Mounting Internal HDs

G

Grinder

I have a PC in a mid-tower case that can AFAIK take more internal drives. I
have:

* An additional ATA controller
* Plenty of power supply (430W)
* Room within the case

All of the standard mounts (3 hd and two 5 1/2 bays) are occupied. Is it
ill-advised to try to put another internal drive into this machine? If not,
what recommendation would you make to secure the drive within the case?

Thanks for your considerations.
 
W

Woodsy

I have a PC in a mid-tower case that can AFAIK take more internal drives. I
have:

* An additional ATA controller
* Plenty of power supply (430W)
* Room within the case

All of the standard mounts (3 hd and two 5 1/2 bays) are occupied. Is it
ill-advised to try to put another internal drive into this machine? If not,
what recommendation would you make to secure the drive within the case?

Thanks for your considerations.

I have hit this wall and broke out the duct tape.
Old cases with removable 3.5" cages are a good source of
additional rack space. Just stack them in the bottom, bolt,screw.tape
them in place so you are happy, (or are carefull when moving case)
Go for it!...
 
V

VWWall

Grinder said:
I have a PC in a mid-tower case that can AFAIK take more internal drives. I
have:

* An additional ATA controller
* Plenty of power supply (430W)
* Room within the case

All of the standard mounts (3 hd and two 5 1/2 bays) are occupied. Is it
ill-advised to try to put another internal drive into this machine? If not,
what recommendation would you make to secure the drive within the case?

Use a couple of the break outs from the rear of the PCI slots. They
already have a short right angle at one end. Drill two holes at a
distance apart to align with two already installed HD drives at the top,
and one hole for the new HD at the bottom. The drive will fit between
the brackets and be held, (and chassis grounded), by the brackets. You
can use two pairs to make a really secure installation.

Virg Wall
 
K

kony

I have a PC in a mid-tower case that can AFAIK take more internal drives. I
have:

* An additional ATA controller
* Plenty of power supply (430W)
* Room within the case

All of the standard mounts (3 hd and two 5 1/2 bays) are occupied. Is it
ill-advised to try to put another internal drive into this machine? If not,
what recommendation would you make to secure the drive within the case?

Thanks for your considerations.

If those 3 HDD bays are crammed one atop the next as is typical in some
cases, you may find they're not running cool enough, that this situation
should be remedied before any action towards adding another drive.
 
G

Grinder

kony said:
If those 3 HDD bays are crammed one atop the next as is typical in some
cases, you may find they're not running cool enough, that this situation
should be remedied before any action towards adding another drive.

Can I just put another fan in the case by mounting to a side panel, and
drilling some holes for ventilation? I can accomplish that, but would
prefer something a little more graceful. Any suggestions?

Thanks for your and others' comments thusfar.
 
K

kony

Can I just put another fan in the case by mounting to a side panel, and
drilling some holes for ventilation? I can accomplish that, but would
prefer something a little more graceful. Any suggestions?

Thanks for your and others' comments thusfar.


Drilling holes where?

Side panel fans don't do a lot to cool drives, typically they "might" even
decrease flow though the drives, if formerly the air intake was around the
bay but now the suction from the rear fans is no longer drawing in air
there, rather being equalized by that side panel fan. Certainly it can
vary per case though, but generally a side panel fan is not a good
solution for HDD cooling.

Typically to get good HDD cooling you need space between each drive. The
amount of space needed can vary but at least 1 cm is a good idea, more,
even a lot more, is preferable. Then the air intake for the case routes
that air though the drive bay. A common alternate method is an active
intake with a fan, but it is more difficult if the bay isn't deep enough
(designed to hole a fan) or the front bezel isn't deep enough to mount a
fan on the outside wall instead of inside wall of the front.

If you were to use only the upper and lower, not middle drive slot, and
drill many holes in the front wall, in front of the drives, that should
help a lot, but for most airflow though the bay you might need block some
other holes, and therein lies another potential problem, if the bay is
higher up in the case then the lower 1/2 of the case will then have
reduced airflow. For this reason the best drive bay arrangment is as low
as possible, even riveted or bolted to the floor of the case.

Adding a bay would be the best solution. You might find one from an old
case which has a design yielding itself to being mounted, though some OEM
cases don't have suitable bays for doing that, more often plain clone type
cases do. An alternative is to fab your own bay, throw a fan in front if
you like... an example of one I made for an old case:
http://69.36.189.159/usr_1034/gw_case/HDD_bay_fan.jpg
That particular design wouldn't suit your needs since it only holds two
drives, but the same idea, just taking some sheet metal and forcing your
will on it, you can make it as big or little as needed,
http://69.36.189.159/usr_1034/gw_case/prepped for use.jpg

The only caveat with doing something like that is to strip the system down
or be VERY careful to not end up with metal shavings from the hole
drilling/cutting/etc.

Finally, consider that I was only suggesting a potential issue, perhaps
your case cools better than I expect and your drives are already cool
enough. Only you can confirm that and recheck after addition of another
drive.
 
G

Grinder

Again, thanks for your considered advice.

The case I have is fairly well constructed. The three HD pays keep the
drives seperated by at least 1 cm, and are mounted behind an array of intake
holes in the front of the case. (Sorry I don't have my digital camera
handy.)

Upon close inspection, it appears that there is even a mount for a fan!
Sorry to have popped off to your earlier remarks without a better assessment
of my current situation.
 

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