Questions about Evercase 4252 HD Silencing Techniques...

[ecsdude]

So I just moved my computer into the new Evercase 4252-53 and I'm noticing that I can hear the hard disk chugging along more so than I could when the computer was housed in a Fong Kai FK320. The FK320 is made out of thicker metal and the front bezel doesn't have vents as airy as on the 4252 and while I can hear the hard disk when it's busy even in the FK320, it's probably twice as loud to my ears using the 4252. And I even installed the optional rubber grommets, but it doesn't seem to make much difference.

I'm thinking the reasons for the noise difference could be the following:

1. thinner metal on the 4252, and vents on front panel more airy than on
the FK320.

2. the difference in the way the drive bays mount and are constructed
could mean more vibration potential with the 4252 design.

3. i'm not mounting the optional grommet kit correctly. it comes
with rubber grommets and screws that are prescrewed into large silver
washer-looking thingies. So what I did was slide the rubber grommets
onto the drive bays, then mounted the drive using the screws, leaving
the washers how they came. I'm guessing they included those washers
because of how the new 4252 drive bay mounting points are designed;
without them it's possible perhaps for the grommets and screws to
go through the holes, and the washer prevents the screw from
possibly doing that. Or did apply the optional shock kit incorrectly?

Both the FK320 and 4252 drive bays are mounted to the chasis by
sliding until you hear a secure click. So that's metal on metal in both
cases up top.

So why is the FK320 noticeably more quiet when the hard disk is
chugging along? I'm guessing it's due to #1 and #2 above but am
not sure.

So that's where I am on trying to identify the problem and would appreciate some advice on some effective techniques to quiet a busy hard drive in the 4252. I don't think I want to use a suspension system using shoe laces though, but any other ideas would be appreciated.




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After reading the posts on here about the Evercase 4252 and 4292, I decided to go for the 4252, even though I found the latter to be more attractive (aside from the unfortunate exposure and move of the ports to the bottom.)

Anyway, if anyone has recently purchased the Evercase on Newegg, model E4252BB-53, I'd be interested in knowing if you got the firewire port or not. I carefully looked at the pictures of both the E4252BB-81 and the E4252BB-53 , and while they look almost identical in their specifications as shown on Newegg, the picture of the inside of the E4252BB-53 showed 2 additional cables coming out of the front panel, so if the pictures are up-to-date and accurate, then I think the E4252BB-53 should be fully equipped with 2xUSB, audio, and firewire. The picture of the inside of the E4252BB-81 shows only 2 of those thick cables coming out of the front panel, so it probably only comes with 2xUSB. Lastly, the only other difference I could see is that the E4252BB-81 probably comes with the air duct, and the E4252BB-53 does not.

Thanks in advance for reporting your findings with your own order experience from Newegg for these models. I'd be interested in knowing if you bought one that pictured the cables for firewire but didn't receive it.

By the way, a while back I purchased the beige version with firewire (4252WSF-F) and it came with a lame pass-thru type of firewire implementation where a long cable went from the front to the rear and out the back of the case using a bracket that held the cable. Just curious if Evercase is still doing it this way...

[NeilBlanchard]

Hello:

The 53 has two USB2 ports, one (large) Firewire port, and audio out and mic input, all on the front panel. The 81 has only the two USB2 ports.

I wish that NewEgg would fix the descriptions and post pictures of the front ports of these two cases. The only visual clue on their site currently is the shot of the interior of the 53 shows two gray cables; whereas the 81 has just the one..

[NeilBlanchard]

Hello:

Did you try the metal "fingers" in the 4252? Or did you just use the grommets from the beginning? Are you referring to the seek noise, or to the idle noise? What brand/model are your HD's?

[ecsdude]

Hello:

Did you try the metal "fingers" in the 4252? Or did you just use the grommets from the beginning? Are you referring to the seek noise, or to the idle noise? What brand/model are your HD's?

Hi, sorry, what do you mean by metal "fingers"? I used the grommet kit from the beginning. The kit includes the grommets, a screw that's pre-screwed into a large metal washer. So I slid the grommets onto the drive cage, then mounted the hard drive using the screw/washer pre-assembled combo.
So I have screw, washer, one side of the grommet, drive cage, other side of the grommet, hard drive as what's in contact with what...

I'm speaking of seek noise.. I have a Samsung 1604 (I think) 160GB drive.. they're supposed to be pretty quiet...

Anyway, I'd be interested in knowing if I used the Evercase grommet kit correctly and if there's anything I could do to quiet things down when the drive is seeking. By the way, I don't really notice the noise during the day, but at night, when it's dead silent, is when I notice it.

So maybe the noise level is close to that of my Fong Kai case, and it just was a matter of different times of day and surrounding noise levels.



Thanks.

[NeilBlanchard]

Hello: A picture is worth a thousand words:

(click on thumbnail to see a larger -- but fuzzy picture...)

The HD shown is mounted in the "fingers" I am referinf to: they are like unequal length leaf springs, and they do a very decent job at muting the HD noise; especially seek noise -- though it still may be audible...

[ecsdude]

I'm not using the "fingers" to mount but the v-shaped area along with the rubber grommets.. wonder if the "fingers" method is actually quieter.. if so, seems kind of pointless for them to have created a grommet kit.

Hello: A picture is worth a thousand words:

(click on thumbnail to see a larger -- but fuzzy picture...)

The HD shown is mounted in the "fingers" I am referinf to: they are like unequal length leaf springs, and they do a very decent job at muting the HD noise; especially seek noise -- though it still may be audible...

[NeilBlanchard]

Hello:

My guesstimate is that maybe idle whine is diminished more by the grommets, and seek noise is possibly better when using the fingers/leaf springs? The best way to find out which works better for you, is to try it!