Got a New Case!

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  1. Posts : 9,600
    Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #311

    The plastic drive tray is (er...was) a stock tool free HDD tray used in the HDD cages of several Corsair cases. It is designed to hold a 3.5" HDD without having to screw it directly into a cage. One can insert and remove the drive and cage just by squeezing the two handles together and pushing or pulling the tray/HDD in or out of the cage. Besides not needing tools, it makes it possible to turn the HDDs 90° to take up less length in a case and still be able to get each drive in and out without tools or having to remove the cage and to hide the wiring off to one side of the case. The HDD mounts in the tray by flexing the sides of the tray so the little lugs will register in the front and rear side mounting holes of the HDD. A hole that aligns with the center mounting hole of a HDD is provided on each side of the tray for an optional screw to provide a bit more rigidity to reduce possible vibration.

    The tray also has four mounting holes on the bottom of the tray for mounting a 2.5" drive so holes in the side for mounting 2.5" drives aren't needed. The gizmo I installed is designed to allow 2.5" drives to be installed in 3.5" trays and still have the connectors align in the same place as the connectors of a 3.5" drive, something that would be a must in a NAS, swap bays, etc. that uses a backplane for HDDs to plug themselves into. The stock Corsair tray has the 2.5" mounting holes offset to accomplish the same thing but it leave the tray unsupported from side to side. That's why I got the gizmo; to support the tray when a 2.5" drive is installed since it uses the mounting lugs normally used with 3.5" HDDs. The problem was a 2.5" gets installed in the gizmo by the side screw holes instead of the bottom ones necessitating me adding previously unneeded holes in the side of the tray.

    Clear as mud?

    I looked at the Lian Li HDD cage you linked. That is a clever arrangement to maximize the number of drives in the amount of space it takes up but it wouldn't work for me. I have only four 5.25" bays and all four are in use (and I wouldn't mind having a fifth one). Also, to get at any one drive, the cage has to be removed from the case and and at least partially dismantled. That's why I like the trays ans cages I have in the 650D. I can get at any drive without having to remove anything else (other than the cables going to that drive).
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  2. Posts : 1,223
    Win 10 x64 Pro x64 / Ubuntu 15.10 x64
       #312

    Lady Fitzgerald said:
    The plastic drive tray is (er...was) a stock tool free HDD tray used in the HDD cages of several Corsair cases.
    Yup, recognised it from the two Corsair cases I have. :) Hmmm.. I'm not collecting them or anything like that, just by the way..

    Lady Fitzgerald said:
    The gizmo I installed is designed to allow 2.5" drives to be installed in 3.5" trays and still have the connectors align in the same place as the connectors of a 3.5" drive, something that would be a must in a NAS, swap bays, etc. that uses a backplane for HDDs to plug themselves into. [...] The problem was a 2.5" gets installed in the gizmo by the side screw holes instead of the bottom ones necessitating me adding previously unneeded holes in the side of the tray.

    Clear as mud?
    Aha, that would be the part I missed. For a moment there I thought it was a slightly different version of the bracket I'm used to seeing.

    Lady Fitzgerald said:
    I looked at the Lian Li HDD cage you linked. That is a clever arrangement to maximize the number of drives in the amount of space it takes up but it wouldn't work for me. I have only four 5.25" bays and all four are in use (and I wouldn't mind having a fifth one). Also, to get at any one drive, the cage has to be removed from the case and and at least partially dismantled. That's why I like the trays ans cages I have in the 650D. I can get at any drive without having to remove anything else (other than the cables going to that drive).
    Fair point. I imagine it would be more practical for someone (like me) who doesn't do much after a machine is set up. I'm planning a 2x SSD, 2x (or 3x) HDD setup myself, so something like that would allow me to completely remove the standard drive cages. Might be useful considering I'm hoping to add a full case length GPU wind tunnel at some point.
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  3. Posts : 9,600
    Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #313

    ZaLiTH said:
    ...Fair point. I imagine it would be more practical for someone (like me) who doesn't do much after a machine is set up. I'm planning a 2x SSD, 2x (or 3x) HDD setup myself, so something like that would allow me to completely remove the standard drive cages. Might be useful considering I'm hoping to add a full case length GPU wind tunnel at some point.
    I don't plan on doing much once my machine is resetup, other than adding HDDs as I fill the others up. However, it will be nice to not have to wrestle with the machine when I do do anything; I'm too old for that stuff.
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  4. Posts : 24,479
    Windows 7 Ultimate X64 SP1
       #314

    Jeannie making something easier to use isn't laziness, that's innovation girl! Good job there on the gizmo thing-a-ma-jig.
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  5. Posts : 25,847
    Windows 10 Pro. 64/ version 1709 Windows 7 Pro/64
       #315

    Jeannie how many case fans are you going to have when done?
    The reason I as is because this takes a lot of headaches out running the wires and power connection. It can also be use with a fan speed control.
    They are small and you can put them anywhere. I use Velcro instead of their supplied double stick tape.

    Amazon.com: NZXT Technologies AC-GRID-10-M1 Grid Cooling, Black: Computers & Accessories
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  6. Posts : 9,600
    Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #316

    Britton30 said:
    Jeannie making something easier to use isn't laziness, that's innovation girl! Good job there on the gizmo thing-a-ma-jig.
    Thanks, Gary! I've always said laziness is the mother of invention.
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  7. Posts : 9,600
    Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #317

    Layback Bear said:
    Jeannie how many case fans are you going to have when done?
    The reason I as is because this takes a lot of headaches out running the wires and power connection. It can also be use with a fan speed control.
    They are small and you can put them anywhere. I use Velcro instead of their supplied double stick tape.

    Amazon.com: NZXT Technologies AC-GRID-10-M1 Grid Cooling, Black: Computers & Accessories
    I have a total of six case fans.

    1 200mm front fan (filtered)
    2 140mm side intake PWM fans (filtered)
    3 140mm exhaust PWM fans (1 rear and two top)

    All the 140mm fans are the same.

    Thanks for the fan hub suggestion. I'm going to run all the fans off the MOBO. My MOBO has four 4 pin chassis fan headers rated at 1A each that can run either voltage control or PWM. There is a jumper on the MOBO that determines if all four chassis fan headers run on voltage control or PWM. If set to PWM, a non-PWM fan will run full speed. I've tested the front 200mm non-PWM fan directly off the PSU and it is quiet enough at full speed, I will probably let it run full speed, especially since it has to pull through a filter, so I can run the other fans on PWM. It draws only 0.3A so the front fan header can easily handle it. If full speed should prove to be too loud (and I doubt it will), I can always throw in a speed reducing resistor. Another option would be to run all the fans on voltage control so all can have their speeds adjusted (I just won't have as much control range).

    The side fans will run off the bottom fan header. Since I need to be able to easily disconnect and reconnect the fans so I have a PWM fan hub I modified to two connectors to take the factory cables from the two side fans. See post #62 in this thread for more about the hub. Each of the 140mm fans draws only 0.3A so running two off a single header is still well within its rating. The side fans also are pulling through filters so they also need to run at a faster speed though probably not at full speed unless the computer starts running too hot when I'm thrashing it. Obviously, both fans will run at the same speed.

    The rear fan will run of the rear header. The two top fans will run off the top header and will be connected to it through a short PWM splitter cable and, like the side fans, will run at the same speed. The rear and top fans are exhaust and will run slower than the intakes to help maintain positive pressure (I hope) unless the case temps should rise while thrashing the computer (which will not happen very often for very long).

    Using the MOBO to power the fans simplified wiring them dramatically over using a separate fan controller and will make controlling them much easier. My MOBO has an excellent program (AI Suite II) for accessing many UEFI settings while the computer is running, including the speeds of all the chassis and CPU fans. Each fan header can be controlled independently of the other headers. The speeds can be set to adjust according to temperature so I won't need to run the fans any faster than necessary. Once set, I can forget about it and just monitor CPU temps.

    My current case has two 120mm front and one 120mm side intake fans and one 120mm back and one 140mm top exhaust fans. Despite the case being rather crowded, the fans do fairly well at keeping case temps down so I should have plenty of fans in the new case.
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  8. Posts : 9,600
    Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #318

    I finally decided the paint on the shroud was dry enough so I put on the magnetic strips that will hold it to the PSU.

    Here is what the PSU area looks like without the shroud.

    Got a New Case!-img_0001.jpg

    The lower arrow points at the reason I decided to cover both the PSU and the cables coming off the PSU. It just galled me to no end to have that label on top sticking out like a sore thumb and couldn't remove it without voiding the seven year warranty.

    The upper arrow points at the flange that helps to keep the PSU in place. Since the shroud has to go over that flange, I needed to space the shroud 1/8" above the PSU. The quick and dirty way to do so that was to get some 1/8" magnetic tape. Here is the tape applied to the underside of the top of the shroud.

    Got a New Case!-img_0004.jpg

    I goofed and cut the tape to go on most of the length of the shroud when all I needed was to put on the PSU end. It's not hurting anything to be too long and I might damage the paint if I tried to pull it off, not to mention have problems resticking it, so I'm leaving it alone.

    Here is the shroud in place. I was surprised how strong the tape is holding the shroud to the PSU. I need to get some artists' fixative spray before I make and apply the label (maybe tomorrow if I have time while running errands).

    Got a New Case!-img_0005.jpg

    Going off topic, I found a neat little trick after I cleaned out my present rig a couple of mornings ago. Dust is a huge problem where I live—if there was a market for it, I'd be (ahem) filthy rich!)—and my rig is a huge dust magnet. I had to clean the outside of the case off again about an hour after the initial cleaning, which is understandable since I clean the case in place rather than lug it outside; frequent cleaning keeps down the amount of dust that gets blown into the room. Later in the day, I had to dust the outside of the case again; either that or plow it and plant potatoes. I got a little P.O.ed and used some el cheapo (aka store brand) furniture polish on it. That got the dust off but it also gave the finish on the case a soft glow. The plastic even had a richer look to it. After two days, there is barely any dust on it. The front grill, where the front intake filter is, usually shows dust fairly quickly but I can't see any today. The same is true of the side filter although the grill is coarse enough to let me see the filter foam inside and it has a nice collection of dust starting to build up.

    I did the same for my flat bed scanner at the same time and, again, there is very little dust buildup. Everything else in the area is showing a fair collection. Pity I can't use the polish on the monitor and TV screens.
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  9. Posts : 24,479
    Windows 7 Ultimate X64 SP1
       #319

    The Shroud of Kingman looks Very Pro Jeannie.

    Good tip on the polish for the case. It's a bit like Armor-All on vinyl in a car. Be careful though the stuff will be slippery making it a bit hard to hang on to when you do lug it. Stuff like Pledge may have a lot more oil than the cheap store brand and actually better in this case.
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  10. Posts : 9,600
    Win 7 Ultimate 64 bit
    Thread Starter
       #320

    Britton30 said:
    The Shroud of Kingman looks Very Pro Jeannie.

    Good tip on the polish for the case. It's a bit like Armor-All on vinyl in a car. Be careful though the stuff will be slippery making it a bit hard to hang on to when you do lug it. Stuff like Pledge may have a lot more oil than the cheap store brand and actually better in this case.
    Thanks for the advice. I have to remove the side panels to be able to lug the 650D around (it's amazing how much that sound dampening foam on the side panels weigh) so I am able to get a good grip on the top flanges. I have been able to handle the old case but I'm about ready to start pulling the side panels off on it, too, before moving it around to keep my back happier.

    Btw, it's the shroud of Tempe. I'm a long way from Kingman.
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