What is the best harddrive enclosure at the moment?

zombunny · Post by **zombunny** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 11:39 am

Been looking at the

Nexus Black Drive-A-Way Internal Hard Disk Enclosure
Smart Drive 2002 Copper Cool, Quiet Hard Drive Enclosure

can anyone reccomend one personally?

Aris · Post by **Aris** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 11:50 am

smart drive 2002c is the way to go. it will actually keep the drive cooler than it would be outside it mounted normally. and the noise dampening is amazing.

from what i've heard the nexus likes to cook hard drives.

zombunny · Post by **zombunny** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 11:53 am

that nexus is rated up to 15,000 hard to believe it would cook a 10,000 raptor?

Aris · Post by **Aris** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 12:03 pm

zombunny wrote:that nexus is rated up to 15,000 hard to believe it would cook a 10,000 raptor?

cook: as in it will make the drive run hotter than it would normally.

is that better?

zombunny · Post by **zombunny** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 12:09 pm

Is the nexus 2002 copper your only reccomendation?

Aris · Post by **Aris** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 12:25 pm

zombunny wrote:Is the nexus 2002 copper your only reccomendation?

well you only listed 2, and you also specifically asked for "personal recommendations".

out of the 2 you listed i can only personally recommend one of them because i havnt used both.

-----------------------

also: i just looked up the nexus after you mentioned it worked with 15k drives. i was thinking of their old nexus drive a way. i didnt know they came out with a new one, and i dont know anything about this new one.

zombunny · Post by **zombunny** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 12:38 pm

What about the likes of silentmaxx?

Rincewind · Post by **Rincewind** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 1:27 pm

Hi, I have the Silentmaxx HD-Silencer Rev.2 in combination with a Maxtor 300GB SATA drive:
http://www.tune2max.de/HDD-Zubehoer/HDD ... ::148.html
There is not much dampening, the hdd sits tight in the big heatsink, but the cooling-performance is very good! Right now the drive is at 32°C and it never goes over 40°C. Just sitting on the table the Maxtor got about 50°C and more!

With AAM enabled I can still hear seeking, but its very satisfying. For better dampening, get the Scythe HD-BOX:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article245-page1.html

zombunny · Post by **zombunny** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 1:37 pm

You know I had ordered one of those scythe enclosures but after reading that review I emailed my supplier and have asked them to change it to the silentmaxx, I didn't like the completely rubber enclosure, now I'm thinking of canceling that and getting a smartdrive 2002c, what do you say?

I already have the same version of yours, had real problems putting the harddrive inside kept catching on that blue foam stuff, then when trying to remove the enclosure from on case to another one of the screws broke and it now sits with only 3 screws holding it.

Rincewind · Post by **Rincewind** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 2:02 pm

I think the Smart Drive is the most silent, the copper-version also cooles good enough for a raptor. The Silentmaxx is very heavy (over 1kg), but has very good cooling-performance and its also the smallest and cheapest enclosure (paid 29€ on eBay).

If size doesnt matter, take the "Smart Drive" or the "mCubed Vertical Silence": http://www.mcubed-tech.com/eng/produkte.htm

zombunny · Post by **zombunny** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 2:14 pm

Just emailed quietpc to cancel the silentmaxx/scythe ordered a smartdrive 2002c from endpcnoise total of $92 including shipping.

OFF TOPIC
Rincewind is my favourite character out of the Discworld titles you should read the wheel of time books by Robert Jordan, lol.

Rincewind · Post by **Rincewind** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 2:28 pm

OFF TOPIC
thx! Does "wheel of time" also contain black humor and is caricaturing magic, religion, thievery, etc. like Terry Pratchett?

zombunny · Post by **zombunny** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 2:36 pm

OFF TOPIC

Not quite, however has really great characters, fantastic story and is my favourite fantasy books of all time, you should be able to pick up the first one "The eye of the world" for next to nothing there is a total of 13 books to the series including the last which is still to be finished, you will not be disapointed besides like me I'm sure you are always looking out for something to read in between your favourite series, enjoy!

Archeon · Post by **Archeon** » Wed Jan 04, 2006 1:34 pm

I had exactly the same question as you did Zombunny. I've now been using 2 Smart Drive enclosures for two years and I'm very happy with them. They aren't the copper versions though.
Now I need two more, and I've also stumbled across the Nexus Drive-a-way enclosures, which to me look like like non-copper Smart Drives with the drive connectors on the back.

But since somebody here mentioned that they aren't as good as the Smart Drives, I'll probably get a Smart Drive anyway. (since I plan on using them with WD Raptors)

Are you happy with your Smart Drives now Zombunny? Does anybody know of a reason NOT to get the Smart Drives, but get the Nexus enclosure instead?

Thanks!

nici · Post by **nici** » Wed Jan 04, 2006 1:42 pm

The claim of the drive-a-away handling 15k rpm drives is even more false than SilenX CFM/dB(A) ratings.. No matter how much airflow i had over it both the Raptor and the 7200.7 Seagate went to 50c or over. And i didnt notice a large ifference in sound volume either, plus its 2" longer than a normal cd-drive so it might actually interfere with your mobo..

So go with the SmartDrive.

Archeon · Post by **Archeon** » Wed Jan 04, 2006 1:50 pm

Ok, so the Smart Drive it is then!

Cheers!

peterson · Post by **peterson** » Wed Jan 04, 2006 2:06 pm

I have mCubed's version. I have a Seagate 7200.7 160GB (i think) in it. I still hear idle noise and seek noice. It dampens idle noise most. Not much seek noise. Temp is pretty good.
I've had Nexus Disk Twins too but i wasn't at all impressed.
In fact my old Seagate 7200.IV 80GB is quieter than all others i've tested once it's suspended.
Don't know where to find Smart Drive in Sweden so i'll probably try Scythe's version.

zombunny · Post by **zombunny** » Wed Jan 04, 2006 3:26 pm

I ordered a smartdrive 2002c a while ago but I'm still waiting on it, I'll let you know when I've tested it, currently have a silentmaxx one and I cannot here my raptor at all, but my hearing isn't that good and the telly is normally on so you can't rely on that verdict, as even with the telly off the psu masks the sound of everything else, but I'm just waiting on a few parts to arrive before I build a new pc, thanks for all the replies, have a good year!

nici · Post by **nici** » Wed Jan 04, 2006 4:18 pm

SmartDrive and Scythe arent available in Finland, well the Ninja is but no other Scythe products AFAIK, so i just ordered a couple of the mCubed things. If they dont work as expected ill move to 2,5" drives, or finally make that external sata enclosure for multiple drives i´ve ben thingking about for ages.. I might even give the gel--pack+aluminium box enclosure a try, i have an old DM9 HDD wich i dont use and no one wants to buy it so i can try that.. I could spray some laquer on the PCB too, you know the stuff thats meant to keep them working even if theres condensated water on them..

Archeon · Post by **Archeon** » Thu Jan 05, 2006 4:50 am

You can get the Smart Drive here. They ship worldwide.
It's indeed a shame that the Smart Drives are so hard to come by. It's almost impossible to get one if you live in Europe!
Note: I have no affiliation whatsoever with the link I provided above. I only provide it for other fellow Europeans who want to buy one of these Smart Drive enclosures!

alleycat · Post by **alleycat** » Thu Jan 05, 2006 5:12 am

As far as I can tell, only one person has mentioned condensation using gel packs, and that wasn't in an enclosure. In all my experiments with gel packs in the year prior to making the enclosure, I noticed no condensation effects whatsoever under a variety of climatic conditions. As I wrote in a thread elsewhere, the enclosure is pretty much airtight. Therefore any condensation would need to come from water vapour in the tiny volume of air remaining inside the sealed enclosure.

ozdoc · Post by **ozdoc** » Thu Jan 05, 2006 5:59 am

As far as I can tell, only one person has mentioned condensation using gel packs, and that wasn't in an enclosure. In all my experiments with gel packs in the year prior to making the enclosure, I noticed no condensation effects whatsoever under a variety of climatic conditions. As I wrote in a thread elsewhere, the enclosure is pretty much airtight. Therefore any condensation would need to come from water vapour in the tiny volume of air remaining inside the sealed enclosure

I can second that. I have made two gel pack enclosures following alleycat's design. They contain the most hideous of whining and chirping Quantum HDDs, which thanks to the enclosures are now silent. I've opened them up a few times to check, and the gel packs are drier that a dingo's donger... (excuse the local expression.. )

nici · Post by **nici** » Thu Jan 05, 2006 6:16 am

I know i can get the smartdrives, but for 70$ a piece plus shipping for 2kg of metal they would end up costing nearly 200$...

Ill see if i can find some suitable gel-packs somewhere, i know where to get the boxes. For any finns reading this at least Yleiselektroniikka sells them in several sizes.

mshan · Post by **mshan** » Thu Jan 05, 2006 6:55 am

Bytecc BT-200 may be a nice controller to use for a DIY hdd enclosure:

http://www.dealsonic.com/bybt3usb20to.html

Has got a lot of excellent customer reviews at Newegg and doesn't even need the external power supply with a notebook drive:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6812156101

I'm guessing that if you could tuck the hard drive away on a lower shelf or somewhere relatively distant from your listening position, a fairly quiet drive would probably be very quiet.

nici · Post by **nici** » Thu Jan 05, 2006 7:16 am

I just called my dad and he´ll pick up a few gel-packs on the way home, the size is not ideal but they are cheap so ill see what i can do with them.. They were pretty cheap too at 5€, about third the price of 3M packs, so ill see what the quality is like. I dont want my HDs covered in gel..

Shops are not open tomorrow so i still have to wait until i can get the boxes, damn holidays..

Oh and im going to use external sata if i place them outside the case, so i wont need any USB adapters but thanks anyway

Currently my case is placed on a cardboard box right next to me, no roo on the table and too difficult to work on when its on the floor. Im in a wheelcair because of spinal cord injury caused by sports accident, and hopping up and down to the floor isnt that much fun. neither is lifting 20kg+ computers with one arm

Sorry for the slight OT, but we are still discussing enclosures and i think its concluded that the SmartDrive2002C is the best "off the shelf" enclosure out there

I might do a review of enclosures when im finished, i have a Level HDD shell, several actually, a Nexus Drive-A-Way, mCubed Vertical Silence enclosures on the way(damn holidays...), and soon ill have some experience with the homebrew enclosures as well(i hope)

After all they are fairly easy to review, record temps and make good subjective descriptions of the change in sound.(i can use my old very noisy DM9 to make differences in noise more clear). I also have a 80Gb Samsung sata notebok drive, but that hardly needs an enclosure. Anything else i should consider?

EDIT: Got the coolpacks, they look like they will work fine as long as i use two per enclosure

I took a photo with my phone, clicky clicky clicky!

zikje · Post by **zikje** » Thu Jan 05, 2006 10:43 am

I've got a Silentmaxx in my old pc with a maxtor HD and I'm very pleased with it. It's also silent, can't even hear the seek noise.

nici · Post by **nici** » Thu Jan 05, 2006 12:19 pm

I´ve found some suitable boxes, they are cast aluminium and 187,5x119,5x52mm in size and have a silicone gasket. Im also going to purchase one 172x121x106mm and try to put two HDs in the same box. The boxes cost around 20€ each. The thing that pisses me off is the damn holidays, i have to wait until monday to do anything.. a real bummer since i already have the coolpacks needed.

alleycat · Post by **alleycat** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 12:33 am

Ozdoc - thanks for elucidating the finer points of the Australian language! I'm glad that the enclosures have worked out well with no sign of the 'mysterious' condensation.

Nici - I admire your spirit of adventure, but I'm a bit worried about putting two drives in the one enclosure. I imagine they would get too hot. To get a good idea of how well these enclosures perform, follow the guidelines that I wrote up when I originally posted the project. The first time I assembled the enclosure, I used two gelpacks, but after playing around with it, I was able to squeeze in an extra one. I have to say that 5 Euro for gelpacks seems expensive. It's great that you were able to find something suitable though. I would be interested to know how these enclosures compare to a commercial product. More clicky clicky.

nici · Post by **nici** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 12:59 am

I just want to try two dries in one enclosure, if works then great, if it doesnt then we are still a bit smarter

5€ might be expensive yes, but these were the cheap ones, the more expensive of the same size were 13,60€ a piece

They were bought from the pharmacy/drug store whatever you call it, wich might explain the high price. But i couldnt think of another place to get them either, never seen them anywhere at least..

[/i]

alleycat · Post by **alleycat** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 1:32 am

Australians like to keep drinks etc cold when going on picnics (it was 43degC here a week ago), so we have a number of locally produced gel packs. I think I paid about AUD2 each at the supermarket. Total cost of the enclosure was about AUD40. Anyway, good luck with your experiments, I'm looking forward to seeing your results.