$2.00 and 5 minute later and my 'Cudda IV is half as loud...

randyharris · Post by **randyharris** » Thu Dec 05, 2002 2:26 pm

I didn't want to spend $25ish for one of those drive suspension devices, would like something like a Smart Drive, but $70 is way out of my budget to quiet a drive (hell you can almost buy a new drive for that much.)

This mod would have been more complex if I had a 2 harddrive system, but with only one drive it was really easy.

What I did was to take some 1" foam rubber, and some elastic strapping and installed my harddrive onto a foam bed. Cost me all of $2.00 and took about 5 minutes to remount my harddrive.

The idle noise of the Barracuda IV 80GB drive has dropped audibly by a large margin. I can still hear it seek/read, but it is only a fraction as loud as it was before.

A very quick and extremely worthwhile quieting modification.

Oh, and it only seemed to raise my drive temp by 1 to 2 degrees Celsius.

Click here for a full size picture.

Nothing earth shattering or particularly clever, but it works darned well.

Randy

randyharris · Post by **randyharris** » Thu Dec 05, 2002 4:24 pm

Update, the drive does run hotter than I first thought... I was anxious and didn't let it fully warm up when I had wrote my first post.

The drive is running about 8 degrees hotter than when normally mounted (in my system). My new HD operating temp is about 44, it was previously around 36.

It's not so hot that I'm worried, however, I may play with the drive sandwich and mount that on the foam bed, cooler is always better in my book... just so long as it doesn't mean louder.

ez2remember · Post by **ez2remember** » Thu Dec 05, 2002 7:02 pm

Hello,

Nice idea, similar to some I have seen in articles and forum. What might help if you lay it flat on the bottom of the case near the intake fan. It will lower the temperture of your Hard Drive. Just find a way to secure it. The bottom of my case is completed foamed, and the Hard Drive is just placed on it, and held in postion with a couple of elastic material.

randyharris · Post by **randyharris** » Thu Dec 05, 2002 7:35 pm

Good idea, but I don't use an intake fan. I find that I don't need one. I have a single 80mm exhaust fan at the back of the Antec 1030 case running at 5volts (and of course a low speed fan in my PSU) and my case temps are in the 27 - 30 range. Not high enough for me to mess with adding a fan in the front of the case where I can more easily hear it.

powergyoza · Post by **powergyoza** » Thu Dec 05, 2002 11:11 pm

An 8C rise is what i'd expect considering you don't have foam on the top. When I had my drives sandwiched in foam (top, bottom and front), I got a much higher temp. rise - like 20 to 30C !!!.

If you're interested in an even larger noise reduction, consider using solid rubber. I'm using block print carving rubber, which has the feel of a white rubber eraser. It blocks sound way better than foam and conducts a little bit of heat to boot.

ez2remember · Post by **ez2remember** » Fri Dec 06, 2002 2:01 am

randyharris wrote:Good idea, but I don't use an intake fan. I find that I don't need one. I have a single 80mm exhaust fan at the back of the Antec 1030 case running at 5volts (and of course a low speed fan in my PSU) and my case temps are in the 27 - 30 range. Not high enough for me to mess with adding a fan in the front of the case where I can more easily hear it.

Have you read the articles in SPCR, placing your HD at the bottom of your case with or wihout a intake fan may still lower the temperture. Generally the coolest part of your PC is at the bottom, heat rises as you know. Just give it a try and see if your temperture of your Cuda IV will drop a little. You are in a safe range anyway, but would be interesting to see.

randyharris · Post by **randyharris** » Fri Dec 06, 2002 7:43 am

my drive is only 3 inches above the lowest part of my case, in the front.

SungHyun7 · Post by **SungHyun7** » Fri Dec 06, 2002 1:19 pm

i think i'll buy loads of erasers and make myself a nice brick house for the drive... heat dissipation probably by my oem intel heatsink lying helplessly on the shelf without the fan...

ah wells... i can't wait until the christmas is over so i can pursue my project.... supposely there will be a very modest/good drop in component prices after christmas.

bdelima · Post by **bdelima** » Sat Dec 07, 2002 12:31 pm

Add some aluminum u-rails to the sides of the drive. There's a DIY article posted n this site. It's fairly easy to do, and really wroks to cool the drive.