Kinda hdd related...

[tech crazy]

I want to get rid of my hdd cage completely due to the fact I have ssds now and dont need a bulky cage restricting airflow. I wanted to know if anyone has any hdd cages that are low profile and out of way or maybe some modding secrets to hide your hdds. I have 3 ssds so please flood me with ideas on what to do.

 

[hikarul]

SSDs don't need anything, they dont generate much heat so no active cooling is required, they have no moving parts so no need to be tied down. In fact, just throw them in there, stack them up, vertical or put them on a hamster wheel if you need to. Drive cages are designed for HDDs to dampen the vibration etc, SSD has none of the problems, so its absolutely not required.

However, before you remove your drive cage completely, keep in mind that some chassis are *designed* to use the drive cages as airflow baffles to direct air to the GPU area. By removing it, you *may* cause air-recirculation within the case without knowing it, or cause GPU area to overheat.
The problem is unless you can do a detailed CFD model on the case you have no way to know definitively.

The only way to tell is to do stress tests with and without the cage (under same conditions) and see if there is any temperature difference in all area (CPU, GPU, motherboard/NB/SB, Memory etc.)

 

[drescherjm]

SSDs don't need anything, they dont generate much heat so no active cooling is required, they have no moving parts so no need to be tied down. In fact, just throw them in there, stack them up, vertical or put them on a hamster wheel if you need to

BTW, Here is how I currently have my 3 ssds mounted in my windows box.

 

[tech crazy]

Im going to try and contact Fractal design on facebook about the air re-circulation or just try it myself. Its a mid tower case so I doubt the cages have much if any control of diverting air. Another thought Ive had is getting some double sided tape and mounting on back of mb tray although they would get in way of all my wiring. Im off tomorrow so Im going to try some new things with them.

 

[drescherjm]

I have used velcro on some SSD installs and masking tape on others. Double stick tape should also work fine. For me the windows box is a work in progress so I have not bothered mounting the SSDs yet.

 

[tech crazy]

Just found some anti vibration pads from old case so Im thinking if all fails Ill just put a couple on each hdd and lay on top of each other and just lay them back where they are currently at but cageless.

 

[vr.]

Route a sata cable out of the top computer case and into an altoids case then mount your SSD in the altoids case.

Personally I like those little PCI slot 2.5" drive mounts where you can eject the drive out the back.