I got a new WD800JB before I was into quieting my box. The drive sounds pretty loud now that I have everything else muted. I want to quiet it down, but I don't want to sandwich it. 1) I checked the specs with the Silent Drive, and it won't fit; 2) the SmartDrive costs as much as I paid for the HDD; 3) I like to DIY, but I don't have access to the kind of tools that I would need to do a sandwich right. So I was thinking of suspension. Here's the catch: I have 7 3.5" bays but only 4 5.25" bays in my case. I only have the one HDD, but I have a DVD, a CDRW (that I'm currently in the market to replace), and a multicard reader with USB hub in 3 of the 4 5.25" bays (I have an Ahanix Noblesse case with a bottom 5.25 with closeable door, which is where I have placed the mulitcard reader).
I thought about getting rid of both opticals and getting a combo drive, but I really like to be able to read and burn at once since I do a lot of CD ripping (I'm halfway through backing-up my entire 200 disc CD collection). So that's out.
Which leaves me with one 5.25" bay and not enough room for a suspension.
So here's what I thought: what about a vertical suspension? I'm thinking of heat and side-sinking the HDD per SPCR experiments, vertically suspending the drive in the HDD drive cage, and using an undervolted Panaflo 92mm (mounted in the bottom of the 2 external 3.5 bays) to actively cool the drive with a minimum of sound.
Has ANYBODY tried any of this before, or am I on my own with this one?
I think it will work to keep it cool, and I'm reasonably sure that it will make it much quieter. Plus, there SHOULD be enough room left in the cage for me to suspend a SECOND drive next to the first, complete with heatsinks and sufficient space in between for airflow (see my other recent post here).
Another thought is water-cooling, but I can't find a US source for an HDD water cooler (that I would then wrap in rubber or something). Anybody have a recommendation
Silencing a Western Digital 800JB SE -- vertical suspension?
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jamoore9
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Silencing a Western Digital 800JB SE -- vertical suspension?
Last edited by jamoore9 on Tue Feb 04, 2003 2:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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powergyoza
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Suspensions will help with vibration, but not too much with the whine. In fact the whine will be easier to hear once the low freq noise is no longer there to mask the hi-freq whine.
Rubber works well for my noisy maxtor's and it requires only a minimum of tools. See my rubber box mod in my sig below and here too.
You can get the rubber at your local art supplies store that carries printmaking merch.
To work with the rubber all you need is a big utility knife (the blade of the small kind is too wobbly), cyanoacrylate-based super glue, a ruler and a cutting surface. You might need a metal file if your cuts need to be squared up.
The only issue with doing rubber is that there's no mounting points for you to attach the elastic sting. I haven't tried this before, but you can build a pair of "sumo underwears" for your hdd. You can construct it out of webbing (that shoulder strap material). You can get webbing from any fabric & notions supply place.
Rubber works well for my noisy maxtor's and it requires only a minimum of tools. See my rubber box mod in my sig below and here too.
You can get the rubber at your local art supplies store that carries printmaking merch.
To work with the rubber all you need is a big utility knife (the blade of the small kind is too wobbly), cyanoacrylate-based super glue, a ruler and a cutting surface. You might need a metal file if your cuts need to be squared up.
The only issue with doing rubber is that there's no mounting points for you to attach the elastic sting. I haven't tried this before, but you can build a pair of "sumo underwears" for your hdd. You can construct it out of webbing (that shoulder strap material). You can get webbing from any fabric & notions supply place.
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powergyoza
- Patron of SPCR
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- Joined: Mon Oct 21, 2002 1:01 am
- Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada
- Contact:
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jamoore9
- Friend of SPCR
- Posts: 152
- Joined: Thu Jan 30, 2003 5:58 am
- Location: Fairfax, Virginia, USA
powergyoza....I've seen your rubber box and it is brilliant. But I can't use it since it is just too big to fit. The space that it occupies in your case is already occupied with a mulitcard reader and and USB hub in mine. I could probably move that up, but my case has a door on it that covers the top 3 optical drive bays. So I'd either have to leave the door open or always disconnect my USB devices before shutting down. And that kinda sucks....
I was thinking of maybe a watercooler wrapped in something thinner, like MagicFleece or Brown Bread (except that's sticky, right?). I just can't find a US retailer for MagicFleece, or a recommended HDD watercooler.
I was thinking of maybe a watercooler wrapped in something thinner, like MagicFleece or Brown Bread (except that's sticky, right?). I just can't find a US retailer for MagicFleece, or a recommended HDD watercooler.
