Suggestions for HD Waterblocks/Silent Boxes for 5 1/4" bay (possible 3-1/2" bay too)

[ranker]

What's the best 5 1/4" bay Silent HD boxes that won't protrude externally from the case. I intend to use a custom MM bay cover and am considering using two boxes to silence my 2 raptors.

Anyone know how well these work/install:

Scythe: HD Silencer
http://www.petrastechshop.com/scfhddboinhd.html

Alphacool: HD waterblock for 3-1/2" bay
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=242&products_id=4569

Alphacool: HD waterblock & HD Silencer for 5-1/4" bay
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=242&products_id=3656

Danger Den: HD waterblock for 5-1/4" bay
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=242&products_id=4520

or if there's anything better?

[MrToad]

There was a thread not long ago about hanging the HDDs using rubber rings, but I can't find it now to save my life.

It had links to other threads in different forums and plenty of pics.

Have a play with the search function, it will eventually pop up.

[ranker]

There was a thread not long ago about hanging the HDDs using rubber rings, but I can't find it now to save my life.

It had links to other threads in different forums and plenty of pics.

Have a play with the search function, it will eventually pop up.

Trying to find one that can silence the motors on the Raptors.

[MrToad]

Trying to find one that can silence the motors on the Raptors.

Hmmm... I don't think any amount of rubber rings can do that :D

I must put more attention when reading.

[Per Hansson]

I'm using this one, if you want to watercool instead that might be an option

Channels are quite open so it does not restrict flow too much, there is a very small barb on the back connecting the two tho, I recommend you replace that with something bigger so it does not restrict flowrate

http://www.alphacool.de/product_info.php/products_id/538/cPath/5_18_22/hard-disk-water-coolers/hdd-watercool-silentstar-hd-dual:.html

[burton]

doesnt noctua make one?

[Istasi]

The one that the OP linked to is what I use, keeps my drive very quiet. However, You'll want to keep it with an least one open bay above it, otherwise the heat really builds up with no direct airflow.

[ranker]

The one that the OP linked to is what I use, keeps my drive very quiet. However, You'll want to keep it with an least one open bay above it, otherwise the heat really builds up with no direct airflow.

I'd need to double up as I only have two bay slots at the top if I'm going to make the move. Also do they protrude out of the case or are they completely internal and can be covered with an acrylic bay cover?

[ranker]

I'm using this one, if you want to watercool instead that might be an option

Channels are quite open so it does not restrict flow too much, there is a very small barb on the back connecting the two tho, I recommend you replace that with something bigger so it does not restrict flowrate

http://www.alphacool.de/product_info.php/products_id/538/cPath/5_18_22/hard-disk-water-coolers/hdd-watercool-silentstar-hd-dual:.html


Hmmm this looks great! But I do have some questions. I don't want this to be mounted so that the bay drives protrude out of the computer. Can this fit behind an acrylic dual bay cover?

Which one is better between http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=242&products_id=4520

and http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=242&products_id=4569

and
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=242&products_id=3656

[serialk11r]

Ranker trust me rubber grommets, etc won't work. For me, rubber grommets did zilch when I tried to silence my hard drive. I used floss to hang the hard drive, and it was super quiet, however the hard drive moved around a lot that way and banged into the case :( now I'm using sponges to mount it, they work great. I'm a total silence freak (yate loons at 12V are much too loud) :) The bungee cord idea from spcr should work well, and so should the "sandwiching" technique too. Don't worry about hard drives overheating, just ask IanY how he mounts his hard drives and what hard drives he has ;)

[Per Hansson]

Well, I prefer the Silent Star out of those due to the fact that is has sound proofing material

The harddrives + waterblock sit entirely on the foam which means that they are 100% suspended from the case, so there are no vibrations...

Here is a pic of mine, I took the normal Lian_li bay covers and bent them 90° and drilled holes in them to screw them onto the chassi (since the silent star is in the way for the quick mount tabs...)

But as you can see in the picture the silent star could easily be located further into the chassi, if you have nothing in the way that is... You would have to drill new holes but that would be a no brainer because it comes with self tapping screws (the whole thing is laser cut so they saved some money by not tapping the holes at all...)

[ranker]

Well, I prefer the Silent Star out of those due to the fact that is has sound proofing material

The harddrives + waterblock sit entirely on the foam which means that they are 100% suspended from the case, so there are no vibrations...

Here is a pic of mine, I took the normal Lian_li bay covers and bent them 90° and drilled holes in them to screw them onto the chassi (since the silent star is in the way for the quick mount tabs...)

But as you can see in the picture the silent star could easily be located further into the chassi, if you have nothing in the way that is... You would have to drill new holes but that would be a no brainer because it comes with self tapping screws (the whole thing is laser cut so they saved some money by not tapping the holes at all...)

I wouldn't mind drilling new holes, but would that puncture the copper tubing that's lining the inside?

The bay cover unfortunately extends internally into the bay slot itself, this thing looks like it takes up the entire 5 1/4" bays width.

I purchased both of these: http://www.mountainmods.com/product_info.php?cPath=21_34_67&products_id=322
http://www.mountainmods.com/product_info.php?cPath=21_34_67&products_id=68

I'd prefer to keep my U2-UFO with an all black look.

[serialk11r]

ranker did you see my post?
Aluminum plate plus foam sandwiching it, then hang it with a soft material, bungee cords, or some strong string (dental floss works :D). That's the only way you're going to get a quiet HDD, besides variations of that, such as only using foam, only bungee cords/string, etc. rubber grommets=fail.
All the hdd boxes you will find will have some kind of wimpy little heatsink on the side, which SCREWS INTO the hard drive, or somehow is attached to it, (note vibration) and then is secured to the drive bays with rubber grommets/screws or just screws. You still have the rubber grommets directly contacting the HDD.

[Per Hansson]

I wouldn't mind drilling new holes, but would that puncture the copper tubing that's lining the inside?
The foam is about a centimeter thick, so there is no problem relocating the holes

You would of course need to have it deassembled when drilling, but you need that for mounting the HDD's anyway :D

[ranker]

ranker did you see my post?
Aluminum plate plus foam sandwiching it, then hang it with a soft material, bungee cords, or some strong string (dental floss works :D). That's the only way you're going to get a quiet HDD, besides variations of that, such as only using foam, only bungee cords/string, etc. rubber grommets=fail.

I'd rather have some sort of enclosure as those raptors are so loud. WC'ing it would be nice too. I'm just trying to find one that could be stealthed by an acrylic bay cover.

[IanY]

Ranker,

Those Alphacool ones are pretty good, especially when they can take 1/2" barbs.

[serialk11r]

I'd rather have some sort of enclosure as those raptors are so loud. WC'ing it would be nice too. I'm just trying to find one that could be stealthed by an acrylic bay cover.

Ah so I see that you haven't reached the stage of craziness where you want to BUILD one yourself yet eh? :D

[ranker]

Anyone use the DD HD waterblock by chance and know how well the construction is, how easy it is to install, and its mounting options?

[Philly_Boy]

I'd rather have some sort of enclosure as those raptors are so loud. WC'ing it would be nice too. I'm just trying to find one that could be stealthed by an acrylic bay cover.

Anyone use the DD HD waterblock by chance and know how well the construction is, how easy it is to install, and its mounting options?
In my Wraith build last year I used the Silverstone FP35B to cool my 74bg raptors. It is quiet...looks pretty nice...it's balck so it fits your build and the drives never got more than 2c above ambient. I have 2 sitting on the shelf if you need them. Pm me and we can tawk if you're interested.

Here you can see how they look in the build:
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e265/philly_boy/The%20Wraith%20II/The-Wraith-6.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e265/philly_boy/The%20Wraith%20II/The-Wraith---II-006.jpg

Here's a pic I took an hour ago as I am selling them on another site.

[ranker]

In my Wraith build last year I used the Silverstone FP35B to cool my 74bg raptors. It is quiet...looks pretty nice...it's balck so it fits your build and the drives never got more than 2c ablove ambient. I have 2 sitting on the shelf if you need them. Pm me and we can tawk if you're interested.

Here you can see how they look in the build:
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e265/philly_boy/The%20Wraith%20II/The-Wraith-6.jpg
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e265/philly_boy/The%20Wraith%20II/The-Wraith---II-006.jpg

Here's a pic I took an hour ago as I am selling them on another site.

Thanks, at this point I'm thinking of HD waterblocks. Being able to silence them would be a plus too.

[ranker]

Anyone else have any experience with the DD HD waterblock or the alphacool HD waterblocks I linked above. I'd like to place the order monday morning if possible. The more opinions & 1st hand knowledge I get, the better decision I can make.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

from what i have seen of the innards of the DD its pretty low restriction and definitely good quality. i don't understand how the silent alpha cool works, one in on each side and no outs??? and the second alpha cool doesnt look very nice but i have no experience w/ it so idk.

[AussieJester]

Ah so I see that you haven't reached the stage of craziness where you want to BUILD one yourself yet eh? :D



HAHA no sense of adventure with some youngins these days serialk11 you are a minority :-P As for the HD Cooler i beleieve i saw a thread on a custom HD watercooled caddy here (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=141692) :-P That maybe of interest to you?

(results won't be published till end of month due to it being entere in modding comp just incase anyone wishes to know how well it works ;-)

Would be very very simple to make an acrylic housing 'insulated' with sound deadening material to cover the caddy also... I run 15k rpm Ultra320 scsi drives myself and they are louder than raptor (i ran raptors previously) i'm not a 'noise freak' though and the sound doesnt worry me.

[ranker]

HAHA no sense of adventure with some youngins these days serialk11 you are a minority :-P As for the HD Cooler i beleieve i saw a thread on a custom HD watercooled caddy here (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=141692) :-P That maybe of interest to you?

(results won't be published till end of month due to it being entere in modding comp just incase anyone wishes to know how well it works ;-)

Would be very very simple to make an acrylic housing 'insulated' with sound deadening material to cover the caddy also... I run 15k rpm Ultra320 scsi drives myself and they are louder than raptor (i ran raptors previously) i'm not a 'noise freak' though and the sound doesnt worry me.

I really don't have the time to make one for myself. I'd rather buy a premade block at the moment. I'd appreciate any experience anyone's had with these blocks. The only stipulation is that I can mount an acrylic bay cover so I can mask it from the outside.

[ranker]

Bump for one last time in hopes of getting more info before I place the order.

[Per Hansson]

i don't understand how the silent alpha cool works, one in on each side and no outs??? and the second alpha cool doesnt look very nice but i have no experience w/ it so idk.
It has a hose connecting the two waterblocks
The two waterblocks are screwed to the sides of the HDD's and then the whole thing is put inside the metallic cover thing, which has foam on all sides so the whole thing is suspended...

[ranker]

It has a hose connecting the two waterblocks
The two waterblocks are screwed to the sides of the HDD's and then the whole thing is put inside the metallic cover thing, which has foam on all sides so the whole thing is suspended...

How tight are the sides of the box within the 5-1/4" bay? Could I squeeze in some acrylic between the bay and the box?

[IanY]

Raptors are loud ?? Hehehe... I must be really deaf then :)

[Duddits]

I have that alphacool HD cooling. I like it, the silence is superb. I have one loop with Hdd and a 8800Gtx Ek:s waterblock, DDC2 Petra, Mcr220.

[Per Hansson]

ranker; there is no space left on the sides, your only bet is to place the thing further into the chassi as I explained before...

[SharkerSk]

My friend from Czech republik(In Europe) makes this cheap and pretty WB. :D
25$ :up:

http://ertyh2o.net/

http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/3748/p5210785fj0.th.jpg (http://img519.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p5210785fj0.jpg)http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/795/p5210783sp2.th.jpg (http://img516.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p5210783sp2.jpg)http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/1921/p5210784kb8.th.jpg (http://img441.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p5210784kb8.jpg)

You can mount it into old cdrom or DVDrom drive .... :D


http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/9642/case2nn6.th.jpg (http://img444.imageshack.us/my.php?image=case2nn6.jpg)http://img108.imageshack.us/img108/4114/p1010018vl9.th.jpg (http://img108.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p1010018vl9.jpg)

[ranker]

No experiences with the DD HD block?

Man, I'd hate to have to spend 400$ to buy all 3 and then return 1. Oh well.

[hecktic]

bump old thread but i would also like to know