2.5" SATA in a desktop

austinbike · Post by **austinbike** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 9:29 am

Interested in pulling the 400GB SATA in my desktop and replacing it with a 100GB 2.5" SATA.

A. Is this a good idea (I have 2 NAS devices, don't need the storage)?

B. Aren't the cables different? If so, what is the connector that I need to find?

C. Any issues with drive longevity? (probably won't need it more than 2 years).

Thanks in advance.

Steve_Y · Post by **Steve_Y** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 10:26 am

A. If you aren't happy with the level of noise/heat from a 3.5" drive then a 2.5" model is a good option. You lose performance, but that may not be noticeable in normal desktop use.

B. The SATA cables are exactly the same.

C. I've used 2.5" drives for years in a few different desktop PCs, so far I haven't had one fail. I have heard that 2.5" drives have a shorter average life expectancy when used heavily, so obviously YMMV.

cloneman · Post by **cloneman** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 10:37 am

do seagate notebook drives also come with a 5 year warranty? If so, you might want to consider that in case the drive fails. Of course, regular backups are key.

StanF · Post by **StanF** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 11:15 am

2.5" harddrives in a desktop are a great idea. I've switched over one system, and will be doing more in the future.

I think the lower power consumption is the big improvement. (equating to less heat and less fan noise)

I typically install my OS and programs on one harddrive, and this is where I am using the 2.5" drives. (all data goes on a larger 3.5" drive). This makes it easy to use TrueImage to backup and keep multiple images of the OS/Programs hard drive.

The only downsides to 2.5" is the higher price and slightly slower speed. For my purposes, the slower speed doesn't matter much. Since I am buying smaller drives, the price difference isn't much.

I guess the other downside is the mounting difficulty. I have access to a machine shop and machined some custom brackets that let you mount two 2.5" drives in the space of one 3.5" drive.

I personally don't believe the reliability concerns about 2.5" harddrives. Mostly that opinion is based on my own experiences with 2.5" drives.

austinbike · Post by **austinbike** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 5:39 am

What is the impact of 2 2.5" drives vs. a single 3.5" in terms of power and noise?

I think the benefit of a single drive would be fine for me, but I would be interested to know if moving to a 2.5" drive loses its benefit if I have to add a 2nd.

mcoleg · Post by **mcoleg** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 6:30 pm

2.5" drives can usually operate at higher temperatures. you can enclose both of them to make them practically silent and won't loose any reliability.

2x2.5" would still probably be around 3-5w less than a single 3.5", depending on what you compare.

i always wanted to try raiding 2 2.5" drives just to see if it would provide any tangible benefits but i am too lazy

StanF · Post by **StanF** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 4:49 am

The power savings when using 2.5" drives is substantial:

2.5" drives draw about 3W peak, and less than 1W idle.

3.5" drives draw about 12W peak, and 9W idle.

These numbers might be off 1W or so, but they are reasonably accurate.

At idle, it will be 2W for two 2.5" drives. Compare that to 18W for two 3.5" drives.

Jordan · Post by **Jordan** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 8:13 am

I've been a 2.5" Samsung convert for a while now. My main PC has a 120GB M60 (PATA) and my Shuttle had an 80GB M60 when I sold it. I did it for the much lower noise level but the lower power consumption and heat was just a small bonus.

Did I notice a performance loss? Hell yes. On start-up, loading apps for the first time, the delay before an WMA playlist will start playing in Winamp, in Windows MCE on the laptop etc, etc. I have an otherwise fast machine so it really is the HD I'm waiting on. Was it worth it? For my sensitive ears, yes. Yes it was.

I'd like to think the M80 was even faster, quieter, cooler and/or used even less power.

Koolpc · Post by **Koolpc** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 12:47 pm

So, getting a 2.5 Hard drive i would notice a big difference in noise? I can hera my Samsung even though i have it suspended in a Cd rom bay!!

amjedm · Post by **amjedm** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 1:46 pm

Koolpc wrote:So, getting a 2.5 Hard drive i would notice a big difference in noise? I can hera my Samsung even though i have it suspended in a Cd rom bay!!

From what I've read on here, enclosing a 2.5" drive in an enclosure like the Scythe box will make it silent.

I'm thinking of switching myself from Samsung SATA 3.5" HD to Samsung M80 2.5" HD.

But you need to sort out your psu first

, I would advise you sell it and get a cheaper psu and then do a fan mod to make it quiet.

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 3:30 pm

From what I've read on here, enclosing a 2.5" drive in an enclosure like the Scythe box will make it silent.

tbh, the best 2.5" don't need an enclosure to be effectively silent inside a case. (altho for true silent maniacs may be neccesary

)

zoob · Post by **zoob** » Sun Aug 26, 2007 8:49 pm

I just switched from a Raptor 150 GB to a WD Scorpio 160 GB, both suspended with 1.8mm stretch magic. HUGE difference... no more nasty seek noises, and when I do get them, it's very muted from a suspended WD 5000AAKS.

Difference in performance is noticeable on boot times, but I'm hoping that Vista with 4 GB of RAM will be able to predict and cope with my computing habits.

amjedm · Post by **amjedm** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 4:31 am

jaganath wrote:
tbh, the best 2.5" don't need an enclosure to be effectively silent inside a case. (altho for true silent maniacs may be neccesary )

I may be one of those maniacs (

) - so many times I've read "this drive was silent or that drive was silent and I can't hear a thing", yet if I try the drive or fan etc. I can hear noise.

Jordan · Post by **Jordan** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 11:58 am

Koolpc wrote:So, getting a 2.5 Hard drive i would notice a big difference in noise? I can hera my Samsung even though i have it suspended in a Cd rom bay!!

The Koolpc from the Kustom PC forums?

StanF · Post by **StanF** » Tue Aug 28, 2007 12:26 pm

The boot times don't bother me, but I use S3 standby and rarely reboot.

You could also try a 7200RPM drive. Here's a review of a new, very fast Hitachi drive:
http://www.storagereview.com/HTS722020K9A00.sr

Stan

ps: I think the only time I reboot is when MS rolls out their monthly patches

.

Koolpc · Post by **Koolpc** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 12:31 pm

Jordan wrote:
Koolpc wrote:So, getting a 2.5 Hard drive i would notice a big difference in noise? I can hera my Samsung even though i have it suspended in a Cd rom bay!!
The Koolpc from the Kustom PC forums?

Thats me!!

lechuck · Post by **lechuck** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 1:52 pm

Another silent maniac here.

Well I can clearly hear the HDD in my work notebook.
So, in another thread I'm asking, if anybody tried an bit of overkill and used 2,5 and
3,5 Scythe enclosures with one 2,5 HDD...

Maybe that would be silent?!

amjedm · Post by **amjedm** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 2:11 pm

lechuck wrote:Another silent maniac here. Well I can clearly hear the HDD in my work notebook.
So, in another thread I'm asking, if anybody tried an bit of overkill and used 2,5 and
3,5 Scythe enclosures with one 2,5 HDD...

Maybe that would be silent?!

Should be silent from what I've read here

unless it's a 7200rpm?

lor77 · Post by **lor77** » Wed Aug 29, 2007 2:19 pm

Greetings to everyone.
Im just about to switch to 2.5inh hd in raid 0 for the operating system and just use the 2 old ks hd as storage.
Im interested in this sandwich solution with the small enclosure embedded in the bigger one.
I will anyway buy this 2.5 scythe enclosures but at the time being i cant decide which 2.5inc hd to buy.
Any thoughts about how the sandwich will perform silent wise?

amjedm · Post by **amjedm** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 2:16 am

lor77 wrote:Greetings to everyone.
Im just about to switch to 2.5inh hd in raid 0 for the operating system and just use the 2 old ks hd as storage.
Im interested in this sandwich solution with the small enclosure embedded in the bigger one.
I will anyway buy this 2.5 scythe enclosures but at the time being i cant decide which 2.5inc hd to buy.
Any thoughts about how the sandwich will perform silent wise?

Have I missed something - small enclosure in bigger enclosure - where did you read that?

lor77 · Post by **lor77** » Thu Aug 30, 2007 2:58 am

viewtopic.php?p=364802#364802
http://www.scythe-usa.com/product/hdd/0 ... etail.html
Check the features.

amjedm · Post by **amjedm** » Tue Sep 04, 2007 2:52 am

lor77 wrote:viewtopic.php?p=364802#364802
http://www.scythe-usa.com/product/hdd/0 ... etail.html
Check the features.

Thank you

eagleliu · Post by **eagleliu** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 2:08 am

http://www.pcadapter.cn/en/listview.asp?id=112
http://www.pcadapter.cn/en/listview.asp?id=111
pls check the products details.

http://www.pcadapter.cn/en/listview.asp?id=112

david25 · Post by **david25** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 12:39 pm

StanF wrote:The boot times don't bother me, but I use S3 standby and rarely reboot.

You could also try a 7200RPM drive. Here's a review of a new, very fast Hitachi drive:
http://www.storagereview.com/HTS722020K9A00.sr

Stan

ps: I think the only time I reboot is when MS rolls out their monthly patches .

This is my choice, out of the computer the idle is quite loud, although seeks are very quiet. I think my fans will mask the idle once fitted.

trxman · Post by **trxman** » Sat Sep 08, 2007 5:31 am

david25 wrote:This is my choice, out of the computer the idle is quite loud, although seeks are very quiet. I think my fans will mask the idle once fitted.

loud as some 3.5" drive or loud in comparaison with other 2.5" drives?

Flandry · Post by **Flandry** » Sat Sep 08, 2007 7:55 am

I will probably make the OS/programs disk for my HTPC a 2.5", and install any games on the 3.25" media drives, which will be able to spin down when nothing is going on.

Anecdotally: I just swapped the disk in my ThinkPad t42 from the stock 5400RPM PATA Hitachi for a $100 7200RPM PATA Hitachi. I did it because slow disks are my pet peeve, and the noise ratings were almost the same in the Hitachi's specs, while the power rating was actually lower!

I put the older disk in a cool $10 mesh external case i got from NewEgg that just needs a USB, and it's now my backup disk. The new disk is noticeably faster and actually quieter in my laptop, so it was an all-around win-win.

My point being--not all 2.5" drives are created equal. When i looked in the storagereview dbase to compare the drives, i noted that the 7200RPM drive (which is an older model, now) has ~1/2 the max performance of the newest Raptor in raw STR (IIRC), so in real-world performance i don't think you have to give up all that much if you pick one of the faster 2.5" drives.

Edit: BTW if you pick up an old PATA laptop drive, you can get a laptop-PATA adapter for around $5-$10.

ZMAJ · Post by **ZMAJ** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 3:53 am

mod delte this post pls... I've posted in wrong thread, thnx

austinbike · Post by **austinbike** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 4:24 am

So I finally got around to doing this. I swapped out a 400GB 7200 RPM SATA II drive with a 2.5" 80GB 5400 SATA I notebook drive.

$60 at Fry's.

I can't definitively say that the drive is quieter. It seems to be quieter, but that is not my total goal.

The system with the 3.5" drive was at an amazing 52W in idle. With the 2.5" drive, the system now only draws 43W. And the power supply is way over spec'd for the system (500W Antec earth.) I could probably bring it down under 40W with another power supply, I know I could drop it to 40W by pulling a DIMM (currently there are 2 DDR-2's in there, a single 2GB module would help).

ZMAJ · Post by **ZMAJ** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 4:41 am

austinbike wrote:So I finally got around to doing this. I swapped out a 400GB 7200 RPM SATA II drive with a 2.5" 80GB 5400 SATA I notebook drive.

$60 at Fry's.

I can't definitively say that the drive is quieter. It seems to be quieter, but that is not my total goal.

both HDDs are samsung?

So you are not really satasfied? Is 2.5" and quiter in idle?

austinbike · Post by **austinbike** » Sun Sep 09, 2007 5:01 am

The 2.5 is a Fujitsu, the 3.5 is a Seagate.

I am very satisfied because I was able to drop the power draw by almost 20%.

Since all of my data is stored on NAS's, I don't really need much storage in the system. The only downside was remembering that Tivo desktop requires a local drive, not a network share. Maybe the 160GB would have been a better choice, but for now I am happy. If I can figure out a cheap way to get a SAS drive working in the system, I would be ecstatic.

2.5" SATA in a desktop

2.5" SATA in a desktop

Re: 2.5" SATA in a desktop

you must need SATA to IDE adapter

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