Mounting SSD's in a the case

SimonMaltby · 22 Mar 2009 at 20:15

Here we go then... my 3 shinny Vertex's will be here tomorrow. (would have had them on friday is some other stupid etailer did not mess me about... at leat ocuk can be relied on

)

I was building my new case and despite it being a massive coolermaser 1100 S I have so many hard drives (8x 1TB 4 1TB Raid 1 arrays) I was thinking that using 2.5" to 3.5" drive bay converters would leave me tight... especially if i decide to go mad and upgrade to 6 30GB Vertex's soon.

So here is my solution.

Built it my self for £6 plus £5 for a Riviting tool

Fits up to 8 2.5" drives and takes up 2 5 1/2" drive bays.

Would be great if one of the case makers added something like this to thier product line. Really nice way of storing lots of small drives.

gary996 · 22 Mar 2009 at 20:23

i guess as ssd becomes popular the case manufacturers will add a 2.5 inch bay

Ben M · 22 Mar 2009 at 20:35

Is that mechano?

SimonMaltby · 22 Mar 2009 at 20:45

Ben M said:
Is that mechano?

No, but i see what you mean.

FreeStream · 22 Mar 2009 at 20:47

Why don't they make 3.5" SSDs :/ Would be able to really up the capacity then!!!

miniyazz · 22 Mar 2009 at 23:57

Ben M said:
Is that mechano?

Gotta love using meccano for odd jobs. Currently I have the subwoofer on my Z5500s in an enclosed space so the heatsink didn't get enough airflow. Solution: bolt a pair of spare 80mm fans on using meccano.

SimonMaltby said:
Would be great if one of the case makers added something like this to thier product line. Really nice way of storing lots of small drives.

I'm fairly sure you can buy similar things. I definitely recall a 2 3.5" bays to 3 2.5" bays adaptor and something for 5.25" bays, but your way makes better use of space I think! Plus the DIY factor.

Concorde Rules said:
Why don't they make 3.5" SSDs :/ Would be able to really up the capacity then!!!

I don't think capacity is really the issue! Just looking at prices, as capacity goes up, so the price/gb decreases, so the limiting factor seems to be expense rather than density - not enough people would buy a 1 or 2tb SSD that costs an insane amount so there's no point putting that many chips in a 3.5" form factor. Plus then they'd need seperate markets for laptops and desktops which would just ramp up production costs. Just my thoughts on the matter.

Theguy · 23 Mar 2009 at 00:07

I wouldnt mind seeing a photo or 2 with that fitted in the case please?

Zarf · 23 Mar 2009 at 03:20

Concorde Rules said:
Why don't they make 3.5" SSDs :/ Would be able to really up the capacity then!!!

Physical size isn't particularly an issue with SSD's. They use 2.5" drives because these are the standard for servers and laptops, which are their main markets.

Nice job on the cage, Simon, 8 SSD's in 2 drive bays is a really nice use of space.

SimonMaltby · 24 Mar 2009 at 00:24

Theguy said:
I wouldnt mind seeing a photo or 2 with that fitted in the case please?

Got the drives today (can only aford 3 at the moment)...

I dont mind telling you taking pics of the cage in the case is far from easy, but here are my best attempts.

Got them connected to ICH10R and they are doing circa 600mb/s read - well happy.

JonJ678 · 24 Mar 2009 at 02:15

I would be too

Similar products exist, but not for 11 quid, and not for that many drives in so little space. Good call on making that, gives the idea that multiple laptop drives in a matx might be worth doing.

LeJimster · 24 Mar 2009 at 09:01

Nice little case mod you've got there. If I ever get more SSD's something like this would be nice indeed.

Elric · 24 Mar 2009 at 12:22

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-000-SR&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=72

This.

miniyazz · 24 Mar 2009 at 16:27

JonJ678 said:
I would be too
Similar products exist, but not for 11 quid, and not for that many drives in so little space. Good call on making that, gives the idea that multiple laptop drives in a matx might be worth doing.

You want to watch out tho, SSDs are fine but lots of mechanical 2.5" drives stacked like that might be prone to overheating!

Elric said:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-000-SR&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=72

This.

Nah, that's just an adaptor so you can fit a 2.5" drive in a 3.5" bay - not good use of space at all. There are ones you can get that put n 2.5" drives in (n+1)/2 3.5" bays, or similar!

Danger Phoenix · 12 Apr 2009 at 11:23

I had seen something like this for around £20:

miniyazz · 13 Apr 2009 at 09:12

Did you even read the above posts? and why the the thread resurrection? i mean, i know it's easter and all, but even so

Danger Phoenix · 16 Apr 2009 at 18:10

miniyazz said:
Did you even read the above posts? and why the the thread resurrection? i mean, i know it's easter and all, but even so

Yes I did read the posts!

Because the posts above did not satisfy my needs!

There does not seem to be a 5.25" to 2.5" adaptor, so I am looking for a solution other than coupling two adaptors together!

miniyazz · 18 Apr 2009 at 00:47

Danger Phoenix said:
Yes I did read the posts!

Because the posts above did not satisfy my needs!

There does not seem to be a 5.25" to 2.5" adaptor, so I am looking for a solution other than coupling two adaptors together!

Sorry, I thought you were putting forward advice for the OP, my bad.
Personally I haven't come across one that does what you want, I myself am using two adapters to fit a 2.5" drive in a 5.25" slot.

rypt · 18 Apr 2009 at 01:05

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CM-004-LL&groupid=701&catid=209&subcat=1295

Or if you're special you get http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CM-009-LL&groupid=701&catid=209&subcat=1296 which does the same thing for £4 more.

Anyway, I prefer adhesive to rivets