Quiet build with eight hard drives, possible ?

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jimbob
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Quiet build with eight hard drives, possible ?

Post by jimbob » Mon Oct 08, 2012 11:03 am

Hi, been ayway from the quiet pc building for years. Planning to get a new computer and want alot of hard drives.
Is't madness to event try it or is't possible ?
How many Watts do you need for a build like this ?
Last edited by jimbob on Mon Oct 08, 2012 11:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

xan_user
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Re: Quiet build with eith hard drives, possible ?

Post by xan_user » Mon Oct 08, 2012 7:31 pm

(i assume op wants "eight" HDD's.)
of course its doable, and it wont take that much power, depending on other components....but the real question is why?
what else is this rig going to be doing besides running 8 HDD's?

and, unless youre going to suspend 8 drives, it wont be silent....

Nick Geraedts
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Re: Quiet build with eith hard drives, possible ?

Post by Nick Geraedts » Mon Oct 08, 2012 8:40 pm

It's possible, but you still won't get silence from any multi-hard drive system. I had eight WD Green drives in my server a while back, and it was definitely quiet once I suspended the drives (a necessity IMO) but still audible if you listened for it.

viewtopic.php?t=49709

Pappnaas
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Re: Quiet build with eith hard drives, possible ?

Post by Pappnaas » Mon Oct 08, 2012 10:09 pm

I'm not aware of a case with room to suspend 8 HDDs.

Imho a system with 8 mechanical drives can only be quiet if placed next room.

jimbob
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Re: Quiet build with eith hard drives, possible ?

Post by jimbob » Mon Oct 08, 2012 11:33 pm

xan_user wrote:(i assume op wants "eight" HDD's.)
of course its doable, and it wont take that much power, depending on other components....but the real question is why?
what else is this rig going to be doing besides running 8 HDD's?

and, unless youre going to suspend 8 drives, it wont be silent....
ops sorry for the typo :)

jimbob
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Re: Quiet build with eith hard drives, possible ?

Post by jimbob » Mon Oct 08, 2012 11:40 pm

Nick Geraedts wrote:It's possible, but you still won't get silence from any multi-hard drive system. I had eight WD Green drives in my server a while back, and it was definitely quiet once I suspended the drives (a necessity IMO) but still audible if you listened for it.

viewtopic.php?t=49709
Was thinking about a Fractal Design Define R4 case, it have some rubber gromit for the hard drives. Wont that help ?
Need to upgrade my old computer and then i need space for my movie collection, so i thought a new computer with alot of space would be a good idea.

boost
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Re: Quiet build with eight hard drives, possible ?

Post by boost » Mon Oct 08, 2012 11:47 pm

With NoVibes III HDD Decoupling Rack and enough 5.25" bays you can decouple eight drives.
The questions remain, why?
How much hard drive space do you really need and does it have to be in the same computer as your work machine?
Eight 5K drives might not be silent, but tolerable if decoupled and you don't have to access all at once.

jimbob
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Re: Quiet build with eight hard drives, possible ?

Post by jimbob » Tue Oct 09, 2012 5:52 am

boost wrote:With NoVibes III HDD Decoupling Rack and enough 5.25" bays you can decouple eight drives.
The questions remain, why?
How much hard drive space do you really need and does it have to be in the same computer as your work machine?
Eight 5K drives might not be silent, but tolerable if decoupled and you don't have to access all at once.
A NAS for 5-8 drives cost alot, and i need a new computer. So why dont get a new computer with alot of space ?

Pappnaas
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Re: Quiet build with eight hard drives, possible ?

Post by Pappnaas » Tue Oct 09, 2012 6:05 am

jimbob wrote: A NAS for 5-8 drives cost alot, and i need a new computer. So why dont get a new computer with alot of space ?
First, here's spcr. You won't get any advice without reference to noise.

Second, you're always talking about 8 drives. How much TB do you really need? If you're talking max data you're in for 8 x 3TB or even 8 x 4TB. You really need 24TB of storage? Then you should probably talk to Kim Dotcom and ask for advice :D

jimbob
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Re: Quiet build with eight hard drives, possible ?

Post by jimbob » Tue Oct 09, 2012 10:51 am

Pappnaas wrote:
jimbob wrote: A NAS for 5-8 drives cost alot, and i need a new computer. So why dont get a new computer with alot of space ?
First, here's spcr. You won't get any advice without reference to noise.

Second, you're always talking about 8 drives. How much TB do you really need? If you're talking max data you're in for 8 x 3TB or even 8 x 4TB. You really need 24TB of storage? Then you should probably talk to Kim Dotcom and ask for advice :D
hehe yeah maybe an idea :) Right now I need like ~7-8TB storage but it would be nice to have space so I can add another drive or two in the future.

Something like 12-14 dB if thats possible

MikeC
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Re: Quiet build with eight hard drives, possible ?

Post by MikeC » Tue Oct 09, 2012 11:40 am

Amazing how often this topic comes up... when we ran a whole series of home server build guides that's linked to the main menu!

Look on the main left column on any SPCR main site page, and you will see "Silent PC Build Guides"
Start here -- Silent Home Server Build Guide -- and you will get to Mid-Tower Home Server Configurations. That and the next 4 pages or so detail pretty much everything you need to know about building a multi-HDD silent home server. We got our 9-drive (WD GReens) config to 18~19 dBA @ 1m. 12-14 dBA is unreachable at this time except perhaps in a totally custom-built concrete case.

jimbob
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Re: Quiet build with eight hard drives, possible ?

Post by jimbob » Wed Oct 10, 2012 11:46 pm

MikeC wrote:Amazing how often this topic comes up... when we ran a whole series of home server build guides that's linked to the main menu!

Look on the main left column on any SPCR main site page, and you will see "Silent PC Build Guides"
Start here -- Silent Home Server Build Guide -- and you will get to Mid-Tower Home Server Configurations. That and the next 4 pages or so detail pretty much everything you need to know about building a multi-HDD silent home server. We got our 9-drive (WD GReens) config to 18~19 dBA @ 1m. 12-14 dBA is unreachable at this time except perhaps in a totally custom-built concrete case.
thanks MikeC, I did some re-thinking after reading the answers. Still gonna build a big storage computer, but I gonna place it in a diffrent room.

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Re: Quiet build with eight hard drives, possible ?

Post by MikeC » Wed Oct 10, 2012 11:53 pm

jimbob wrote:thanks MikeC, I did some re-thinking after reading the answers. Still gonna build a big storage computer, but I gonna place it in a diffrent room.
Use the silencing techniques suggested anyway -- I remember visiting a friend whose server 2 floors away could beheard constantly!

jimbob
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Re: Quiet build with eight hard drives, possible ?

Post by jimbob » Thu Oct 11, 2012 3:25 am

MikeC wrote:
jimbob wrote:thanks MikeC, I did some re-thinking after reading the answers. Still gonna build a big storage computer, but I gonna place it in a diffrent room.
Use the silencing techniques suggested anyway -- I remember visiting a friend whose server 2 floors away could beheard constantly!
Will do that.

jimbob
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Re: Quiet build with eight hard drives, possible ?

Post by jimbob » Fri Oct 12, 2012 8:29 am

How about this:

Fractal Design Define R4
Corsair XMS3 DDR3 PC10666/1333MHz CL9 2x4GB (CMX8GX3M2A1333C9)
Intel® Core™ i5-3475S Processor
Asus P8Z77-V Deluxe (Fan Xpert 2)
Seasonic X-560 560W
Fractal Design Silent Series R2 140mm (X 3)
Prolimatech Megahalems
Intel 320 Series 2.5" SSD 120GB
Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARX 64MB 2TB (X 4)

What do I need to change ?

MikeC
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Re: Quiet build with eight hard drives, possible ?

Post by MikeC » Fri Oct 12, 2012 10:53 am

You don't need 3 more fans. I doubt you need any more case fans than the 2 the Fractal case comes with. Check out those build guides linked earlier -- more closely, perhaps -- and see what we did for cooling in a hotter system than yours with 9 drives.

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