Which hard drive enclosure to get and how to boot windows?

oscar3d · Post by **oscar3d** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 12:31 am

Hi guys:

I'm one step from totally silencing my system after applying a Scythe Ninja on my P150 case. The thing is almost mute. But one more thing, the hard drive.

I don't really want to get a new silent hard drive and I'm coming with the idea of taking the hard drive outside the case and put it on a HDD enclosure. I have a WD Caviar 250 SATA I which is not that noisy but I still want total quietness.

Now my questions are which enclosure is the better noise/cooling factor in consideration. And how to connect it in order to make it boot Windows nicely.

My plan is that I want to put the hard drive on an enclosure, on the floor behind my desk and like 2 feet or a meter away.

Now I know I can get special brackets to connect external sata drives, but my concern is how to power it.

I know I can find up to 1 meter SATA I data cables, but I havent been able to find long sata power cables that are shielded. Do you guys know where I can get those.

I dont really want those type of enclosures like www.addonics.com (check that) because the power is external AC. I'm afraid I'm gonna have the HD turned on all the time even if the comp is off.

What I want is to turn the HD on when the computer turns on.

WHat is the best solution for this. I know you guys have done it before, I've been searching with no luck, I just want to make sure that I can order the right items to do this.

Thanks for any help you could provide.

NoizEnvader · Post by **NoizEnvader** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 1:43 am

I'm faced with the exact same problem. Got a 1m SATA data cable but can’t seem to find a SATA power cable of 1m.
I'm thinking of hacking up an old PSU and making my own Molex extension, using an SATA to Molex converter.
I just don’t know how safe this is and/or if I’d run into any power loss over/at up to 1 meter.

quikkie · Post by **quikkie** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 3:08 am

NoizEnvader wrote:I just don’t know how safe this is and/or if I’d run into any power loss over/at up to 1 meter.

As long as the joints between the two ends are good and insulated (i.e. solder and tape each connection) it'll be safe.
As for power loss: over a mile I'd start worrying about it, but over one metre you wouldn't be able to detect any difference without very expensive metering equipment.

-Quikkie

NoizEnvader · Post by **NoizEnvader** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 4:29 am

Shot, thanks!

oscar3d · Post by **oscar3d** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 10:51 am

I wonder what the experts here at SPCR might think or say about this.

I the longest power cord I could find at the moment measures 18 inches.

I the meantime, what about the recommended HD enclosures?

Which one is the best for cooling/noise diminishing.

I've heard a lot about the Smart Drive 2002c, the Silentmax, have anyone tried the addonics?

Thanks!

scaryduck · Post by **scaryduck** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 1:48 pm

You can get 1.2m with a Molex-to-SATA adaptor and this 1.2m (47in.) 4-pin external power cable (I assume it really is suitable for external use). Does the cable even need to be shielded? My computer speaker cable isn't shielded, for example, and seems to work fine.

I'd also take a look at eSATA, which features robust connectors and longer, shielded, data cables. Addonics sell the relevant brackets, cables and adaptors.

I've been wanting to do a similar thing to what you describe. In my case, the cost of the bracket, cable, enclosure, etc. is approximately that of a new (quieter) drive, so I'm delaying my project until the single platter drive test concludes. Then I shall ditch my 180GXP for the winner and proceed from there.

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 2:49 pm

Does the cable even need to be shielded? My computer speaker cable isn't shielded, for example, and seems to work fine.

Shielded is better than unshielded. If you run your PC with the case closed and all the grills still in place the total electro-magnetic interference emitted should be negligible. Also I seem to recall that LCD/TFT monitors emit less EMI than old CRT monitors.

oscar3d · Post by **oscar3d** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 2:55 pm

Thanks Scaryduck for your reply!

Yes, at last you found a 1.2m molex power cable. The problem is that's in the UK. There should be something here in the US!! I mean it's a molex cable, nothing outside of this world... But great catch man!

Yes I've seen those e-SATA things. And I've been tempted to get those, but there are two concerns about it.

In a review about e-SATA enclosure, I think it was about the Vantec Nexstar3 (can't find the link now) they mention that one side effect of the conversion from SATA to e-SATA is that it increases CPU usage dramatically because of the conversion that occurs on the little board inside the enclosure box.

That leads to my second concern. My motherboard is an ASUS P5WD2 Premium, and before booting it recognizes the presence of my HD because of the default SATA connector on the Mobo.

Since you are converting from SATA to e-SATA, I really doubt the Motherboard would recognize a booting device if you are using e-SATA.

My impression if that you CAN use E-SATA once Windows is loaded, that means this thing should be good only to make an external backup HD, but forget about booting from it.

Please correct me if I'm wrong

Am I right?

I've sent an e-mail to addonics sales department about this I'll keep you updated on thir response.

PS: I would love if SPCR starts reviewing this type of enclosures, and see if they are effective. Right now they've reviewed things like silencing boxes (SmartDrive, Silentmaxx, Scythe SilentBox). I would really love to know or have more information about this enclosures which have external power up.

oscar3d · Post by **oscar3d** » Tue Jan 10, 2006 3:08 pm

Reply from Addonics Sales Department:

"Oscar:

Yes. You can use the ExDrive II SATA35 to do the things that you described. The drive will be bootable externally. The external drive has to be powered by the external power supply. So the power to the drive needs to be turned on before you power on the system. Unless to find a way to run power from your system to the external drive, then you can power on the system and the external drive at the same time.

Regards,

Addonics Sales"

I guess I'm close to give it a try, but I still want to try a way to power it up from the system itself.

oscar3d · Post by **oscar3d** » Wed Jan 11, 2006 1:47 pm

So even after getting response from Addonics, I've changed my mind and placed my order. To put my HD outside my case.

-I'm getting a SmartDrive 2002C HD enclosure.

-And ordered this interesting Akasa PC Front Panel with SATA Data/Power from this link http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/akpcfrpawisa.html

This last one for the price is the ideal thing I'm looking for, since it has longer external cables for connecting both SATA power and data. Of course I will use the optionalk bracket that comes with it.

I think I'm one step closer to silencing my system for good It is already silenced enough.

Though I'm using Antec P150 suspension (which works great) I want to get rid of the little whine of the drive, by enclosing it and putting it outside the case. I might also try suspending the enclosure outside the computer on the floor which is peace of cake and assuring even more airflow (bottom).

I will start posting pictures of this system as soon as I have it running.

You might also be interested in knowing that my system is a great example of how well the Scythe Ninja outperforms the Zalman CNPS9500 both in cooling and noise, giving me idle temps of 34C and Load 54C on a Pentium 4 670 Prescott @ 3.8 GHz.

I'll let you know the results.