2.5" HDD silenter

kcg · Post by **kcg** » Thu Mar 03, 2005 11:24 pm

Hello,
I plan to give Zalman TNN 500 AF a try, but since this case is quite expensive, I would really like to have it silent, which basically means dealing with HDD noice as I understand all the reviews about it. I've read here several articles about 2.5" drives and so I'm nearly decided to go this direction, but I would also like to enclose HDD in some HDD silenter. The problem is that I'm not able to find any appropriate HDD silenter which is also suitable for 2.5" HDDs. Do you know about any?
Thanks,
Karel

Lifecycle · Post by **Lifecycle** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 5:42 am

Welcome to SPCR kcg!

The problem is that I'm not able to find any appropriate HDD silenter which is also suitable for 2.5" HDDs. Do you know about any?

I've not heard of any such product. All the HD silencers I know of are only for standard 3.5" disks, not 2.5" notebook drives. I'd be very interested to hear about such a product.

I'm wondering whether you could get a similar effect by putting a 2.5" drive inside a 3.5" enclosure on rails or using a 2.5" to 3.5" mounting kit? I'm not sure this would work too great. Even with the very low heat output of a 2.5" disk you may run into problems with cooling in such a setup though, as I can't see where the heat would go.

Otherwise you're probably looking at a DIY solution to this problem. Maybe have a dig on the forums as it's quite probable someone has attempted this before!

Hope this helps and good luck!

BTW: The Zalman TNN 500 AF is a very nice case - I wish I could justify spending that kind of money on a case!

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 5:59 am

There's this.

If you choose the right drive, you probably won't need anything. Check out the notebook HDD writeup on the main site, and the sticky in the Storage Forum for details.

FWIW, I've been using the Samsung MP0402H sitting on top of some Sorbothane on an open platform about 2 feet away from my ears for a few months now, and I literally can not hear it. I need to be within 3-4 inches of it to hear any seeking noise.

Edward Ng · Post by **Edward Ng** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 9:23 am

Lifecycle wrote:I'm wondering whether you could get a similar effect by putting a 2.5" drive inside a 3.5" enclosure on rails or using a 2.5" to 3.5" mounting kit? I'm not sure this would work too great. Even with the very low heat output of a 2.5" disk you may run into problems with cooling in such a setup though, as I can't see where the heat would go.

I've been running an MHT2080AT mounted to 2.5"-3.5" adapter rails within a SilentDrive enclosure for over a year now; temperatures rarely even hit 43C, and are generally around 39C. This is absolutely inaudible unless you leave the SilentDrive in open air and move your head so your ear is within three inches of the enclosure. Put the thing inside your computer and there's no way to hear it, even if you press your ear up against the computer case. Who keeps their computer within 3" of their head?

I still don't think people understand just how much cooler 2.5" drives are compared to 3.5" drives. Short of completely encapsulating it inside sorbothane or any other attempt at completely choking the drive in a zero air environment, I believe it's nearly impossible to overheat 5400rpm or 4200rpm 2.5" drives, and that comes from direct experience with a dual platter model.

I believe that people still don't understand just how massive an advantage 2.5" 5400rpm/4200rpm drives have over 3.5" when it comes from an acoustic standpoint, particularly once you factor in the GIGANTIC difference in thermal output, and what it means in terms of available methods for silencing; not only are 2.5" drives way quieter to begin with, but the of the thousands of methods to kill a 3.5" drive by overheating, most of them would simply silence out the last tiny bit of noise from a 2.5" drive without cooking it...

There's simply no comparison--it shouldn't even need stating.

-Ed

kcg · Post by **kcg** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 12:39 pm

Edward Ng wrote: There's simply no comparison--it shouldn't even need stating.
-Ed

Edward,
that's exactly what I needed to hear. I've been wondering last few days about direct 2.5" and 3.5" comparison, especially when they seems to have comparable noise level. Yes, thermal output is also very important!
Thanks for noting it, I'm definitelly decided to give 2.5" drive a try.
Karel
PS: I'm not able to find 2.5" to 3.5" mounting frame, where has you bought yours?

kcg · Post by **kcg** » Sat Mar 05, 2005 12:48 pm

Ralf Hutter wrote:There's this.

If you choose the right drive, you probably won't need anything. Check out the notebook HDD writeup on the main site, and the sticky in the Storage Forum for details.

Ralf,
thanks for the link, heck usage of novibes inside SmartDrive 2002 might look like real overkill!

Thanks!
Karel