# Noisy hard disk - silenced HDD cages



## csendesmark (Sep 25, 2021)

Hello All
Not long ago I bought a WD Ultrastar DC HC550, 
It is fast, but damn it - is really noisy too!

I have a Cooler Master CM 690 III, and first I just swapped in my new HDD, int he case's regular 3,5" HDD holder.
Turned out it is loud, so I dusted off my old _Cooler Master 4 in 3 HDD Module Device_ - (STB-3T4-E3-GP) Link
A nice rubberized hard disk case.
It got even louder with it, because the left side panel picks up all the vibrations somehow.

_I have already decided, 
worst case scenario is to get a BE QUIET! Dark Base 802 or Dark Base 900._

But first/alternatively I would like to find a smart solution for this matter, like I hoped from the STB-3T4-E3-GP option, 
And this is why I asking *YOU *to,
Please give me your thoughts and advices, especially if you have similar HDDs in your rig!
I like my current CM Centurion 690, I really would not spend a lot of money on a new case.
So I am looking for a solution which is mutes HDDs.

Thank You!


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## claes (Sep 25, 2021)

You could try suspending it with elastic in a 5” bay, but DC HDDs are unfortunately very loud.


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## MIRTAZAPINE (Sep 25, 2021)

I do have a WD HC hdd too though I don't use in case but I use it with external enclosure. It does not sound as loud in an enclosure. For hdd like this firm mounting is the way to go to reduce noise if possible mount it to a floor of case for as much contact possible.


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## claes (Sep 25, 2021)

That doesn’t make any sense in my mind… There’s no way any hard mount is going to reduce vibrations to the chassis as well as suspension will. I know from personal experience, but don’t take my word for it — take Mike Chin’s, former editor of silent PC review.






						HDD vibration & noise reducing methods - ranked - SPCR
					






					silentpcreview.com


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## Ferd (Sep 25, 2021)

I used O-rings before , I put one on the Hdd side and one on the screw side , so if you had a hdd mounted using 4 screws you’ll need 8 o-rings , the downside is they wear out quickly, some tore down within weeks (5~6) and others lasted few months (7~8) ,I used to salvage those as I had no idea where to buy ones .....nowadays I don’t use hdds but o-rings are available online easily


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## Mussels (Sep 25, 2021)

You need something to absorb the vibrations, elastic bands and rubber O-rings are usually the best options

I used to have that case, best advice is to use the 5.25" optical bays with a HDD mount designed to absorb the noise

Theres a lot of products out there with heatsinks as well, to avoid the drive overheating while enclosed

heatsink models
Alphacool Silentmaxx-HD-Insulation Rev. 2.0 AC-34008-D (performance-pcs.com)

really simple ones
Amazon.com: ORICO Aluminum 5.25 inch to 2.5 or 3.5 Inch Internal Hard Disk Drive Mounting Kit with Screws and Shock Absorption Rubber Washer- Black : Electronics

slightly fancier ones
Amazon.com: ToToT 1-Pack 3.5 inch Hard Disk Shock Absorber Bracket with Mounting Screws for PC Case 3.5 HDD to 5.25 DVD ROM Bay Mounting Adapter : Electronics


fancy screws for your existing mounts
Amazon.com: ZRM&E 8pcs 10mm Hard Disk Drive Screws and Shock Absorption Rubber Washer Kit PC Hard Disk Drive Mounting Accessories for 3.5 inches HDD SSD : Electronics


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## csendesmark (Sep 25, 2021)

Thank You for the 


Mussels said:


> really simple ones
> Amazon.com: ORICO Aluminum 5.25 inch to 2.5 or 3.5 Inch Internal Hard Disk Drive Mounting Kit with Screws and Shock Absorption Rubber Washer- Black : Electronics


This is already looking great and available, but this might not cut it and also looks like where the hard disk could get warmer/hot



Mussels said:


> slightly fancier ones
> Amazon.com: ToToT 1-Pack 3.5 inch Hard Disk Shock Absorber Bracket with Mounting Screws for PC Case 3.5 HDD to 5.25 DVD ROM Bay Mounting Adapter : Electronics


This one looks better! Sadly it's not available in the European Amazon...
Found a similar option https://www.amazon.de/-/en/Lankater...3,5+to+5,25&qid=1632595313&s=computers&sr=1-2
might go for this, but with delivery, it costs one third of the price of the BE QUIET! Dark Base 900. 

Anyway, now at least I have a lead to find one of the "good" options


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## P4-630 (Sep 25, 2021)

csendesmark said:


> worst case scenario is to get a BE QUIET! Dark Base 802 or Dark Base 900.



When I still had a spinner I was still able to hear it even though I have a BQ Silent base 600.

I went all SSD.


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## qubit (Sep 25, 2021)

The only way you’re gonna properly fix this problem is by replacing with quieter drives of which there are plenty, or SSDs, expensive.

No amount of noise insulation is gonna reduce it to near inaudible levels. You’re gonna have to spend significant money regardless.


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## sneekypeet (Sep 25, 2021)

This all reminds me of the antec lanboy air chassis, where they had bungee cable suspension of drives. 

I would say this. If rubber grommets or O-rings are not sufficient, you have to have one seriously unbalanced drive to carry normal vibrations past it.


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## Wirko (Sep 25, 2021)

csendesmark said:


> It got even louder with it, because the left side panel picks up all the vibrations somehow.


You mentioned the left side panel specifically, so it may be worth checking. Does the panel make rattling sounds if you tap on any part of it with your hand? Is the HDD rumble severely reduced when you put your hand on it?


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## csendesmark (Sep 25, 2021)

Wirko said:


> You mentioned the left side panel specifically, so it may be worth checking. Does the panel make rattling sounds if you tap on any part of it with your hand? Is the HDD rumble severely reduced when you put your hand on it?


Already did of course, only two parts carrying the resonance this (STB-3T4-E3-GP) drive cage:






and the left side panel.

This cage made from flimsy aluminium sheets, 
So I asked my friend to lend me back the *CM Centurion 590*'s cage back which has superior build quality:





I also thought about pinning the side panel out with some foam from my GPU box foam, to create outward tension, to suppress some of the noise, but I need to think where exactly should pin



P4-630 said:


> When I still had a spinner I was still able to hear it even though I have a BQ Silent base 600.
> 
> I went all SSD.


Yeah, I am also looking the prices like a kid the toy-shop's window before Christmas.
But this 16TB drive costed "only" $490
Love to have a ASUS Hyper m.2 X16 gen4 with 4 of ADATA 4TB XPG SPECTRIX S40G in RAID1 which would give about the same storage space.
for the low low price of $2642,8 


qubit said:


> The only way you’re gonna properly fix this problem is by replacing with quieter drives of which there are plenty, or SSDs, expensive.
> 
> No amount of noise insulation is gonna reduce it to near inaudible levels. You’re gonna have to spend significant money regardless.


I choose this because of speed and reliability. Did not expect to be this loud. 
I also heard about the other similar options like the Seagate X18 and the WD Gold or the Toshiba Nearline
According to the specs the HC550 is as quiet as the rest...


sneekypeet said:


> This all reminds me of the antec lanboy air chassis, where they had bungee cable suspension of drives.
> 
> I would say this. If rubber grommets or O-rings are not sufficient, you have to have one seriously unbalanced drive to carry normal vibrations past it.


Did not know about that case, would be nice to buy that as a 5,25 to 3,5 adapter
Shame that they not going to sell it separately


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## Wirko (Sep 26, 2021)

csendesmark said:


> I also thought about pinning the side panel out with some foam from my GPU box foam, to create outward tension, to suppress some of the noise, but I need to think where exactly should pin


Another thing you can do is glue some thick, heavy rubber on the internal surface of the panel. The drive cage might deserve a similar treatment, too, if it's made of thin aluminium sheets. Be careful to not obstruct the airflow if you do that.


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## qubit (Sep 26, 2021)

csendesmark said:


> I choose this because of speed and reliability. Did not expect to be this loud.
> I also heard about the other similar options like the Seagate X18 and the WD Gold or the Toshiba Nearline
> According to the specs the HC550 is as quiet as the rest...


Sometimes one can't have it all, unfortunately. Personally, I can't stand a noisy PC, especially screechy HDD bearings and / or repetitive head noises when there's no seeking going on.

If I was in your situation, I'd bite the bullet and buy high capacity SSDs from a decent brand, perhaps Samsung, to replace all the HDDs and then eBay those HDDs after erasing the data on them. It all depends on how much you have to spend of course and I'm not gonna pry into that.


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## Jetster (Sep 26, 2021)

The Irony is the cheaper Toshiba drives are dead silent. And they are reliable


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## csendesmark (Sep 26, 2021)

Wirko said:


> Another thing you can do is glue some thick, heavy rubber on the internal surface of the panel. The drive cage might deserve a similar treatment, too, if it's made of thin aluminium sheets. Be careful to not obstruct the airflow if you do that.


As I said, I will try the better version from the CM Centurion 590, that is way heavier and stronger


qubit said:


> Sometimes one can't have it all, unfortunately. Personally, I can't stand a noisy PC, especially screechy HDD bearings and / or repetitive head noises when there's no seeking going on.
> 
> If I was in your situation, I'd bite the bullet and buy high capacity SSDs from a decent brand, perhaps Samsung, to replace all the HDDs and then eBay those HDDs after erasing the data on them. It all depends on how much you have to spend of course and I'm not gonna pry into that.


I made a quick assessment of the prices for similar space in my previous post,
$500 vs $2500 is a bit one sided


Jetster said:


> The Irony is the cheaper Toshiba drives are dead silent. And they are reliable


Well, carp
I did not choose them because all of the retailers selling them with 1 year warranty in Hungary
Seagate and WD gets 5 years
Also according to the specs sheets, they having the same loudness.


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## MIRTAZAPINE (Sep 26, 2021)

There is not much you could do for HDD with 9 platter spinning at 7200rpm aside from what is describe from other poster about putting damping for the drives.

Derated HC550 like those found in WD externals are much quieter spinning at 5400rpm but its speed drop to around 210MB/s. If noise is a concern those maybe an option but I don't recommend it now as their price is outrageous versus bare drives and you don't have warranty. Shucked external use to be a good cheaper hdd option before Chia crypto ruin that market. 

Toshiba 14TB mg07 is loud, I slow them immediately after getting it.


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## qubit (Sep 26, 2021)

csendesmark said:


> I made a quick assessment of the prices for similar space in my previous post,
> $500 vs $2500 is a bit one sided


Agreed, that’s a huge difference.


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## Mussels (Sep 26, 2021)

csendesmark said:


> Thank You for the
> 
> This is already looking great and available, but this might not cut it and also looks like where the hard disk could get warmer/hot
> 
> ...


it wont get any hotter mounted in that orico model than in any stock situation... it's exposed to a lot of open air


you can remove vibration with rubber mounts
you can reduce noise by solid objects between you and the HDD (such as complete, sealed enclosures that transfer heat)

nothing will make them silent, other than powering them off or moving them far away (NAS in another room)


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## R-T-B (Sep 29, 2021)

Jetster said:


> The Irony is the cheaper Toshiba drives are dead silent. And they are reliable


Ultrastars are basically reliability incarnate.  However they aren't built with quiet in mind at all.


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## Ferrum Master (Sep 29, 2021)

There is no cure, don't waste money. The noise will remain.

Old spinners remain place in a mirrored NAS, that's located in different room. You don't need them to be hooked up to our main PC where SSD's should be a norm now.


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## xtreemchaos (Sep 29, 2021)

i had the same prob with having 2 4 tb side by side in the back of my p5 case its not vibrations what was the prob it was the spining up and down what was the pain. i covered both sides of the HDs with gortex you know the stuff that keeps water out but lets air through my temps are about 2c higher but i carnt hear them now and ive a full loop with fans running at 600rpm.


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## csendesmark (Sep 30, 2021)

Ferrum Master said:


> There is no cure, don't waste money. The noise will remain.
> 
> Old spinners remain place in a mirrored NAS, that's located in different room. You don't need them to be hooked up to our main PC where SSD's should be a norm now.


I disagree, 
First, if I hold the HDD cage with my hand, the vibration goes away, and the basic/constant noise ain't bad.
Spin up spin down still quite audible, but that do not happen that often, also - I don't access the disk that often so the head moving etc are ok for me.
I use it as an archive drive, for system, for games and for temp files I use separate SSDs

My explanation I pulled apart my house CM Centurion 690
and if I remove the front plastic and the two side panels, the noise is normal - totally acceptable noise levels (discounting actual/active disk usage)
but when I install the covers, the covers big surfaces are transmitting that awful vibration noises, like an amplifier.
So this is why I need to isolate the vibration with something.

@xtreemchaos,
I will look for that gortex material in our local stores, Thank You for the advice!

@Mussels
I ordered that ORICO HDD holder, hope it will help tame the vibrations!
Will arrive next week, looking forward to build it in!


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## eidairaman1 (Sep 30, 2021)

Look for hd tools by wd that can adjust parameters at firmware level.

Hitachi Had Such Tools,


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## user112 (Sep 30, 2021)

any type of foam/rubber padding will reduce the sound of vibrations though the best solution is to get a small cheap SSD and use it like a cache reducing the need for The HDD to spin up much. that said I'd try taking it out of the case and setting it on a thick pillow. if it's still louder than system fans in that state you may want to RMA the drive. as a last resort you can download "crystaldisk info" and adjust the AAM/APM setting if the drive supports it trading speed for silence.


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## csendesmark (Sep 25, 2021)

Hello All
Not long ago I bought a WD Ultrastar DC HC550, 
It is fast, but damn it - is really noisy too!

I have a Cooler Master CM 690 III, and first I just swapped in my new HDD, int he case's regular 3,5" HDD holder.
Turned out it is loud, so I dusted off my old _Cooler Master 4 in 3 HDD Module Device_ - (STB-3T4-E3-GP) Link
A nice rubberized hard disk case.
It got even louder with it, because the left side panel picks up all the vibrations somehow.

_I have already decided, 
worst case scenario is to get a BE QUIET! Dark Base 802 or Dark Base 900._

But first/alternatively I would like to find a smart solution for this matter, like I hoped from the STB-3T4-E3-GP option, 
And this is why I asking *YOU *to,
Please give me your thoughts and advices, especially if you have similar HDDs in your rig!
I like my current CM Centurion 690, I really would not spend a lot of money on a new case.
So I am looking for a solution which is mutes HDDs.

Thank You!


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## xtreemchaos (Sep 30, 2021)

csendesmark said:


> will look for that gortex material in our local stores,


i cut up a old laptop pouch.
like this.


and these are my temps.


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## csendesmark (Oct 15, 2021)

Hey @Mussels 
I did buy ORICO Aluminum 5.25 inch to 2.5 or 3.5 HDD bay
Based on the pictures I hoped to secure my HDD as notebook HDD-s, but turned out it is only one way to install, and it is to put inside that "U" which was still transmitting most of the resonance.
Turned out it mostly vibrates on the plane of the disk (_what a surprise_)
So I ended up getting the *Sharkoon 5.25" BayExtension* and it worked amazingly.
You can install the HDD from the bottom, where device can "jiggle" sideways without transmitting all the vibrations to the PC case.
With this many platters have a better chance to be relative silent is you secure it with a rubbered screw from under.
To be safe, I also added some rubber washers when I fixed the extension-bay from the side into the PC case
With these solutions I only hear the spin up-s and when the HDD actually busy.
Thank You for the great help!



That 4 bumps are nice rubbered washers/holders and they are doing excellent work!


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## Mussels (Oct 15, 2021)

csendesmark said:


> Hey @Mussels
> I did buy ORICO Aluminum 5.25 inch to 2.5 or 3.5 HDD bay
> Based on the pictures I hoped to secure my HDD as notebook HDD-s, but turned out it is only one way to install, and it is to put inside that "U" which was still transmitting most of the resonance.
> Turned out it mostly vibrates on the plane of the disk (_what a surprise_)
> ...


that sharkoon one does indeed look great, and the idea of it 'hanging' off the rubber suspension is perfect


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## csendesmark (Oct 15, 2021)

Mussels said:


> that sharkoon one does indeed look great, and the idea of it 'hanging' off the rubber suspension is perfect


The "hanging" parts is for the 2.5" sized drives only, the standard 3.5" disks are sitting on the rubber "pillows".
And I would call it perfect only if the 5.25" screw holes had rubber on them and case-fix screws were also came with rubber washers. 
_Not perfect but excellent._


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## claes (Oct 15, 2021)

It sounds like you’re satisfied, but I’d consider thick rubber bands/elastic if you’re not. I get trying to ameliorate the lateral noise in the way you have (this is the issue with most drives), but you might be surprised how well full suspension works (bonus points: sandwich while suspended, but watch your temps!).

Glad things are excellent in any case!


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## GerKNG (Oct 15, 2021)

Jetster said:


> The Irony is the cheaper Toshiba drives are dead silent. And they are reliable


this
i still have one single old toshiba P300 from 6? years ago and it runs basically 24/7 in a small living room PC.
0 dead sectors, never a single floating or relocated one. over 34500 Hours of runtime.


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## Lei (Oct 15, 2021)

So how does it sound now? What Ultrastar are you using?
I use this bracket for 1.5 year:


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## csendesmark (Oct 15, 2021)

@claes - My problem with that is the holder and the case is already stiff, I cannot put there anything.
I think Sharkoon should made the holder in mind of that.

@Lei - I using the WD Ultrastar HC550 16TB, and someone already mentioned this rubber bracketed product.
Shame that Amazon charging 4 times for delivery  as the actual product worth.
My order it later, but I am happy for now
About this product: wonder why there is no option for a "cage" of this for 3 or 4 drives maybe with an extra 120mm fan option.
_Similar to the CoolerMaster solution I posted on the beginning of this thread with full rubber isolation.
Would be really great!_

@Lei 
I found that product under the name of: Lankater 3.5 inch hard disk bracket for PC chassis 3.5 HDD to 5.25
Maybe it is sold under more different names, and I could find it.
What is your's name?


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## Lei (Oct 15, 2021)

Mine is this, 2$. Told them to send me with blue rubbers:
Taobao

Name 品牌 is AA 
Tell me how good the sound is, I want to buy Ultrastar. Idle matters only


csendesmark said:


> @claes - My problem with that is the holder and the case is already stiff, I cannot put there anything.
> I think Sharkoon should made the holder in mind of that.
> 
> @Lei - I using the WD Ultrastar HC550 16TB, and someone already mentioned this rubber bracketed product.
> ...


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## csendesmark (Oct 15, 2021)

Lei said:


> Mine is this, 2$. Told them to send me with blue rubbers:
> Taobao
> 
> Name 品牌 is AA
> Tell me how good the sound is, I want to buy Ultrastar. Idle matters only


Ohw shoot...
I doubt they ship to Hungary... 
_Sent you a PM about the HDD to keep the thread off-free_


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