Re: Sideways mounted HDD bays ~ any good?

GMAN wrote:
> In article <Xns9B45D21A6E5185D4AM2@69.16.176.253>, Don <no-> wrote:
>> My PC doesn't have sideways mounted hard drive bays but I was going to
>> get a case which had them.
>>
>> For example: http://www.compucase-hec.co.uk/pccase_atx_6a.htm
>>
>> However someone I met briefly said his Antec has sideways mounted bays
>> and they were a problem.
>>
>> What disadvantages does this arrangement have?

> Drive cooling issues. If you look at the Antec case in another post here, it
> shows that there is not a clear path for the front fan to cool the drive cage
> and to pull air into the case like it should. With front facing drives, it
> allows a stream of cool air to flow across the drives and out back thru the
> case.
>

On that Antec, the intake vents are in front of the lower drive trays.
There is a filter as well (which I removed). When the rear fan is installed
and running, in fact there is a nice airflow over the lower tray. Since I'm a
fanatic, I even removed the front plastic fascia, to leave as much intake
vent capacity as possible. The only thing that goes in the very top
of that case, is an optical drive. All the hard drives go into the lower
(sideways) trays, due to the superior air flow. I wouldn't put
any of my hard drive up top.

Paul

GMAN wrote:
> In article <gea242$v04$>, Paul <> wrote:
>> GMAN wrote:
>>> In article <Xns9B45D21A6E5185D4AM2@69.16.176.253>, Don <no->
>> wrote:
>>>> My PC doesn't have sideways mounted hard drive bays but I was going to
>>>> get a case which had them.
>>>>
>>>> For example: http://www.compucase-hec.co.uk/pccase_atx_6a.htm
>>>>
>>>> However someone I met briefly said his Antec has sideways mounted bays
>>>> and they were a problem.
>>>>
>>>> What disadvantages does this arrangement have?
>>> Drive cooling issues. If you look at the Antec case in another post here, it
>>> shows that there is not a clear path for the front fan to cool the drive cage
>>> and to pull air into the case like it should. With front facing drives, it
>>> allows a stream of cool air to flow across the drives and out back thru the
>>> case.
>>>
>> On that Antec, the intake vents are in front of the lower drive trays.
>> There is a filter as well (which I removed). When the rear fan is installed
>> and running, in fact there is a nice airflow over the lower tray. Since I'm a
>> fanatic, I even removed the front plastic fascia, to leave as much intake
>> vent capacity as possible. The only thing that goes in the very top
>> of that case, is an optical drive. All the hard drives go into the lower
>> (sideways) trays, due to the superior air flow. I wouldn't put
>> any of my hard drive up top.
>>
>> Paul
>>
> How can you have good air flow from the front of the case when you have drive
> rails blocking the airflow????

Don't know for sure about this one but the ones I've used have relatively
little in the way of the airflow blockage in the drive area. The mounting
rails themselves are in the center of the drive and the airflow is over the
top and bottom surfaces where it needs to be for cooling since that is
where Antec left relatively generous spacing. I know from experience that
my drives run at about human body temperature in the Sonata II cases.

I intentionally modified nothing in my cases although in one of them I
managed to mangle the removable filter beyond reuse. Having it missing
seemed to cause no alteration in drive temperatures one way or the other.
Both of my cases have the optional 12cm drive cage fan, a variable speed
Antec, which is run at the medium speed and which is completely inaudible
with the side on the case installed.

--
John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com

John McGaw wrote:
> GMAN wrote:
>> In article <gea242$v04$>, Paul <> wrote:
>>> GMAN wrote:
>>>> In article <Xns9B45D21A6E5185D4AM2@69.16.176.253>, Don
>>>> <no->
>>> wrote:
>>>>> My PC doesn't have sideways mounted hard drive bays but I was going
>>>>> to get a case which had them.
>>>>>
>>>>> For example: http://www.compucase-hec.co.uk/pccase_atx_6a.htm
>>>>>
>>>>> However someone I met briefly said his Antec has sideways mounted
>>>>> bays and they were a problem.
>>>>>
>>>>> What disadvantages does this arrangement have?
>>>> Drive cooling issues. If you look at the Antec case in another post
>>>> here, it shows that there is not a clear path for the front fan to
>>>> cool the drive cage
>>>> and to pull air into the case like it should. With front facing
>>>> drives, it allows a stream of cool air to flow across the drives and
>>>> out back thru the case.
>>>>
>>> On that Antec, the intake vents are in front of the lower drive trays.
>>> There is a filter as well (which I removed). When the rear fan is
>>> installed
>>> and running, in fact there is a nice airflow over the lower tray.
>>> Since I'm a
>>> fanatic, I even removed the front plastic fascia, to leave as much
>>> intake
>>> vent capacity as possible. The only thing that goes in the very top
>>> of that case, is an optical drive. All the hard drives go into the lower
>>> (sideways) trays, due to the superior air flow. I wouldn't put
>>> any of my hard drive up top.
>>>
>>> Paul
>>>
>> How can you have good air flow from the front of the case when you
>> have drive rails blocking the airflow????
>
> Don't know for sure about this one but the ones I've used have
> relatively little in the way of the airflow blockage in the drive area.
> The mounting rails themselves are in the center of the drive and the
> airflow is over the top and bottom surfaces where it needs to be for
> cooling since that is where Antec left relatively generous spacing. I
> know from experience that my drives run at about human body temperature
> in the Sonata II cases.
>
> I intentionally modified nothing in my cases although in one of them I
> managed to mangle the removable filter beyond reuse. Having it missing
> seemed to cause no alteration in drive temperatures one way or the
> other. Both of my cases have the optional 12cm drive cage fan, a
> variable speed Antec, which is run at the medium speed and which is
> completely inaudible with the side on the case installed.
>

I removed the filter so I wouldn't ever need to clean it. It
makes no difference to drive temp when it is clean. I was
worried about dust collection that I cannot see (without
removing it).

I removed the front fascia, because my rear fan is a 120x120x38mm
monster :-) The fan isn't running full speed, but still is a
bit starved for air.

Paul

On 2008-10-29, Paul <> wrote:
> John McGaw wrote:
>> GMAN wrote:
>>> In article <gea242$v04$>, Paul <> wrote:
>>>> GMAN wrote:
>>>>> In article <Xns9B45D21A6E5185D4AM2@69.16.176.253>, Don
>>>>> <no->
>>>> wrote:
>>>>>> My PC doesn't have sideways mounted hard drive bays but I was going
>>>>>> to get a case which had them.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> For example: http://www.compucase-hec.co.uk/pccase_atx_6a.htm
>>>>>>
>>>>>> However someone I met briefly said his Antec has sideways mounted
>>>>>> bays and they were a problem.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> What disadvantages does this arrangement have?
>>>>> Drive cooling issues. If you look at the Antec case in another post
>>>>> here, it shows that there is not a clear path for the front fan to
>>>>> cool the drive cage
>>>>> and to pull air into the case like it should. With front facing
>>>>> drives, it allows a stream of cool air to flow across the drives and
>>>>> out back thru the case.
>>>>>
>>>> On that Antec, the intake vents are in front of the lower drive trays.
>>>> There is a filter as well (which I removed). When the rear fan is
>>>> installed
>>>> and running, in fact there is a nice airflow over the lower tray.
>>>> Since I'm a
>>>> fanatic, I even removed the front plastic fascia, to leave as much
>>>> intake
>>>> vent capacity as possible. The only thing that goes in the very top
>>>> of that case, is an optical drive. All the hard drives go into the lower
>>>> (sideways) trays, due to the superior air flow. I wouldn't put
>>>> any of my hard drive up top.
>>>>
>>>> Paul
>>>>
>>> How can you have good air flow from the front of the case when you
>>> have drive rails blocking the airflow????
>>
>> Don't know for sure about this one but the ones I've used have
>> relatively little in the way of the airflow blockage in the drive area.
>> The mounting rails themselves are in the center of the drive and the
>> airflow is over the top and bottom surfaces where it needs to be for
>> cooling since that is where Antec left relatively generous spacing. I
>> know from experience that my drives run at about human body temperature
>> in the Sonata II cases.
>>
>> I intentionally modified nothing in my cases although in one of them I
>> managed to mangle the removable filter beyond reuse. Having it missing
>> seemed to cause no alteration in drive temperatures one way or the
>> other. Both of my cases have the optional 12cm drive cage fan, a
>> variable speed Antec, which is run at the medium speed and which is
>> completely inaudible with the side on the case installed.
>>
>
> I removed the filter so I wouldn't ever need to clean it. It
> makes no difference to drive temp when it is clean. I was
> worried about dust collection that I cannot see (without
> removing it).
>
> I removed the front fascia, because my rear fan is a 120x120x38mm
> monster :-) The fan isn't running full speed, but still is a
> bit starved for air.
>
> Paul

My only "problem" was the air-flow tunnel tha was in the way; but
that was because I got a Zalman cpu fan/cooler because the Intel
had been easily busted on the mounting screws. I think the Zalman
was an overkill as the Gigabyte monitor showed everything to be
running cooler/colder.