99

NEC 1.44MB 3.5in Internal Floppy Disk Drive (Black) $13.49

XFX GeForce 7600GS PCI-Express 256MB DDR2 Video Card w/DUAL DVI $114.99

Vantec NexStar 3 NST-360U2-BK External 3.5in Hard Drive Enclosure (Black) $37.99

Corsair 1GB Flash Voyager USB 2.0 Drive Retail $18.90


Subtotal: $1217.21

 

[soydios]

Antec P150

 

[Zebo]

Hardy har har.. Same crappy paint job and a POS PSU.

 

[Zepper]

I guess the P150 is the original Antec with HDD suspension but the rubber in that wasn't chosen properly and tended to break and drop your drives - not cool. Must be the same materials engineer did that who selected the stuff for the warping and separating panels on the P180... :roll:

I think the one in the Solo is slippery and your drives can slide out. All-in-all you are probably better off right now to rig your own suspension in whatever case you like. Heavy athletic shoe laces or small bungee cord and 1/8" nylon cable clamps can be rigged into a good suspension where the drives can't go anywhere.

There are several cases out there with three open 5" bays in the bottom that would be great for rigging HDD suspension in or just use a Stacker HDD cage to isolate the drives. See my review here: http://www.techimo.com/reviews/ in the HDD section.

.bh.

 

[Zebo]

Thanks for the ideas Zep but this is kind of an office machine can't look homemade.. I'm already hearing it from purchasing manager about building my own as we must order from SUN but I can't get what I want <$2500 from Sun. i.e. 30" monitor and dual core system that runs solaris for less than $2500.. Just the Ultra's costs that much and only have one HDD no monitor.

 

[Zepper]

I was editing while you were posting - note the Stacker HDD cage. Or something like the iStar Nitro cases that have rubber bushings in the HDD drawers.

The same case that iStar uses for their Storm S6000 is available w/o PSU from buildtoorderservers.com - it has three open 5" bays in the bottom that'll hold the Stacker cage.

Version of the Maxtop Domino (800B/C) case also have three open 5" bays in the bottom. Very sturdy and inexpensive for this type of case. Put a Stacker cage with 3 HDDs in it at the bottom and there's no chance of its tipping over.

.bh.

 

[Zebo]

Nice ideas and built like bricks which I like however I don't do doors either. PITA to get to things + clumsy me breaks them off....still looking

Thanks again Zep

Edit I found a Stacker w/o doors but what a monstrosity that is..simply ridiculous sized case and that "speaker" or "subwoofer" cut out on the side is seriously fugly... Has to go on my desk man - too big. I guess I'm relegated to the Solo. I may have to wet sand and buff it it to stand it though. :thumbsup:

 

[Zepper]

Well, doors can be removed prior to breaking...

Aerocool Masstige (called the Bay Dream elsewhere in the world) which I call the poor man's Stacker can also easily hold the Stacker HDD cage, but perhaps not all the way down at the bottom as that HDD shelf gets in the way down there. I keep thinking that I'm gonna cut the shelf in mine off (I have the coolview which is basically the same) so I can move my HDD cage down there.

And of course there is always the real Coolermaster Stacker (STC-T01) which comes with one of their HDD cages installed and no door.

.bh.

 

[Zebo]

Well believe it or not my fav case of all time the Wave Master has a door but other than that I hate doors and removing them just makes cases look hideous.... if only they would combine the looks of the Wave Master with the cooling and noise dampening of the P180, we would likely have the Ultimate computer case.

I like the Masstige a lot; do they make it w/o a window?

<<<so picky

 

[Zebo]

Zepper are you talking about the coolermaster STB-3T4-E1 to mount in my desired case so long it has 3 open 5.25"s?
http://www.techimo.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=430&sort=7&cat=3&page=1

FYI - it's in your cases section not hard drive section where you implied.

 

[Zepper]

Not that I know of but a can of plastic-safe spray paint will take care of prying eyes. The window on mine is next to the desk so you hardly notice it's there anyway.

How about the Chenbro SR10569? And here is the Chenbro SR105xx product page. It has rubber isolators for the HDDs. These are really serious cases - no problem with the management on these. Amazingly inexpensive for what they are. And when you're ready for an EATX (12x13") mobo, it's ready too.

Another option is the Rosewill R5601. It has rubber isolators in the HDD rails. It has a door but it has a 270 degree hinge - parks against the side of the case. My review on the R560x family is also at http://www.techimo.com/reviews/ in the Cases section. I also mention the Rosewill R6A series in that review. It has a few models without doors that could work for you. These have rubber bushings in the HDD cage. Basically the same case as the Antec SLK3000-B except for outward appearance.

.bh.

 

[Zebo]

I'm quite familiar with Chenbro all 1mm steal cold rolled as I recall just awesome stuff! However, I'm not a fan of just the isolators which I'm unfortunately familiar with as well. They only do a half assed job of quelling vibration whether rubber or silicone it's just not the same as suspension which I found virtually eliminates vibration.. By what mechanism does the Coolermaster STB-3T4-E1 stop HDD vibration? This might actually work for me then I'll throw in silverstone Tj-07 and be done with it (after dynamat of course)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowImage...TX+Full+Tower+Computer+Case+%2D+Retail

 

[Zepper]

Click the link and see for yourself: http://www.techimo.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=430&sort=7&cat=3&page=1

I'd get the TJ-09 - it's a much better design than the 07.

Or the Antec 900 might be an option if it wasn't so garish.

.bh.

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: Zebo
Same crappy paint job

What's wrong with the paint job? It looks fine to me, but I don't sit there looking at it all day. Mine's the Solo. I'm actually not using the suspension because I don't want to worry about accidentally forgetting, and picking up/tilting the system and having the drive slide out. The mounting grommets are the softest I've ever encountered. The system is under my desk, next to my leg. When I'm sitting there I absolutely cannot tell if the machine is on by sound alone.

 

[Zepper]

Those WD drives shouldn't have much vibration to begin with. My old 10k SCSI drives can vibrate my whole case (slightly) mounted in the Lian-Li EX-34A cage I have in there now. I'm thinking of selling it and getting another Stacker cage. I regret that I sold the one I had (shown in the review pix) as the darn things cost so much to ship relative to their cost... I don't recall any vibration getting into my Silverstone Berserker case (the same chassis as the S6000 mentioned above) from the 10k drives in the Stacker cage.

May I ask why you don't seem to be considering the original Coolermaster Stacker which comes with one of the cages?

.bh.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: Zap

Originally posted by: Zebo
Same crappy paint job

What's wrong with the paint job? It looks fine to me, but I don't sit there looking at it all day. Mine's the Solo. I'm actually not using the suspension because I don't want to worry about accidentally forgetting, and picking up/tilting the system and having the drive slide out. The mounting grommets are the softest I've ever encountered. The system is under my desk, next to my leg. When I'm sitting there I absolutely cannot tell if the machine is on by sound alone.

I have the solo as well Zap major orange peel paint. The P150 I had for an afternoon before burning the PSU out had it too. They are nothing like the slick showroom quality gloss of my wavemasters (Blue and Yellow).

The drives in a Solo will never come out if you "loop" 3x on each side. I could barley get them in! But as you say, it doesn't bother you using the grommets so nevermind.

I am a sensitive man Zap noticing everything. Call it a Feng Shui distortion field but I don't like vibration or orange peel. Life is too short for that kind of unpleasantness and uglyness.

 

[Zepper]

Once again I was editing while you were posting - check my post just above yours.

I'd also recommend the Seagate 7200.10 perp recording drives over the WD. Fewer platters = less vibration.

.bh.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: Zepper
Click the link and see for yourself: http://www.techimo.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=430&sort=7&cat=3&page=1

I'd get the TJ-09 - it's a much better design than the 07.

Or the Antec 900 might be an option if it wasn't so garish.

.bh.

Oh man I didn't even *see* the review below. I thought description was it as rest was forum commentary. Nice site Zep! I'm gonna go spend a couple hours there now.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: Zepper
Those WD drives shouldn't have much vibration to begin with. My old 10k SCSI drives can vibrate my whole case (slightly) mounted in the Lian-Li EX-34A cage I have in there now. I'm thinking of selling it and getting another Stacker cage. I regret that I sold the one I had (shown in the review pix) as the darn things cost so much to ship relative to their cost... I don't recall any vibration getting into my Silverstone Berserker case (the same chassis as the S6000 mentioned above) from the 10k drives in the Stacker cage.

May I ask why you don't seem to be considering the original Coolermaster Stacker which comes with one of the cages?

.bh.

Because the original Coolermaster Stacker is as big as a refrigerator and looks like a Velodyne sub with that lame round perforated hole in the side. In a word, Fugly.

I read a lot about these new Western Digitals "KS" series over at SPCR they seem to think they are the new kings of quiet, but thats only a good start. 10:1 they probably still need suspension or a Smart drive 2002 enclosure based on past experience of what other people call silent which never is quite silent. I mean literally, like take your comp in the hard walled bathroom at 3 am in the country and you can't hear the comp from 1ft away silent.

 

[Zebo]

I think I'm just going to get another Solo unless a straggler pops in with a miracle case. I mean it's a great case size wise, all steel, dampened panels, decent rear fan, no doors. suspension and so on - alls it really needs for perfection is a light wet sanding and buffing which should be done in an hour with air tools I got. Thanks for all your help Zepper.

 

[Zepper]

You will find that most others don't put as much effort into their reviews as I do and some don't even bother to write an actual review. But I still check there for some tidbits of info prior to purchases. Unfortunately only a few of the TIMO members contribute reviews so the selection is sparse.

.bh.

 

[Howard]

No DIY option?