A Look Inside

The only differences between the DS1815+ and DS1515+ are the cooling fans and the SATA PCIe expansion card for the HDDs, so we won't take the NAS apart to instead direct you to the corresponding page of our DS1815+ review for a closer internal look. This will instead be the first time we will dismantle a DX513, so let's get started.


Breaking apart the DX513 was a very easy task, at least compared to a normal Synology NAS. The chassis is out of metal and the top and side cover is only held in place by a few screws.


The mainboard is really small since it only hosts a few very basic components. This is, after all, an expansion unit, not a fully featured NAS. All capacitors on the board are high quality polymers by Nippon Chemi-Con.


A Silicon Image SII3826CLUC port multiplier handles the expansion unit's five SATA ports.


The expansion unit's flash memory.


The board above comes with the eSATA connector and two fan headers.


The PSU is by Seasonic, one of the best PSU manufacturers around, and its model number is SS-200SU. It has two +12V rails and can deliver 6 A on 12V1 and 12 A on 12V2. Its maximum combined power output at +12V is 168 W, and the minor rails can deliver 110 W combined.


There are two PCIe ports on the main board. One of them is used by the SATA expansion card and the other by the eSATA board.


The two fans are by Y.S Tech, and their model number is FD128020HL. They use double ball-bearings, which will increase their lifetime; however, should something go wrong, you can simply replace these with quieter ones as the procedure to do so is pretty straightforward because you won't have to take the front and side cover off to remove them.