to build or to buy?

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 3:45 pm

So, I've recently silenced just about every component in my system. The loudest components are the hard drives, a 150gb raptor, and a 320 gb WD3200KS. Both of them have a very annoying "wooshing" coming from them when idle. Becuse of my case, a V1000, the noise of the drives is deflected to the front of the case, and is easily audible when I don't have headphones on, or something playing over the speakers.

I've found one of those die-cast, sealed aluminum enclosures for $20. I can get a gel-pack to fit the enclosure for $14.62. I haven't been able to find any gel packs cheaper, and I don't have the materials needed to make my own as some have done. I'm not sure what the shipping charges would be for the enclosure, at least $5. That brings the grand total to approximately $40.

I can get the scythe quiet drive for $43, shipped. The scythe would be smaller, with less hassle, and I wouldn't have to modify it like the aluminum enclosure would require. So, both have pros, both have cons, just looking for some user opinions before I make the leap either way.

McBanjo · Post by **McBanjo** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 11:16 pm

DIY is more fun

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 6:46 am

it is more fun, but, in this case would the benefits overcome the potential cons? like larger size, and the fact that it isn't any cheaper.

jwoolen01 · Post by **jwoolen01** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 6:55 am

I have a v1000 as well and I'm using a scythe quiet drive with a samsung t133 400gb hdd. The fan noise from my nexus and yate loon d12sl-12s at 5V is louder than the hdd in the scythe. The idle temp is nominally 32C. I did have to add some feet to the quiet drive, which i made using layers of a foam spire pad to dampen vibration. Easy enough. The more vibration the drive exhibits, the more layers of foam to add to the feet. I'd recommend the scythe for it's thermal performance and ease of installation, plus it looks nicer.

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 7:29 am

jwoolen01 wrote:I have a v1000 as well and I'm using a scythe quiet drive with a samsung t133 400gb hdd. The fan noise from my nexus and yate loon d12sl-12s at 5V is louder than the hdd in the scythe. The idle temp is nominally 32C. I did have to add some feet to the quiet drive, which i made using layers of a foam spire pad to dampen vibration. Easy enough. The more vibration the drive exhibits, the more layers of foam to add to the feet. I'd recommend the scythe for it's thermal performance and ease of installation, plus it looks nicer.

that's promising, even more relevant is that you have the same case! My only curiosity is your hard drive. The old spinpoint I have doesn't exibit this "wooshing" the WD's seem to emit. Instead, it's more of a high pitched idle noise. I think I'm going to try the quiet drive. If anything I should at least get a little reduction, right? Without hard drives plugged in, noise from the pc is below ambient from where I would normally sit. Thanks for the info.

jwoolen01 · Post by **jwoolen01** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 7:38 am

ryboto wrote:that's promising, even more relevant is that you have the same case! My only curiosity is your hard drive. The old spinpoint I have doesn't exibit this "wooshing" the WD's seem to emit. Instead, it's more of a high pitched idle noise. I think I'm going to try the quiet drive. If anything I should at least get a little reduction, right? Without hard drives plugged in, noise from the pc is below ambient from where I would normally sit. Thanks for the info.

I noticed the same thing. I had a wd2500ks that i replaced with a sp2504c before i got the t133, and the idle noise signature of the samsungs was smoother than that of the wd hdds and faded away easier in the quiet drive.

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 7:40 am

well, I don't have the option of returning my drives, we'll just have to see how well this thing works. I'm going to try one, and see if it can silence the raptor at a reasonable temperature. If not, oh well, I'm sure it will have some dampening ability.

justblair · Post by **justblair** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 3:08 pm

I posted in the other thread you started on this topic the prices that I paid...

I cant believe that the gel packs are so much, where have you been pricing them?

I got mine out a discount supermarket for a fraction of that price. I live in rip off Britain, prices for goods are normally higher here. I would suggest shopping around in discount stores. The cost to make these packs is minimal, they are mostly liquid in a poly bag. Pennies! I dare say you could get them cheaper.

As for the hassle of manufacture of the DIY device. It took me less than 10 minutes to put it together using nothing more than a screwdriver and a file. The alu is very soft and the amount you have to remove is minimal in order to get the cables in there. The only other part I used was an improvised extension cable for the power. I snipped it off of a redundant PII cooling fan. It was only a fraction more effort than assembling a pre-manufactured enclosure

ryboto · Post by **ryboto** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 3:21 pm

the only gel packs that I could find that were the dimensions I wanted are $6.49. shipping was $8. I could shop around for one, but I usually don't have the time to shop out in the real world. The enclosure is available for $19.90, and I can only assume shipping will be at least $5. The other issue with the DIY i have, is the height. The slimmest one I can find is 2.93inches tall, and I have two drives that need silencing. If the Quiet Drive doesn't perform as expected, I'll consider building one for my second drive.

justblair · Post by **justblair** » Thu Oct 12, 2006 3:34 pm

Cool...

From what I have read you will no doubt be happy with your purchase.. In the sort of system you are running, the (albiet) low amount of fan noise that you have will no doubt mask any small differences there are between the two options anyhow. I am taking an educated guess that the differences are pretty minimal in the grand scheme of things.

If you do decide on the homebrew for the second drive, dont forget to post your experiance of the two back to back.

Bye for now