Question about hard drive noise insulation

[diehlr]

Does anyone know of a decent way of dampering the noise of a hard drive to a certain degree? I have seen the quietpc drive enclosures, but they're somewhat expensive and a 100% case enclosure seems a little drastic. Does anyone know of any kind of a foam material or otherwise homebrew solution to making hard drives a little more quiet? I'd be interested in hearing about any experiences that people have had in the past. (I realise the easy solution would be to either a) order a quietpc enclosure or b) get a new HD.. but I'd like to first hear of any alternatives)

 

[DJ_Donut]

how about wrapping up hard drive with cardboard?

I use to have a 6GB quantum fireball HD and reading data sounded lot like a coffee grinder. replaced it with a 20GB Maxtor cased inside quietpc enclosure and now my HD is practically silent.

so my recommendation is first to get a fairly new HD and then get silentdrive if you like it even more quiet.

 

[Degenerate]

I did hear something about a box or something nut i don't see the point of one. Why do you mind the noise? Its not very Loud esp the IBM i am using.


But see if you can find one, i heard they reduce a bit of noise.

 

[Nastimus]

Anyone use a SilentDrive from quietpc on a IBM 75GPX 45gig? I know they are only rated for 5200 drives but if the heat isn't bad I'd like to use one.

 

[slurp]

Because I have two somewhat noisy drives, I used styrofoam insulation and enclosed the side of the drive cage. My case is large enough to allow this. It did cut down the noise of the drives and the drive cooling fans to a noticable degree.

 

[djbacklash]

I have two SilentDrives (one bought originally from Silent Systems before they were bought by Molex, and another one purchased from Nedcomp) and I've never had a heat problem with my drives. I've used them with 5400RPM drives as well as the IBM 34GXP 34GB, Maxtor DiamondMax Plus+ 40GB, and IBM 75GXP 75GB (I leave my comps on 24/7 btw).

I'm not sure how much QuietPC charges for shipping (since they're based out of the UK), but I bought my second SilentDrive from Nedcomp (http://www.nedcomp.com). They charge $35 (as opposed to the $30 by QuietPC), but they're a US company so s/h fees may be less. Whatever the case, I totally recommend buying one if you can't stand hdd noise! With my SilentDrive, Enermax Whisper PS, and 50mm Adda replacement cpu fan, my comp barely makes a peep

 

[jamarno]

I just told somebody that people worry too much about heat, but even I say don't wrap the drive or it will get too hot, especially a couple of its chips. Put some foam arond the drive, but leave at least 1/2" of air space everywhere. But vibrations are the source of noise, mount the drive in a 5 1/4" adapter with rubber grommets to dampen them.