Hardmounted HDD noise and intake airflow
Posted: Thu Dec 29, 2011 10:08 pm
I've been thinking lately about how the placement of two HDDs in my Define R3 affect overall noise and airflow. At a basic level, Placing HDDs lower in ther drive bay places the noise farther from the ear but restricts the airflow from the front case fan. Where the "sweet spot" might lie could be rather subjective and a matter of priorities(noise vs airflow). Here we're mainly concerned with silence. It gets more interesting when I try to consider how vibrations are transmitted mechanically(grommets can only go so far) throughout the case, which so far to me has shown to have the largest impact on overall noise.
I've considered some different approaches but either way the proof is in the pudding and I'm merely a layman in these areas. Read on for my results so far.
The drives I have are one WD-GP 1.5GB, 3-platter, very silent. The second drive is a louder 4-platter 3GB WD-GP, this one causes oscillation and proliferation of vibration and seek noise. Also runs hotter.
Here's my current arranangement:
It's a lot better than my previous arrangement acoustically, no oscillation and rather mild "amplification" during heavy seeking. My speculation as to why:
The drive bay gets reinforced at it's structurally weakest/most flexible point at the center where vibrations would more likely be picked up and transferred throughout the case.
That's about it. Any input related to my problem, academic or anecdotal would be appreciated.
I've considered some different approaches but either way the proof is in the pudding and I'm merely a layman in these areas. Read on for my results so far.
The drives I have are one WD-GP 1.5GB, 3-platter, very silent. The second drive is a louder 4-platter 3GB WD-GP, this one causes oscillation and proliferation of vibration and seek noise. Also runs hotter.
Here's my current arranangement:
It's a lot better than my previous arrangement acoustically, no oscillation and rather mild "amplification" during heavy seeking. My speculation as to why:
The drive bay gets reinforced at it's structurally weakest/most flexible point at the center where vibrations would more likely be picked up and transferred throughout the case.
That's about it. Any input related to my problem, academic or anecdotal would be appreciated.