I can´t think of anything smart to say, so instead of typing a lot wich no one cares to read im just going to post temps and a short descreption and if anyone has anything to ask or comment, please do Im also not posting a bazillion pictures unless someone wants me to, in wich case i will take and post the requested photos


The temps, here you can admire my mad sKilllz in Calc

Other than on-board temps were taken immediately after the enclosure was disassembled, again with the drive still running so it wont have a chance to cool.
It´s shown in rise above ambient because ambient temp was not constant. The HDD i tested with was a Samsung SP2504C 250Gb sata with AAMdisabled, and before measuring it was left on for at least six hours each time.


Now i think the pcb hottest part for the mCubed is a little low, but i noticed that only after taking out the drive. Might have to check if i measured correctly.

Listed from best to worst based on noise reduction.

1. Homebrew Alleycat enclosure, aluminium box, gelpacks and foam to make it all fit tight. Idle noise completely gone from any practical distance. Seeks just audible. Quite large at 222x146x55mm, will fit in two 5,25" slots but theres no room on the sides. Maybe 1mm for some foam. Takes ages to warm up, wich is a very good thing especially if you only use the computer for a few hours at a time. The cheapest, about 25€ for the box and then some gelpacks wich vary in price, mine cost 5€ a piece so the total is about 35€.

2. Scythe Quiet Drive, about the same as the nexus for noise reduction but better for temps. Like the nexus there´s a shitload of screws in different sizes. Mounting ok, as standard some vibration might get transferred to the case. This is the one to go for out of these if you don´t want or can´t make the homebrew thing.

3. Nexus Drive-A-Way, good noise reduction, not so good with temps. Only one set of mounting holes slightly below center, will not align properly in all cases. Takes up two slots if the case has rails, see pic. The worst mounting system by far, only decoupling is the pretty hard things inside the enclosure. The most expensive at over 50€

4. mCubed Vertical Silence, slightly poorer for noise than the nexus and scythe but still very good, if mounted in a case and the case is under a desk it most certainly wont be audible. ATM i have a raptor in it sitting 30cm from my ears in a case without sidepanles, and its not annoying me. A 2,5" samsung annoys me. Has the best mounting system by far, large and soft rubber mounts, and its also clearly the easiest to work with since it has no screws except for mounting in case. The best build quality, and even though it´s not quite as effective at noise reduction i would choose this over the nexus because of temps.

5. Level HDD Shell, only slight reduction in noise, temps better than a bare drive. Easy to assemble and mount, very good at not transferring vibrations.

From top to bottom, Level, mCubed, Nexus, Scythe, Homebrew.





This is how the Homebrew looks like inside




So there we have it Let the criticism commence!

nici
Thanks for small review. You probably meant Scythe quiet drive, not silent. Also, your quote here: "Level HDD Shell, only slight reduction in noise but the temps are best of the bunch", if I'm reading the graph correctly, HDD Shell temperatures were about the same, actually slightly higher than Scythe Quiet drive, so how can the temps be the best of the bunch? A typo somewhere?

Oops. I probably typed out of memory, before measuring i was sure the level would have the best temps based on my previous experience. It is definately the fastest at reaching that equilibrium thingie though, takes about ten minutes.

I must be doing something right since the first poster only notices two flaws

Meh, there are always typos, even if someone else proof reads it. Seems mcubed and scythe quiet drive enclosures are the way to go whichever you can get cheaper.

Great review nici

I really liked that you used ambient temps instead of absolute temps because they tend to shift quite a bit in the summer

It's also good to know that the alleycat enclosure is best for reducing noise and on par with an bare drive in temps.

Nice review. I'm moving it to the User Reviews forum. I think it's worthy.

I do have one critique though: These enclosures need to be tested in an actual system, preferably with consistent airflow. I think the bare drive would put in a better showing if it had airflow/conduction cooling available to it.

Yeah ambient temps was anything between 23 and 29°c during testing.

I could test some of them in a real system, not just sitting next to one. Ill start ghetto modding my Lian-Li with cardboard tomorrow, i need to close the bottom intake and open up a front intake to get a more conventional airflow pattern.

What i expect from that is indeed that the bare drive, or possibly the level, would be the coolest.

There´s a point in testing outside a case though, my systems are usually very low airflow, no airflow kind of shows worst case scenario wich can only improve when properly mounted in a case. If it doesnt cook the drive now, it wont cook in a system with airflow either. Well maybe in the top 5,2 5"slot behind closed bezels, but that´s just silly.

I found an old pic of the nexus in a P180 that shows the problem with mounting quite well. The slot under the fan controller is blocked.

edit: typos

Thanks for the review, nici. I've always wondered how the homebrew enclosure compares with commercial versions.

Fine comparison, nici. Thanks for all the work.

Thanks for all the comments

Here is the original thread by alleycat about his enclosure.

I like the looks of that Scythe enclosure, but I have a couple questions though. First, can you assemble it without those rubber decoupling squares on the sides? Second, exactly how wide is it without those squares?

Yes the rubber things are removeble, they are held in place by the two screws in the middle. Without them the enclosure is 13,5cm wide, 19,8cm long and 3,6cm high. Add a few mm on the sides for the screws.

i wish you would have had this one in the mix:

http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/std ... e2002.html

If i had to choose from the ones you review'd, id probably pick the Mcubed. Temps were great, noise dampening very good, but the thing that got me was build quality, mounting, and ease of use. It might not be the most quiet option, but it seems to be the best in every other aspect.

I would test the smartdrive, but afaik it's not available in Europe and having it shipped here would make it cost about 100€ or so..

speaking of how to get these things.

i tried finding someplace in the US that sells the Mcubed Verticle Silence, and came up empty handed.

how do i get one?

Don't know about mcubed, but www.crazypc.com has scythe quiet drive for a very reasonable $35 (as far as HDD enclosures go). Of course, it's no mcubed, but should be a good replacement.

nici
I just noticed that "PCB hottest part" rise over ambient with mcubed is only 15 degrees C, while all other enclosures have 31C+. Is this a mistake, typo, or is it the real thing? Just looks odd when a single enclosure would be soooo much better than the rest.

so i guess since i cant get an mcubed without paying $50 just in shipping, its either a quietdrive 2002c or a scythe quiet drive

I explained it under the table, Now i think the pcb hottest part for the mCubed is a little low, but i noticed that only after taking out the drive. Might have to check if i measured correctly.

Anyway the PCB hottest part isn't really that important, it was some resistors wich got hot and they should be fine. Actually a hot IC should not be much of a concern either now that i think about it. And even in the rare occasion that a PCB goes poopoo, it shouldn't be too difficult to find a new PCB to rescue the data.

It might be correct though, if the foam(feels like neoprene) inside the mCubed conducts heat. The foam touches the PCB and the metal of the enclosure, so if it conducts heat it might actually work for cooling the PCB. This is just speculation though..

I recently tried the Scythe in my sig system, with the HDD in the place of the ODD with the hole for the ODD open and the bottom intake sealed. A pretty normal airflow parttern in other words. With the bare drive suspended it reached 6,5°c above ambient and inside the Scythe it reached 8°c above ambient.

And i just noticed something weird in my table, i have no idea what the "enclosure outside" temp for the bare drive is

nici
Heh, me and my poor reading skills, made a fool out of myself again...

You mentioned the homebrew being a tight fit in a 5 1/4 bay.

I used a flanged 187X119X56mm hammond box, this would give that extra bit of space. Mine isn't in a drive bay right enough.




Suspended this thing is so quiet its unbelievable. no discernable noise seeking or writing up till 20cm away... Even that is barely audible.

Thanks for the review... Nice to see how the homebrew stacks up against the more expensive alternatives. The homebrew IMO is the ultimate, cant thank Alleycat enough for this contribution to the comunity. On the modding sites I have posted on the enclosure gets plenty of attention. Alleycat always gets the credit of course!

justblair, would you be able to elaborate on how you mounted the drive in the hammond enclosure? what is the model of the enclousure?

No need to quote with pictures... Anyway, the original thread about the homebrew by alleycat is here.

I see that someone already pointed you to the alletcat post.

The manufacturer part number that I used was 1590DFLBK. I got mine from farnell in one (UK) for about £15.

Hammond box

The coolpacks I used were the medical type from our local LIDL (cheap and chearful european discount supermarket) They are the sort that you stick in the freezer and apply to your sore bits. They were pretty thin.

I actually did things back to front. I applied the coolpacks, then measured. That way I got a realy snug fit.

I just ordered 2 Scythe Quiet Drives from CrazyPC. Thanks nici.

Tell us what you think of them once you get them

i think i am going to purchase 2 of these enclosures.
what size are the gel packs you used and how many did it take for the enclosure?
did you use any foam?
where are you suspending these in your case, will they fit in a 5.25 bay?
I notice your drive is ide (thats the black IDE cable coming out the side, right?) Do you think an SATA drive will work in this box?

I'll edit the post with the exact dimesions of the gel packs when I get home, in the meanwhile I'll estimate them to be 170mm x 115mm x 10mm
They were a no-name brand, so little chance that I can find a link for you.



No I did not use any foam. The method I used was to start with the drive, pack the gel packs around it and measure the size of the assembly. I the bought an enclosure that fitted very snug thinking that it woul dbe preferable to have as much surface contact as was possible. Alleycats thread is full of others attempts, I dont know if using foam makes any difference to the end result.



PC-PS2 Hybrid

This is a link to my WIP, the suspension method I used can be seen there. My calculations say that this enclosure should fit in a 5 1/4 inch bay, it is 119mm wide which should leave 6mm clearence either side of the enclosure, its not a lot, but enough. You would have to check the depth and height in your case to ensure that it would fit.



I dont see why not, but I dont have any experiance of these drives. Perhaps someone else could give a definative answer on this one? The only issue I can see would be if they produce considerably more heat. I am sure though that there would be ways around that if its the case. Perhaps glueing alu fins to the box exteriour? Bear in mind I run my enclosure in a case with no forced cooling, so if they do run hotter I think that a fan would cancel out the differences (if you get what I mean)

Just received my Scythe Quiet Drive today. It seems to have lowered the idle noise but I think seek noise and vibration increased. I have it mounted with the rails on my P180, that might be causing the seek noise to be amplified. Overall it was pretty easy to assemble but I wish they gave better instructions as to what screws to use and getting those protective plastic coverings off the gel pads was a pain. I was afraid I would rip the gel pads.

Make sure you tighten the screws that mount the shiny mounting things very tight, otherwise the screws can touch the metal.

I'm not sure which screws you're referring to. Are you talking about the screws that connect the case to the enclosure?