Project: Galaxy 4.0

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rogue_jedi said:
Really? I have one of each (Supermicro 5-in-3 and i-Star 5-in-3, same ones you have, I think) and I think the i-Star ones... suck. :p Apart from being shallower and a bit quieter (not really an issue in the case I have them in) they're cheaply built, the drive caddies fit the cage poorly, the releases are annoying to use, the "locks" are damn near impossible, and they just don't feel sturdy.

I guess the noise is probably more important to you, though, given that one of your goals was "quiet" - the case I have them in is anything but so the noise the cage makes doesn't really matter to me.
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They are a lot quieter and you have the option of setting air flow, they also fit with a better tolerance (anyone who tried to fit 4 of these in a stacker vs the istar ones knows what I'm talking about). Also, the cable positionings are better and the power connections are better as you have a little bit more options when wiring.

Aside from that, quality wise the Supermicro is a ton better, but for the added weight (a lot heavier), noise (a lot more noisier) and some of the other things as mentioned before... not to mention price, the istar is a much better unit. Oh, you also have integrated signaling wires, so no bundle of wires or trying to figure out where to plug what in (not to mention, it helps with wiring jobbies and it's painless when dealing with cards which may not have the correct signaling headers).

Also, it may be worth mentioning that you can switch individual drives off, reset, and shut down the whole unit using the buttons on the front of the unit... oh and you can lock it... makes it very functional.

sFanky said:
So, your using the fans that came with the HD enclosures? Are they quiet enough for you? Early on i know you wanted to make 4.0 as silent as possible and you got fans that (i thought) were replacements for the HD enclosures.

Is this what your using - ISTAR BPU-350SATA (if not can you post the brand/model again)? Also, did you (or anyone else) try replacing the fans in the Supermicro 5x3 enclosures? I found the same problem looking for 90mm, but do they have to be 'thin' like yours need to be? if not, it may be worth looking again for silent 90mm's for the easier swapout
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Yes, i am still using the same fans that came with them. The unit has an option of Low Meduim or High settings. On the high, it's as loud as the Supermicro unit (maybe still a little less), but on low, it's reasonable. It's not as silent as I want it to be, but then again, not much I can do about it.


Yes, you can replace the fans on the Supermicro unit and they are a bit easier to find (nothing really special about them).
 
I have the Supermicro units in my Stacker and love them (Thanks to Ockie's thread). But as you said the Supermicro fan is loud. I replaced it with a Zalman 92mm fan and run it at 7v. All my drives run cool and my server is even quieter than my main PC.
 
Ockie said:
They are a lot quieter and you have the option of setting air flow, they also fit with a better tolerance (anyone who tried to fit 4 of these in a stacker vs the istar ones knows what I'm talking about). Also, the cable positionings are better and the power connections are better as you have a little bit more options when wiring.
Click to expand...
Pretty sure the Supermicro cage fits my (supermicro) chassis better than the i-star one does, plus in this case having power on the bottom and sata on the top (or vice versa) means you can't get to one or the other. I took the fan off the back of the Supermicro unit when I had it in the case, and plugged one of the case fans into it (line of fans; rackmount case) to keep it from beeping at me, so it's a little easier to get to the SATA connectors. Power connections - in the case I have, the PSU doesn't have SATA power connectors, so I just use the 4-pin molex connectors anyways. This is just my case, though, I agree that in some cases it would be nice to have the flexibility.

Aside from that, quality wise the Supermicro is a ton better, but for the added weight (a lot heavier), noise (a lot more noisier) and some of the other things as mentioned before... not to mention price, the istar is a much better unit. Oh, you also have integrated signaling wires, so no bundle of wires or trying to figure out where to plug what in (not to mention, it helps with wiring jobbies and it's painless when dealing with cards which may not have the correct signaling headers).
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I think when I got the Supermicro unit, it was cheaper than the iStar is at Newegg now. Actually, wiredzone has it for $110 now. It is heavier, and makes more noise, but this may not be an issue for some people. I don't mind it, some do. As to being a better unit, personally, I prefer drive trays that slide properly into their hotswap bays in a hotswap drive cage. When I got to plugging the 3rd drive in, they were starting to bind in the cage.

The iStar also has the same signaling headers the Supermicro has, it just doesn't come with the cable. The controller cards I have work just fine without connecting them, as do the LEDs on the cage itself; I think the headers are mostly just for external LEDs (not on the controller or the cage) so I'd actually give the advantage to the Supermicro again here.

Also, it may be worth mentioning that you can switch individual drives off, reset, and shut down the whole unit using the buttons on the front of the unit... oh and you can lock it... makes it very functional.
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Drives come off by default - this scared me when I first plugged stuff into it :p I can just unplug a drive if I want it off, but yes, it can be convenient to have a power switch. You just need a pen or something to poke it. You also *have* to lock the drives in (with the impossible little knob) or you'll pop the drives out every time you brush the button. If I wanted to actually lock drives in, I'd put it in a case with a door... or in a room with a door.

For a home user, the iStar may well work, but I'd hardly call it better than the Supermicro unit.
 
DBZ33 said:
I have the Supermicro units in my Stacker and love them (Thanks to Ockie's thread). But as you said the Supermicro fan is loud. I replaced it with a Zalman 92mm fan and run it at 7v. All my drives run cool and my server is even quieter than my main PC.
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Four of them in a stacker? The fitting was tight as heck wasn't it?
 
Ockie said:
Four of them in a stacker? The fitting was tight as heck wasn't it?
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No sorry I didn't make it clear. I only have two of the Supermicro cages. I wish I had 4 but I am starting to change my 500gb drives over to the WD 1tb Green drives so I don't need anymore room for now. My post was only about the Zalman fan replacement for the SM cages.
 
To do this week:

Install OP1000 PSU (worried it may not fit with the front drive units... thats another story)
Install top fan plate (for some reason it didn't come with the order...)
Install last drive module expansion unit
Rewire the entire system
 
Top fanplate came! Yay! (Apparently it was dropshipped from Lian-Li)


Anyways, don't mind the dirty case, it needs a cleaning, which I'll do when the replacement PSU goes in!














 
Damnit Ockie. Why do you have to continue this build? :mad: :eek:

:p

I can't wait to see it man. 2 more weeks, 2 more weeks. :D
 
Updates :)

OP1000 Mounted, RaptorX mounted and cloned from the original raptor, Two expansion units mounted, wiring redone, cleaned a bit.






















Now I just need to place that order for 6 x 1TB green drives and I'll be all set for a little bit :) This system is running like a champ... oh and the PSU isn't as bad (loud) as I thought it once was... so I am estatic about this new setup :)
 
:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

Thats an ASS LOAD of porn my friend, most I have is a 160GB external let alone... that...
 
Is there much airflow through the front drive cages? They don't look like they provide enough ventilation for the amount of air all those rear fans must pull.
 
I know, but it doesn't look like there's any kind of ventilation on the front of the cages so where does the air get in?
 
Concentric said:
I know, but it doesn't look like there's any kind of ventilation on the front of the cages so where does the air get in?
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:eek:Your right, there is no way for air to get in. He can only run the computer for 15 Minutes at a time. There are either holes in the latches of the fronts of the drive cage or the latches open up a little above and beneath each latch for the air to enter.
 
Concentric said:
I know, but it doesn't look like there's any kind of ventilation on the front of the cages so where does the air get in?
Click to expand...

It basically spaces out the drives so it gives you a airflow slot between the drives. The airflow is quite good, I have yet to have problems in overheating, even when it's in a very hot enviroment :) *knocks on wood*
 
Fry's has such a good deal on those 1tb drives right now, not the 259 price point I paid initially, but still a damn good deal.


I think it's about time that I place the order for 6 of them. Somone buy my old TJ09!! I feel like I can justify the purchase if I at least sell some of my older hardware that I no longer use. :D
 
DBZ33 said:
I have the Supermicro units in my Stacker and love them (Thanks to Ockie's thread). But as you said the Supermicro fan is loud. I replaced it with a Zalman 92mm fan and run it at 7v. All my drives run cool and my server is even quieter than my main PC.
Click to expand...

I wasn't aware the 92mm's would fit, did you have to 'mod' anything or just pop them in? Can you post or link the exact model you have?
 
Yeah a standard 92mm will fit those.


If anyone can find me an 80x80x15 fan, please let me know. I need something that is silent but also pushes a good amount of air. I'm looking to finally replace those stock fans.
 
GigantoR said:
How about http://www.frozencpu.com/products/5225/fan-254/SilenX_80x80x15mm_-_14dBA_-_24CFM_iXtrema_Pro_Fan_with_Fluid_Dynamic_Bearings_IXP-52-14.html? They would probably ruin any color scheme you were goin for but they're the first one I found.

edit:
You could also check these out: http://www.svc.com/80x15mmfans.html
Click to expand...


If I can find one legitimate review on these fans or even word of mouth, I'll buy the SilenX's.


How's the Hiper fans perform? Do they meet their ratings? Airflow is a little low on them, but it wouldn't hurt to try them... cheap enough too.

filthysanchez said:
http://jab-tech.com/80mm-Thin-Fans-c-270.html
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Man those are loud :(
 
I have a SilentX 80x25, but I have yet to install in on my machine. Hopefully when I am done with my finals next Thursday, I replace that 80mm fan I have in my machine with this one and see how it goes.
 
Nicepants42 said:
*Sees pics of current system with single PSU*
*Runs away crying*
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Hey, it's 6 more drives.

Your plate served a good time and was awesome. I'll keep it because who knows when I switch back to a dual setup when this system passes on :D
 
How bout a delta: http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/de80ef2.html

They are a bit loud but undervolted they should be nice and quiet. I have two 80x25 deltas in my PC-DL case running at 5 or 7V and I can hardly hear them. They still move quite a bit of air. Just an option. Nice work btw.


Edit: Disregard, I just realized that these fans are for the drive bays. It would probably be more effort than it's worth to undervolt the fans (I think).
 
Slackusr said:
How bout a delta: http://www.sidewindercomputers.com/de80ef2.html

They are a bit loud but undervolted they should be nice and quiet. I have two 80x25 deltas in my PC-DL case running at 5 or 7V and I can hardly hear them. They still move quite a bit of air. Just an option. Nice work btw.


Edit: Disregard, I just realized that these fans are for the drive bays. It would probably be more effort than it's worth to undervolt the fans (I think).
Click to expand...

I think these will work if I can find some sort of inline 3pin fan resistor.
 
filthysanchez said:
http://coolerguys.com/840556063346.html
http://coolerguys.com/840556063353.html
http://www.svc.com/fsa-75.html
http://www.svc.com/nrc-1000.html
Click to expand...

http://coolerguys.com/840556063353.html

Is exactly what I was looking for...


Anyways, while further searching that site (forgot about them until you showed me these links)... i FOUND THIS!!!1

http://coolerguys.com/840556062004.html

It's an 80x15mm and it has 28CFM + <25dba!!!! Should be decent enough to cool these drives and silent to boot.
 
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