SilenX Luxurae Hard Drive Silencer - any good?

Silencing hard drives, optical drives and other storage devices

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atomidude
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SilenX Luxurae Hard Drive Silencer - any good?

Post by atomidude » Mon Apr 04, 2005 5:48 pm

my question could be a bit late now, i ordered the thingie yesterday... sure, i've read all the reviews, but i wonder if any of you guys is using it, i need a few thoughts.
hope SPCR will review this thing soon.

http://www.silenx.com/lx_hdss.asp

m0002a
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Post by m0002a » Mon Apr 04, 2005 6:01 pm

If you do a forum search on SilenX, you will find out why a review is not likely, and why not many people in this forum will purchase their products.

atomidude
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Post by atomidude » Mon Apr 04, 2005 6:05 pm

i know the stories about SilenX fans, but this is a new product, is it? forget about the brand, and let's just look at it as a hdd silencing solution

slipknottin
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Post by slipknottin » Mon Apr 04, 2005 6:26 pm

er, hes not talking about their fans.

Hard to not think about the brand in this case.

m0002a
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Post by m0002a » Mon Apr 04, 2005 6:30 pm

Nothing to do with the products. It has to do with the company, and what they did on this forum to decieve people. Do the search and read for yourself.

vapb400
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Post by vapb400 » Mon Apr 04, 2005 6:31 pm

I'm just worried about its temps

atomidude
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Post by atomidude » Mon Apr 04, 2005 6:36 pm

OK, so we don't discuss about any of silenx product here, is taboo or something :)
well, as i said, is ordered and should get in my hands in 2-3 days. if anybody is interested to see how ith works, pm me

im not too worried about temps, because don't plan to mount it in a 5.25" bay. instead, im going to put it at the bottom of my case, where air is the coolest. plus, i've got my sole fan on the side cover, a 120mm Evercool, that is moving quite a lot of air in the case, including the case's base. if temps go up too much, i can always use the heatsinks only and suspend the drive :)
Last edited by atomidude on Mon Apr 04, 2005 6:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

sthayashi
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Post by sthayashi » Mon Apr 04, 2005 6:50 pm

atomidude wrote:OK, so we don't discuss about any of silenx product here, is taboo or something :)
well, as i said, is ordered and should get in my hands in 2-3 days. if anybody is interested to see how ith works, pm me
It's not really taboo per se. It's just that most of us tend to ignore their products, because of the actions of their operator.
It may very well be a decent product, but most of us would rather not have our money go to SilenX. I personally will never purchase or recommend a SilenX product, and I think there are many others that feel the same way. But you're always welcome to ask, look and search.

Sorry we can't be of more help.

atomidude
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Post by atomidude » Mon Apr 04, 2005 7:02 pm

you are right to be angry on their operator. afaic, im only a consumer, don't give a #$%^ about brands. all i care about is if the product works or not, full stop.
as an example, there are a lot of ppl saying Thermal Take has a dreadful reputation, all their product are lame ans so on. They could be righ about a lot of TT products, i wouldn't know since all i own from TT is the 103 fanless hs. and loving it :) was i supposed to judge by the brand alone and not even consider their fanless hs?!

now, feel free to close this thread if you want. don't wanna upset ppl here talking about silenx. you might end up thinking my name is Kim or something :)

sthayashi
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Post by sthayashi » Mon Apr 04, 2005 8:08 pm

Why should I close the thread? You're not being a nuisance :) and the thread hasn't become worthless yet. Those are the only times we generally lock threads.

The only thing I can tell you based on product specs is this: it will work to a degree, but a) not with an 8dBA reduction as advertised and b) it probably won't work passively on a 15kRPM drive.

I'm nervously skeptical about any sort of sandwich method because it WILL increase temperatures. If there's ever just one temperature you should worry about, it's your drive temperature. No other temperature will affect data stability like drive temps.

The second reason I'm skeptical is that I've yet to see any strong evidence that hard drive heatsinks work (the only review I've seen with data is a little suspect).

Since you've already ordered it, maybe you could become a contributor instead. Let US know what you think of it.

atomidude
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Post by atomidude » Mon Apr 04, 2005 9:16 pm

i will let you know how it works sthayashi, not a problem.
im using a Samsung SP1614C, so heat shouldn't be much of an issue. anyway, we'll find out soon enough i guess :wink:

Shadowknight
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Post by Shadowknight » Tue Apr 05, 2005 4:14 am

My opinion? Not a good idea. The foam on the top and bottom is going to act as insulation, which should more than cancel out any effect the side heatsinks MIGHT have, and probably increase temperatures on the harddrive. Also, there was the Silendrive which, while rated for 5400rpm drives, did fry some drives of that speed, and especially if someone put in a 7200rpm drive (though, to be fair, that was past the rated specs for the enclosure).

I have the Smartdrive 2002. It reduces the noise some, and has the foam on the sides of the drive and the cooling plates on the top and bottom (the revrse of the SilenX). It does reduce temperatures vs. non-enclosure, and I generally can't hear the drive (placed on foam at the bottom of the case). I only hear seek noise if I take off the side panel and put my head near the drive. I have an Evercool case fan at 1100rm, and an Evercool CPU fan at 1500 rpm. My noise floor is very, very low. So the Smartdrive should be more than sufficient for your quieting needs.

jldet5
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Post by jldet5 » Tue Apr 05, 2005 8:19 pm

Second vote for the SmartDrive.

Just looking at the pics of the Silenx Drive Silencer, it doesn't look to be in the same class.

atomidude
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Post by atomidude » Tue Apr 05, 2005 8:57 pm

got the silenx silencer today, at the office. looks pretty good so far, excellent packaging, too :)
i will get home in a few hours, might take me 20' to install and will let you know how it goes.

atomidude
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Post by atomidude » Wed Apr 06, 2005 12:57 am

OK, drive installed now. when i got home, the pc was running for a few hours, with the hdd idle at 35C. remember, it was suspended between the opticals and the fdd, in a 5.25" bay.
the ambient is 22C now.
restarted the pc with the drive inside the luxurae, at the bottom of the case. absolutely no sound, nothing! before i could slightly hear the drive if i put my ear like 1 foot from the case, but now is completely silent. and trust me, i should hear it, because i even stopped the only other thing moving inside, the 120mm fan on the side cover. how's that for a noise floor? :)
idle temperature after 10' was 31C. after a full defrag is stable at 41C. still safe.
any ideas, what hdd torture test would you want me to run and post some screenshots?

works for me. the rest is silence, i've got nothing more to say
:D

Tibors
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Post by Tibors » Wed Apr 06, 2005 4:30 am

You changed two parameters at once. The mounting method and the mounting location. So it is hard to tell which change caused the improvement.

Would you mind doing the SPCR community a favor by doing an additional test? In stead of putting the HD in the SilenX Luxurae HDSS on the bottom of the case, just put the drive on something soft (foam, sponge, folded towel) on the bottom of the case. If you can report the results from that, then we know if the heatsink and partial enclosure has any effect or that the bit of foam inside the SilenX Luxurae HDSS is all what works.

Thanks in advance.

atomidude
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Post by atomidude » Mon Apr 11, 2005 1:09 am

living with the Luxurae for a 5 days now, so i can draw a few conclusions:
1. noice cancelling - i would give it 10/10. i can't hear my drive at all. it is a quiet SP1614C with Nidec motor, but still... no noice, even when defrag!
2. cooling - i would give it 2/10. the drive reached 47C after 2 hours of defrag, and then just stays at 41C... i got those temperatures with the drive sitting at the base of the case. guess i was a bit enthusiastic a few days ago, and for no reason...
not happy with that... so this is what i did:
* purchased some 2" thick foam, and mounted the hdd using two rectangular pieces, sitting vertically, blocking the front of the case. if you have a look at the Luxurae pictures, one would see that there are two small channels along the heatsinks. there's some air forced through there, pushed by my side fan. not much, but just enough to shave some C, about 10C to be exact. my drive does not exceed 37C now. it is cool enough now, at least by my standards :)

so yeah, the luxurae hdd enclosure is a pretty good solution, but needed some work to make it keep the drive cool too 8)
Last edited by atomidude on Mon Apr 11, 2005 4:33 am, edited 1 time in total.

atomidude
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Post by atomidude » Mon Apr 11, 2005 1:11 am

sorry, dbl post...
Tibors, i didn't test the drive w/o the enclosure, but anyway, don't think those hs on the edge would make that much of a difference if the drive is exposed to air. sorry if you were waiting for results.
hope my experience with another "miraculous" silenx product would be useful for somebody here :oops:

now my rig is as quiet as the only cooling fan is. nothing else is moving inside, the hdd like dissapeared.
where's that Cooler Master 120X38mm when you need it? :)

Lifecycle
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Post by Lifecycle » Mon Apr 11, 2005 4:02 am

Hey atomidude - what's your current system spec like? Just curious as to what your current noise-floor is.
before i could slightly hear the drive if i put my ear like 1 foot from the case, but now is completely silent. and trust me, i should hear it,
What mounting method were you using before with the Spinpoint beforehand? I've got a Barracuda IV on foam at the bottom of my case and can still hear it at up to around 2 meters seeking, in a quiet room.

atomidude
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Post by atomidude » Mon Apr 11, 2005 4:26 am

noise floor? what's a noise floor? :)
everything in my case is on passive cooling: TT 103 fanless, Antec Phantom 350, Gigabyte 6800 - passive. I've got one fan only, an Evercool alu 120mm, spinning at 950rpm. When i test the hdd silcencer, the fan is turned off. So, is this quiet enough? :D

previously i had the hdd suspended with elastic in a 5.25" bay.

here's a video review of two silenx products. not sure how unbiased this review is, but is nice to watch, a change from the usual way of reading them
http://www.3dgameman.com/vr/silenx/luxu ... ew_02.html
Last edited by atomidude on Fri Apr 15, 2005 3:06 am, edited 2 times in total.

Ducky
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Post by Ducky » Fri Apr 15, 2005 6:16 am

atomidude wrote:noise floor? what's a noise floor? :)
How loud are the noises in the room your computer's in, as well as the other noises coming from your computer?

Remember: Even with 100% SPCR-recommended components, if you have, say, a rumbling air conditioning unit, is close to a busy street, etc. the "noise floor" would make it seem like something is quiet even if it's actually making noises.

For example: My HTPC seemed really loud at my old house because of the PIII Slot-1 fan and a Panaflo at 12V. After I moved, for 7 months, I couldn't hear it anymore. Why? Central air conditioning unit's "wind" noises was much louder than the computer noises, but the "cover" noise was much less annoying white noise rather than the computer's soft whining.

So, to figure out your "noise floor," you'd need to not only pay attention to what other components you have in your PC, but also the background sounds -- including the ones you can normally tune out easily.

atomidude
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Post by atomidude » Fri Apr 15, 2005 6:46 am

ok, i was joking when asking what's a noise floor :) sure i know what it means. my pc is dead quiet, as you can imagine, with everything passive inside, the hdd installed into the silenx thing and foam, and with the only fan turned off. plus, i don't have a road nearby, and i use to test around midnight. it is so quiet in my room that i can hear my quartz wrist watch ticking on the table, 1m from my ears. don't have any device to measure the noise, but i can tell is bloody quiet 8)

i'm a frekin' silence maniac, what do you think i'm here for? :D

aidanjm2004
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Post by aidanjm2004 » Thu Apr 28, 2005 6:48 am

atomidude wrote:noise floor? what's a noise floor? :)
everything in my case is on passive cooling: TT 103 fanless, Antec Phantom 350, Gigabyte 6800 - passive. I've got one fan only, an Evercool alu 120mm, spinning at 950rpm. When i test the hdd silcencer, the fan is turned off. So, is this quiet enough? :D

previously i had the hdd suspended with elastic in a 5.25" bay.

here's a video review of two silenx products. not sure how unbiased this review is, but is nice to watch, a change from the usual way of reading them
http://www.3dgameman.com/vr/silenx/luxu ... ew_02.html

What's your CPU?

atomidude
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Post by atomidude » Thu Apr 28, 2005 3:21 pm

AMD 64 3000+ controlled by crystalcpuid. idle 1.0V, full blast 1.45V

spiffy102
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Post by spiffy102 » Mon Sep 12, 2005 1:19 pm

atomidude wrote: * purchased some 2" thick foam, and mounted the hdd using two rectangular pieces, sitting vertically, blocking the front of the case. if you have a look at the Luxurae pictures, one would see that there are two small channels along the heatsinks. there's some air forced through there, pushed by my side fan. not much, but just enough to shave some C, about 10C to be exact. my drive does not exceed 37C now. it is cool enough now, at least by my standards :)
Hey atomidude... I can't visualise what you've done here. I'm thinking of getting one of these but am seriously worried about the heat factor... can you describe what you've done in a bit more detail so I can see if it's a possibility in my machine?

Thanks

atomidude
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Post by atomidude » Thu Sep 15, 2005 2:58 am

spiffy, just make sure you blow some air through the luxurae. for instance, you could install the hdd packed inside the enclosure at the bottom of your case, behind the front intake fan. it doesn't have to be a fast fan, a Nexus at 600rpm would suffice. that should keep the drive cool'n'quiet :)
some details of my setup here:
http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=19874

atomidude
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Post by atomidude » Sun Jun 11, 2006 4:32 am

well, i live with the luxurae for well over a year now. it silenced my hdd significantly without killing it, as some might think.
my setup was very, very quiet, with everything inside passive and with the only fan i use for cooling the whole system, a 120mm orange Nexus, spinning at 700rpm.
problem is i need more storage. my Samsung SP1614C became too small for my needs. with my setup there was no way i could install another hdd...
so this is what i did: a bought a new Samsung 250GB SATA II and a luxurae enclosure. then i installed both hdds, snug inside their enclosures, in 5.25 bays. to cool the samsung babies, i installed an aerocool turbine fan, filling the 3 X 5.25 bays, spinning at 550rpm. the fan is quite smaller than those 3 bays, so i used some neoprene sticky tape, wrapped around it, to install. the result is amazing: 2 hdds, with plenty of room, running absolutely silent at a cool 29-31C. and there's room for one more, but i'm waiting for the 750GB giants to come down in price.

sure, one of these would look better that my neoprene tape solution: http://pccasegear.com.au/prod3650.htm
only thing is, the hdds should go a bit backwards to make room for it, not impossible to do, but apart for looks i don't see any other advantage.
all i can say is the luxurae is great for keeping hdds cool and quiet.

providing the right hdd brand&model is used, you can reach huge storage capacity and disk great speed without compromising on living with computer noise.
i am not a silenx fan! i think their so called quiet fans are crap, but this enclosure is doing the job for me. i wouldn't care less if it was manufactured by coca-cola, thermaltake or jakanokomaka :)
see some pictures:
Image

Image

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