Case with fans directly in front/behind 5.25" drive bay

mco_chris · Post by **mco_chris** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 8:47 am

Is there a case that has the fans mounted directly in front of (or directly behind) the 5.25" bays? Many cases have fans in front of the 3.5" bays, but that's not what I'm looking for.

I plan on putting WD Raptors (loud!) hard drives in GUP Smart Drive enclosures. The Smart Drive mounts in a 5.25" bay. I'm concerned about overheating the drives, so I want to put 120mm fans directly in front of or behind the Smart Drive enclosures. I will be using two Smart Drives.

I cut a hole in a case above the 5" bay and mounted an intake fan there, but that only cools one of the drives.

The only 5" bay coolers I've found have tiny fans.

There are external drive cases that are close to what I want, but these enclosures don't mount motherboards.

Any suggestions?

Happy new year!

wooglin · Post by **wooglin** » Thu Dec 30, 2004 9:00 am

not sure how quiet it is, but what about:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... &CatId=495

mco_chris · Post by **mco_chris** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 10:41 am

Thanks wooglin, I already have one of those. It's not quiet, but cools a 3.5" drive really well.

It won't work in my application because it only works with 3.5" drives. Once I mount my drive in the GUP Smart Drive, it basically becomes a 5.25" drive.

One could modify the Vantec to remove the drive carrier and just use the fan. But the GUP enclosure takes up all the space in a 5.25” bay (just like a CD drive) and would block the fan’s airflow.

Happy New Year!

burcakb · Post by **burcakb** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 11:35 am

CM Stacker or Centurion come to mind.

Sooty · Post by **Sooty** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:07 pm

MountainMods Twice 7. Yeong Yang 201. A lot of server style cases might, with or without modding, such as Yeong Yang 0221, Deluxworld DLC-S601.

burcakb wrote:CM Stacker or Centurion come to mind.

But you’d need to mod some fan mounts, yes? I’ve seen the CM 3-1 module in those cases, but that reduces the bays to 3.5” - that’s the only way I’ve seen fans mounted in those – I wasn’t aware of any alternative ways to mount fans in those cases. I guess it should be an easy mod, as long as you’ve got the all-important space for a fan.

Sooty · Post by **Sooty** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:19 pm

Another thing you could do is still use the 3.5” HD bays (vented with a fan) but mount the HD enclosures UPRIGHT – like driving two double-decker buses into the drive area (so-to-speak

), and mounting them up against the 3.5” bay side mounting plates. Use isolators and something like a motor-cycle battery rubber strap, to secure them.

Edit: This mod would only be possible on cases with conventional 3.5” drive bays (Compucase 6A19 etc.), not sideways BQE/Sonata etc.

nici · Post by **nici** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 2:55 pm

Kind of like this, not wery pretty but works well. Well as good as suspension without encasing the HDDs gets noise wise.

mco_chris · Post by **mco_chris** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 7:47 pm

burcakb wrote:CM Stacker or Centurion come to mind.

Thanks - I was excited about the Stacker when I first saw it. But to put a fan in front of the drives, you have to mount your 3.5" drives in their 4-in-3 module.

If they made a 4-in-3 module for 5.25" drives, I'd be set!

Thanks for the tip about the Centurion. I looked at the website but like most cases, the front fan (and it's only 80mm) is at the bottom in front of the 3.5" drive bays.

mco_chris · Post by **mco_chris** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 8:16 pm

Sooty wrote:MountainMods Twice 7. Yeong Yang 201. A lot of server style cases might, with or without modding, such as Yeong Yang 0221, Deluxworld DLC-S601.

Thanks for the leads.

MountainMods Twice 7: looks like there's a fan behind the 5.25" bays, but I'd have to leave a bay or two empty for an air intake. Possibility...

YY-201: with only one 5.25" drive bay, I don't see a way to move air over the drive.

YY-0221: two 90mm fans for HDD exhaust! Nice tip. I'd need to leave some slots empty to allow air to pass over the drives.

Deluxworld DLC-S601: not on their website anymore.

mco_chris · Post by **mco_chris** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 8:25 pm

nici wrote:Kind of like this, not wery pretty but works well.

Thanks! I didn't think of that! No mods needed!

I'm also pondering mounting the SmartDrive in a normal 5.2" bay at the top of the chassis, one below the uppermost bay. Then duct the back of 5.25 bays up and out the top of the chassis. The empty bay would be the air intake that would draw air over the SmartDrive.

Of course, I'd have to cut a hold in the top of the chassis for the fan and build a duct, but it's a possibility.

Thanks for all the ideas!

Ducky · Post by **Ducky** » Sat Jan 01, 2005 10:23 pm

Also, check out some of the "full tower" cases -- the one I have, Antec KS-188, has a compartment at the top above the power supply specifically for drives, which one can attach 2 80mm fans to in the back. Of course, it's a rather old case, so it doesn't have any 120mm exhausts or anything, but I'm sure there are others that offer something similar.