Smart Drive 2002c vs Silentmaxx HDD Silencer

bigred · Post by **bigred** » Fri Feb 06, 2004 11:23 pm

http://www.siliconacoustics.com/smartdr ... osure.html (Copper version)
http://silentmaxx.net/catalog/product_i ... ucts_id=90

The SmartDrive has a copper inlay which is a bonus, but the Silentmaxx one has much larger fins, which could give it a big advantage.
Which do you guys think would offer the best cooling? And which would offer the best silencing?

Trip · Post by **Trip** » Fri Feb 06, 2004 11:35 pm

There's also the Fek-pro. silentmaxx. (Browse the installation guide)

The 2002 seems to be better at silencing and the Fek-pro at cooling. The silentmaxx version probably also offers very good cooling.

Kostik did a review of the Zalman cooler and found that a suspended HDD in the Zalman was louder than a suspended HDD w/o the Zalman. However, I think MikeC recommended suspending a HDD in the 2002 as the ultimate in his review.

Trip · Post by **Trip** » Fri Feb 06, 2004 11:48 pm

"Suspending [the 2002 enclosure] in elastic would be the ultimate, but the front bottom of a case that does not have 3.5" cages all the way to the floor is the only place you could do it." - MikeC, here

EDIT: this

[the 2002 enclosure]

bigred · Post by **bigred** » Sat Feb 07, 2004 4:17 am

Thanks Trip.
Yeah I remember reading that post. Originally I was planning to suspend my Samsung 160gb drive in a no-vibes type enclosure as soon as the order comes in. But last night when disconnected my Western Digital HD and booted the machine I noticed how phenomenally loud that beast is, and how amazingly quiet my rig is w/o a HD running. I always knew the WD was loud, but when I was running without it the loudest thing was my Silentmaxx Fanless psu. (0dBA my a$$, the thing buzzes!)

So anyways, that made me want to take the already quiet samsung and make it as quiet as possible. But looking at the drive's spec page I noticed that it has rather high wattage specs. That makes me worry about the drive over-heating in an enclosure.

jamesh · Post by **jamesh** » Sat Feb 07, 2004 10:23 am

hehehe
he said 'front bottom'

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Sat Feb 07, 2004 10:50 am

I like and use this which also decouples the drive: http://www.siliconacoustics.com/zalmanzm-2hc1.html

Kostik · Post by **Kostik** » Sat Feb 07, 2004 1:59 pm

I have just finished reviewing the Silentmaxx HD Dämmung (this product, except the one I tested was rev 1.1 and not 2.0, but there doesn't seem to be much of a difference anyway). It's overall a good product, though a bit expensive and has a few drawbacks. Here is a quick summary of the pro/cons :

Pro

Provides a decent reduction of HD whine. It will not turn a loud drive into a silent one, and even a quiet drive can still be heared if you stick you ear close to it. That's all it does : reduce the whine. No miracles. How much does it reduce it ? I'd say that with a loud drive, the whine was subjectively two or three times quieter.
Helps cooling. In my tests, going from "HD mounted the usual way in the case" to "HD mounted in a 5"1/4 bay in the HD Dämmung" led to a drecrease in temperature. Considering that the air stagnates in 5"1/4 bays, and mounting a HD drive there usually makes the temperature rise, that's a good surprise
Provides a very good decoupling, better than Zalman ZM-2HC1. Rubber mounts are big, and the HD Dämmung is heavy, which helps reduce vibrations. Still not as good as a DIY suspension though.
Overall quality is good.

Cons

Expensive
Comes with no manual (at least mine didn't), you have to go to their website to download a PDF file with a german and english manual. No french manual available.
Not compatible with cases that have 5"1/4 rail mounts, except if you drill bigger holes in the rails. The screws that come with the HD Dämmung are bigger than the ones usually used for 5"1/4 peripherals. They are too big to fit the holes in the rails that come with Compucase/Antec cases, you have to drill bigger ones. Not a big issue but worth mentioning considering these cases are commonly used by silence freaks like us.

So if you have a drive that whines and vibrates, it will be much quieter in the HD Dämmung. If you already have a quiet drive and just want to get rid of its vibrations, you'd better just make a DIY suspension, it will be much cheaper.

I didn't do comparison with Smartdrive enclosure, as this product is not available in France.

Alexaume · Post by **Alexaume** » Sat Feb 07, 2004 4:01 pm

And it really seems to be a very good one. And what a pity it is not easily available in Europe. And that is not a small area, isn't it?

Trip · Post by **Trip** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 3:54 am

bigred, my experience has been that the No Vibes doesn't work nearly as well as the suspension I'm using now. I took two of the three No Vibes bands, wrapped them around the HDD, zip tied the top of the bands to a Sonata HDD tray so that they were suspended, and balanced the suspension to make it horizontal. If you could do something similar with an enclosed HDD, then that'd be ideal! A hanging suspension seems to completely eliminate vibration.

I think the tightness of the No Vibes bands pass on vibrations. At first I thought the HDD was just resting on the No Vibes's aluminum bottom but a closer inspection revealed that it was fully suspended.

As always, YMMV

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 5:58 am

I have a Samsung SP0812C enclosed in a Zalman ZM-2HC1 and mounted in a 5.25" bay and there is absolutely no whine and it very, very quiet.

Trip · Post by **Trip** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 6:29 am

Kostik's review of the ZM-2HC1

Kostik, how does a suspended quiet HDD compare with a HDD enclosed in the silentmaxx enclosure and suspended?

Also, does the ZM-2HC1 cool better than the silentmaxx enclosure?

I wish you could compare the 2002C to the SM enclosure!

JVM, according to not only this review but others with this cooler the HDD mounts are a bit hard. That is not to say that it does not work well, but after reading Kostik's comments it looks like the silentmaxx HDD enclosure is better, though still with some cons. For me not being able to mount it and even the cost is not that big of a deal. My HDD is my loudest component so I may get one.

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 7:27 am

Trip wrote:Kostik's review of the ZM-2HC1

Kostik, how does a suspended quiet HDD compare with a HDD enclosed in the silentmaxx enclosure and suspended?

Also, does the ZM-2HC1 cool better than the silentmaxx enclosure?

I wish you could compare the 2002C to the SM enclosure!

JVM, according to not only this review but others with this cooler the HDD mounts are a bit hard. That is not to say that it does not work well, but after reading Kostik's comments it looks like the silentmaxx HDD enclosure is better, though still with some cons. For me not being able to mount it and even the cost is not that big of a deal. My HDD is my loudest component so I may get one.

All I can say is in my Sonata with it mounted in a 5.25" bay, my Samsung SP0812C is very quiet.

HDD mounts a bit hard? I don't what that means. I do consider the Zalman better than NoVibes because of the temperature and characteristic of the rubber bands, and the cooling is better with the Zalman. If you are talking suspension on the bottom, well, that's a whole different ballgame.

I haven't seen anybody knock the usefullness of the Zalman - yet. The silentmaxx may be better but how much better? And would it be worth the trouble to drill holes and all for those with drive rails like in the Antec and compucase?

Would be interesting to see a review of the Zalman here along with the silentmaxx and how they and other things like Smart Drive fit into the Recommended category for silencing HDD products.

bigred · Post by **bigred** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 10:11 am

Trip, Yeah my plan is to suspend whatever enclosure I get. But the thing is finding one that will not only keep the samsung cool, but also quiet.
At this point I think its going to be the 2002C enclosure. It seems to have more material between the HD and the outside world, which Im thinking will help to reduce drive noise more. But, that also makes me think it will make the drive more hot..

Kostik · Post by **Kostik** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 10:32 am

I didn't do comparison between ZM-2HC1 and Silentmaxx HD enclosure, but here is what I can say : I got a temperature rise of 4°c by mounting the drive in a 5"1/4 bay with the ZM-2HC1 instead of the 3"1/2 bay mounting. With the Silentmaxx enclosure, the temperature was decreased by 3°c. Keep in mind that I was using a different drive and different case for these tests, so I can't say for sure how they compare, but it seems like the Silentmaxx enclosure cools better.

Trip wrote:how does a suspended quiet HDD compare with a HDD enclosed in the silentmaxx enclosure and suspended?

How do you plan to suspend the Silentmaxx enclosure ? It's 5"1/4 large. If you managed to do it, sure you'll get an improvement by using the Silentmaxx enclosure, mostly a reduction of HD whine.

Kostik · Post by **Kostik** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 11:04 am

Update :

Silentmaxx HD Dämmung is not compatible with rail mounts, period. Drilling bigger holes wont do. 5"1/4 peripherals have two sets of screw holes (picture), one at middle height, the other at the bottom. You need the ones at the bottom if your case uses rail mounts, and the Silentmaxx HD enclosure doesn't have them.

So except if someone comes up with a solution to this problem, I'd say that this product is not compatible with the cases we use the most.

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 11:08 am

Kostik wrote:I didn't do comparison between ZM-2HC1 and Silentmaxx HD enclosure, but here is what I can say : I got a temperature rise of 4°c by mounting the drive in a 5"1/4 bay with the ZM-2HC1 instead of the 3"1/2 bay mounting. With the Silentmaxx enclosure, the temperature was decreased by 3°c. Keep in mind that I was using a different drive and different case for these tests, so I can't say for sure how they compare, but it seems like the Silentmaxx enclosure cools better.

We all know cases can have quite an impact with ventilation, vibration, and of course case fans and other components. It would seem to me the only true way to compare the Zalman and Silentmaxx is with the same case and same components. In other words, the same conditions.

Trip · Post by **Trip** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 3:11 pm

Kostik wrote:How do you plan to suspend the Silentmaxx enclosure ? It's 5"1/4 large. If you managed to do it, sure you'll get an improvement by using the Silentmaxx enclosure, mostly a reduction of HD whine.

Either wrap rubber bands around it and hang them from something or just rest it on a piece of sorbothane (latter not a suspension but reputedly works well

)

Kostik, thanks for the mini-review!

Kostik · Post by **Kostik** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 4:21 pm

Actually, now that you made me think about it, I think it would be possible to suspend it. It's not exactly as wide as a 5"1/4 bay if you remove the rubber mounts, so it could fit. And that fixes the rail mounts issue. I'm gonna try that with a cuda ATA V and will report later.

Kostik · Post by **Kostik** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 5:08 pm

Going from "drive suspended vertically in 3"1/2 bay" to "drive suspended in Silentmaxx HD Dämmung in 5"1/4 bay". Seeks are more audible, mostly because the drive is closer to the surface of the case and closer to my ears I think. Can't hear any idle whine, but I'm reviewing a watercooling kit and the HD is not the loudest component anyway (Papst 4412 FGML @5v is). Temperature is 6°c lower. I can hear a very low pitched cyclical hum, so I guess my suspension is still not perfect, gotta tweak it a bit.

Drive is a 'cuda ATA V 60Gb with AAM on. Case is an Antec SLK-3700BQE.

Kostik · Post by **Kostik** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 6:26 pm

Tweaked the suspension and got rid of most of the hum. I think the remaining hum is from the WC pump. I added some foam in front of the drive and it helps a lot with seek noise.

I added a second fanmate and undervolted the 120mm fan to below 5v (no idea how much exactly). It's very quiet now, and I can hear the drive. There's very little improvement in idle noise for this drive. Looks to me like loud drives benefit more from being installed in the HD Dämmung than quiet drives.

All these experiments and conclusions are very unscientific, and are not part of the review, that, by the way, has just been published :

Test : Silentmaxx HD Dämmung rev 2.0 (french version).

English version (google translated).

BTW, I noticed that I had the rev 2.0 version, not rev 1.1 as I thought. I can't see any difference appart from the fact that rev 2.0 is black and rev 1.2 has a few blue parts. Mine is black.

Trip · Post by **Trip** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 7:00 pm

1. ZM-2HC1 directly contacts its heatpipes with HDD and does not fully enclose

2. Fek-pro seems to directly contact its aluminum heatsink with HDD

3. Silentmaxx (PCS-HD1 ?) includes a few sheets of insulation between the aluminum heatsink and HDD

4. Smart Drive 2002C includes more insulation between its aluminum heatsink and HDD but won't cool as well as 2 and 3 and perhaps 1 as well

Unless the heatsink/heatpipe is glued to the HDD, it seems like the contact would rattle without the PCS-HD1 and 2002C's insulation. Maybe if the contact was very tight and secure, this wouldn't happen. I may not bother with an enclosure and instead use the money to buy acoustipack insulation

EDIT: After reading Mike's review, it looks like the Smart Drive may be pretty good with cooling and certainly the 2002C version even better.

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 7:12 pm

Trip wrote:ZM-2HC1 directly contacts its heatpipes with HDD and does not fully enclose

Fek-pro seems to directly contact its aluminum heatsink with HDD

Silentmaxx (PCS-HD1 ?) includes a few sheets of insulation between the aluminum heatsink and HDD

Smart Drive 2002C includes more insulation between its aluminum heatsink and HDD

Unless the heatsink/heatpipe is glued to the HDD, it seems like the contact would rattle without the PCS-HD1 and 2002C's insulation. Maybe if the contact was very tight and secure, this wouldn't happen. I may not bother with an enclosure and instead use the money to buy acoustipack insulation

I have the Zalman ZM-2HC1 and it does not rattle.

Trip · Post by **Trip** » Sun Feb 08, 2004 7:13 pm

I mean a slight rattle. Many people have commented on how much quieter the Zalman cooler is than a directly mounted HDD. I am considering suspension vs. enclosed suspension though and a suspension is tough to beat since vibration induced rattling seems to be the greatest culprit of noise. Metal against metal or a hard surface against another hard surface will "rattle" and the Zalman cooler uses metal heatpipes.

Your guess is as good as mine. I'm just organising my thoughts.

What are your thoughts bigred?

Trip · Post by **Trip** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 8:28 pm

silentmaxx HDD silencer will cool a 7200RPM drive but 10000RPM (ie. raptor) are not mentioned...

bigred · Post by **bigred** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 9:17 pm

I don't know. For me I think I will do both suspension and an enclosure since I'm looking for the largest reduction in noise that is possible.

Anyone know if there is a North American retailer for those Fek-Pro enclosures?

Trip · Post by **Trip** » Thu Feb 12, 2004 9:25 pm

Not according to their website: 3 retailers, all in Germany, not that there couldn't be others...

Searching "Fek-pro" in IE with Alexa, SPCR came up

EDIT: meant to include that pcsilent.de ships to US! Didn't check the others.

Wintermute · Post by **Wintermute** » Mon Mar 08, 2004 3:13 am

Has anyone finally managed to do a comparison (using identical test components) of the Smart Drive 2002c and the Silentmaxx HDD Enclosure yet? I am sure there are more than a few people interested in the results. Trying to get both of the very expensive items is a little bit of a problem though I'm sure.

Sooty · Post by **Sooty** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 3:57 pm

Kostik wrote:Test : Silentmaxx HD Dämmung rev 2.0 (french version).

English version (google translated).

I notice you tested the Silentmaxx HD Dämmung with the Hitachi 7K250. Did you find the Hitachi’s recalibration “meow” was suppressed significantly?

Trip · Post by **Trip** » Thu Apr 15, 2004 7:10 pm

raptor works in 2002C:

What was your HDD temp. in the 2002C?
Around 35 degrees idle to 50 degrees peak, I believe. My drive's max recommended operating temperature is 55. The heat dissipated quite quickly, though.

How much airflow was it receiving? This is very good in very poor airflow area and very bad in a very good airflow area.
Poor airflow. The closest fan to it was the low-speed VGA silencer fan. I had no case fan directly on it, and I seemed to get similar results when resting on the front part of the case floor and when screwed in below the CD drive. They both had no real airflow.

From: http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewto ... 7890#87890

burcakb · Post by **burcakb** » Fri Apr 16, 2004 12:32 am

Unless my german has totally failed me, this notice says NO to raptors for the silentmaxx enclosure:

Nicht kompatible Festplatten :
- HD AT 74GB Western Digital Raptor