Smart Drive Enclosure

[Archeon]

Hi all!

I'm new to this forum, but I already like what I see : lots of people like me who want to get rid of the pesky noise that a PC makes!

For this reason I have already spent a lot of money on Zalman products and quiet fans but this didn't provide me with the result that I wanted. So now I'm getting a water cooling rig! That should take care of all those fan noises created by the CPU cooler, GPU cooler and various case fans (which will then be obsolete).
I've also thought of the PSU : I'm looking into getting that Zalman 300 watts PSU or, even better, that Nexus NX-3000. Then again, I might also wait until Zalman releases their 400 watts PSU, should be sometime in february.

Because of all these things I expect the loudest factor still remaining in my case to be my harddrives. Currently I'm using a WD 1200 SE drive and a Maxtor drive, but I intend to replace those with Seagate Barracuda's V (preferably S-ATA). To make sure they're REALLY silent I want to enclose them in a Smart Drive enclosure.

But here's my problem. Does anyone know if there's a European distributor or on-line shop for these things ? SilentPCreview only mentions Silicon Acoustics, but that's a US company and that would mean adding import taxes to an already pretty expensive product. I'd ask the company myself, but my Japanese isn't what it used to be.
Also I've read here that they've also got a copper version of this product? Is this true? Or by this do they mean the 2002 version ?

Thanks!

[jhh]

dabs has them, or you can buy straight from their uk distributor, quiet pc.

however, they're not recomended for 7200 drives and you'd find that with a cuda you'd get a greater reduction in noise by suspending then encaseing, I'd sugest just getting some of the flat elastic from a dress makers store. Personally I enclose and suspend, but then I have a U-series Seagate, not a cuda.

Also, water cooling isn't really necessary, just get some decent fans. I have a very very quiet rig with a 2GHz palomino and a fanless AND overclocked GF4-ti (using zalman heatpipe). I'm going to the states soon and will be bringing back a case of panaflo to the uk, the quietist fans you can get, I think I'll be selling for abt £5.50 a go to european SPCR members.

The 300w zalman psu is very good, I have one. I modded mins so that it takes in air from outside the case becasue I have adequate case exhaust without the psu chipping in, it's now silent - if I stop the psu fan with a paintbrush I can't hear any difference in noise.

[jhh]

oops, sorry I just realised I was talking about the molex silentdrive, not the smart drive.

to be honest I wouldn't pay the price of a drive for a metal box to put one in, you can get much beter results from somthing you make yourself.

[ChiefWeasel]

If you get the Cudas then you wont need Smartdrives. Decoupling using elastic is all that is needed, and will save you about £70 (~100Euros?).

What spec is the rest of your PC? Are you sure you need water cooling?

[shadymg]

dabs has them, or you can buy straight from their uk distributor, quiet pc.

however, they're not recomended for 7200 drives and you'd find that with a cuda you'd get a greater reduction in noise by suspending then encaseing, I'd sugest just getting some of the flat elastic from a dress makers store. Personally I enclose and suspend, but then I have a U-series Seagate, not a cuda.

i thought that it was just the Cuda 7200's that were not recommended. You have me slightly worried as i have a Maxtor 7200 & i just purchased a SilentDrive for it. What's the danger?

[Archeon]

What spec is the rest of your PC? Are you sure you need water cooling?

Pretty average PC. P4 2.5, ATi 9700Pro, Two 7200 RPM HD's all on an Aopen AX4PE Max mobo.
I know I don't really need watercooling, I just want it. It's still the best solution to get the PC completely silent (well apart from thermal cooling that is), and it's a nice project. Believe me, I've already tried the Zalman way, with extra silent Pabst coolers, the works... I still wasn't pleased with the results. I'm actually looking forward to installing my watercooling rig. I've already hand-picked about half of the components that I need and the rest is on backorder.

i thought that it was just the Cuda 7200's that were not recommended. You have me slightly worried as i have a Maxtor 7200 & i just purchased a SilentDrive for it. What's the danger?

The Silentdrive doesn't dissipate the HD's heat as efficiently as the smart drive does. The HD's get too hot (especially 7200 RPM drives) and so they are more likely to fail. The Silentdrive is only any good with 5400 RPM drives really.
This is the exact reason that I've decided against a Silentdrive but opted for a Smart Drive instead.

I just would like know where I can buy one of those things in Europe. Anyone?

Thanks!

[jhh]

is watercooling really silent? I thought you still needed fans for radiators etc.

Did you try undervolting panaflo fans? OMHO Papst are overated little clickers. At 5v I'd be VERY suprised you were unhappy with a Panaflo. In fact I'd be surprised if you could actually hear them at all!!!

[Gdog123]

So SilentDrive vs SmartDrive...what do people who have these actual items think? I am considering getting either one because my 60GB 7200 Maxtor...that whining noise is killing me. I've tried ACM and that doesn't really do much...

[BaconTastesGood]

It is pretty much universally acknowledged that Silent Drive is crap and that SmartDrive is very good. I have two SmartDrive 2002 enclosures and they're very quite, easy to use, well built, and run very cool.

[Gdog123]

It is pretty much universally acknowledged that Silent Drive is crap and that SmartDrive is very good. I have two SmartDrive 2002 enclosures and they're very quite, easy to use, well built, and run very cool.

Nice...where did you purchase your SmartDrive enclosures?

[BaconTastesGood]

The only place I've found on-line (USA) is Silicon Acoustics (www.siliconacoustics.com), but be warned, the price is very high ($70 for SmartDrive and $85 for SmartDrive 2002 -- more expensive than a new drive!).

In many cases it's cheaper just to buy a new Seagate Cuda IV from NewEgg for $78!

[jinu117]

Silent? Sure...
Performer? Nope...
In single drive comparison with WD... it fares all right... but when raid 0'd.... I actually LOSE performance -_-; (I didn't know cuda's are not good at raiding -_0)
I plan to sell this 1 week old 80GB IVs as soon as I get the raid running with WD or something else. (which works best with RAID 0?)

[frodo]

I've had very good luck with my IBM 60GXPs in a RAID-0 set, but of course you can't find those anymore.

What I'm really interested in is how bad is the performance with the RAIDed cuda's? I see that you are running cuda IVs, does anyone have any experience with cuda Vs and RAID-0? Articles to point to?

I was very much looking forward to getting 2 SATA cuda Vs and putting them in a RAID-0 array, but there should be some performance benefit there.

Anyone know more about this?

[jinu117]

I've had very good luck with my IBM 60GXPs in a RAID-0 set, but of course you can't find those anymore.

What I'm really interested in is how bad is the performance with the RAIDed cuda's? I see that you are running cuda IVs, does anyone have any experience with cuda Vs and RAID-0? Articles to point to?

I was very much looking forward to getting 2 SATA cuda Vs and putting them in a RAID-0 array, but there should be some performance benefit there.

Anyone know more about this?

I gave up on idea of raid at this point. (benefit isn't as good as the problem).
Cuda IV actually is about 5% slower with RAID 0 than single drive -_-;
I've heard in storage review that same applies to Cuda V.
I just wen out and got WD2000JB (fry's had it at decent price after rebate ... $1.30/GB) and god... ghosting took half the time of ghosting to cuda IV raid 0 from WD800BB (okay more like 65% of time). I just gotta figure out how to keep the high freq noise down now as my comp is getting quiter in every single aspect each day. I might get smart drive as the vibrational noise isn't as bad as high freq in my Cooler Master case.
Wouldn't it silence the drive better than sandwhich as far as high freq sounds goes?

[Archeon]

is watercooling really silent? I thought you still needed fans for radiators etc.

You do. You still need ONE fan in your system to be put on the radiator. Fortunately, this is a 120mm fan (so it's already pretty silent by itself), but you can eaily have it run on 5v and still have sufficient airflow to cool your radiator. Then you can 't hear it AT ALL.
Also, choosing the right pump is very important. Eg. Eheim 1048 = VERY high quality. Those pumps are actually SILENT (for real!) and magnetically shielded.

Did you try undervolting panaflo fans? OMHO Papst are overated little clickers. At 5v I'd be VERY suprised you were unhappy with a Panaflo. In fact I'd be surprised if you could actually hear them at all!!!

No, I've never tried panaflo fans, but I'm willing to try everything at least once. where can I buy these things in Europe ? (I must be honest that I've never heard of them before)

[Archeon]

The only place I've found on-line (USA) is Silicon Acoustics (www.siliconacoustics.com)

Damn! Thats really a bummer ! Oh well, if I have to buy them there then I think I will.
If my Japanese was any better I'd ask the company itself!

Do you think I will also be able to use Serial ATA disks with the Smart Drive enclosure ?

[DaShiv]

Smart Drive 2002 at Google Gear: http://www.googlegear.com/jsp/ProductDe ... ode=143901

[Archeon]

Smart Drive 2002 at Google Gear: http://www.googlegear.com/jsp/ProductDe ... ode=143901

Ah! $60! That's one better price allready!
Too bad this company only ships to teh US and Canada

[Archeon]

I've mailed the company Grow Up Japan today. I'll keep you guys updated with any news if I have any...

[Chris Ochre]

Archeon - They're by Panasonic, and can be found at http://www2.theoverclockingstore.co.uk/, but I'm sure there are also a few places nearer to you.

Yeah, I've just ordered a Novibes, as my Cuda is currently getting pretty toasty in a SilentDrive. Don't want to run it too longer in there to be honest, plus the noise is still pretty bad as it doesn't decouple the drive much. Got quieter temps sitting the drive on sponge, but then I kept on knocking it about.

[jinu117]

I gave up on idea of raid at this point. (benefit isn't as good as the problem).
Cuda IV actually is about 5% slower with RAID 0 than single drive -_-;
I've heard in storage review that same applies to Cuda V.
I just wen out and got WD2000JB (fry's had it at decent price after rebate ... $1.30/GB) and god... ghosting took half the time of ghosting to cuda IV raid 0 from WD800BB (okay more like 65% of time). I just gotta figure out how to keep the high freq noise down now as my comp is getting quiter in every single aspect each day. I might get smart drive as the vibrational noise isn't as bad as high freq in my Cooler Master case.
Wouldn't it silence the drive better than sandwhich as far as high freq sounds goes?

Okay here is an update, WD2000JB is awesome performer but the high freq noise is just unbearable as my case is getting ever more silent. The sandwich method mentioned didn't work with this one as it was too loud to begin with. (in high freq) I also noticed low vibration which was muted by high freq noise. I got disgusted and returned it to fry's and got IBM 180GXP. Nice performer (ted bit slow than WD2000JB but bunch faster than Seagate), rather quiet (in idle, most of noise seems to be vibrational rather than huge whirrling sound). I am going to try decoupling and see how it improves.

[Gdog123]

I just purchased one off ebay...and I am amazed at the noise reduction level on my Maxtor D740 60gb 7200...the high pitch "whizzing" noise is no longer there...and my HD temp. remains 48-50 C...according to Dtemp.

Comments??

[Ralf Hutter]

I just purchased one off ebay...and I am amazed at the noise reduction level on my Maxtor D740 60gb 7200...the high pitch "whizzing" noise is no longer there...and my HD temp. remains 48-50 C...according to Dtemp.

Comments??

You better keep a good eye on those temps. That's about the max I'd ever want to see on any HDD. The consensus is that heat kills HDDs so watch it during the Summer/Fall when ambient temps are higher. Most manufacturers (including Maxtor) recommend 55°C MAX.

[schnee]

WD's are EVIL. They have a high-pitched whine that drives me to drink.

I have two of 'em. I bought SmartDrives for them (dual 100Gb SE in a RAID 1) and it's made a huge difference, and the drives are no hotter than before. The SPCR review was right, the enclosures conduct away heat.

SmartDrives are *really* expensive though, so if you're buying new, 'cudas are the way to go. If you're stuck with WDs, they're a decent investment to salvage your sanity.

[ez2remember]

WD's are EVIL. They have a high-pitched whine that drives me to drink.

LOL

[Badashmods]

After looking quite a bit I found some good cable to suspend your Smart Drive, or hard drive alone. I bought some and its perfect.

http://fabricline.com/18shocel.html

[atsang]

Those who want to buy a smartdrive and can't find it anywhere (especially in europe), email me. I'm asking $60 shipped in the US. I can ship to europe for the actual shipping price. I posted it up in the "Vendor's, Deals, Classifieds" part of this discussion forum.

Angell

[marc999]

So does the Smart Drive 2002s come with some way of decoupling themselves from the 5" Bay (and therefore your case). If not, what is the best way of achieving this ?