Do drive dampeners actually make much difference?

bremen1874 · 11 Feb 2009 at 02:21

Do the rubber drive dampers you can get to mount a 3.5" drive in a 5.25" bay actually make much difference?

I'm thinking of the Akasa dampeners OcUK sells or the Scythe version I've seen elsewhere. I'm running a Raptor-X and a pair of Atlas 15K SCSI drives so the dampeners that completely enclose the drive aren't an option.

I'm not looking for silence, just a noticeable noise reduction. The drives are currently hard mounted into 5.25" bays in an Antec 4U rackmount case.

I don't want to spend £20+ and find out that there's no appreciable difference.

MikeHunt79 · 11 Feb 2009 at 03:01

Not really, you're better off using elastic to decouple your drive...

PistolPete · 11 Feb 2009 at 10:37

Never used the type you are on about, but the silicon grommets in the Antec case REALLY help. I'm assuming you've got the Take4 case? They come with the grommet in the 3.5" bays. Are you not using them for a reason or are they not quiet enough for you?

bremen1874 · 11 Feb 2009 at 15:14

I'm using the older 4U22 style chassis.

mdjmcnally · 11 Feb 2009 at 15:18

The Scythe silenced my raptor 150G's, even under load never hear them

bremen1874 · 12 Feb 2009 at 05:25

Okay, I've got one for and one against.

Using elastic would be a nice cheap option but for a variety of reasons I don't think it'll work in this situation.

I'm not worried about the noise caused by the drive heads seeking, it's the constant background hum I'd like to reduce.

I'm not expecting 15K SCSI drives to be silent but I'd like to calm them down a bit. At least these drives just hum rather than squealing like older 15K drives did.

In an ideal world (budget allowing) I'd have just bought (not brought

) another Raptor but I had the 15K drives spare and they seemed to be a good place to put my virtual machines.

EsaT · 12 Feb 2009 at 09:21

bremen1874 said:
it's the constant background hum I'd like to reduce.

That humming is caused by vibration of case structures.
(case acts like diaphragm of loudspeaker)

PistolPete · 12 Feb 2009 at 12:18

In that case some kind of rubber decoupling would work for that.

Dutch Guy · 12 Feb 2009 at 15:23

I have both my main drives decouples using elastic from a sewing shop, do not use rubber bands as they dry out and break.

I put the harddisks in two empty 5.25" bays and there is a noticable lowering of case vibrations.

Shash · 12 Feb 2009 at 17:06

I have my raptor x enclosed in a smart drive GUP and it is so much quieter and runs nice and cool, I'd recommend it. They are fairly expensive though :S

Dutch Guy · 13 Feb 2009 at 08:49

This is roughly what I have, cheap and effective: http://www.hackszine.com/hdsilence_20080410.jpg

bremen1874 · 13 Feb 2009 at 18:09

I might try the elastic option. I'll just need to track down some elastic strong enough to support the SCSI drives, I may be better off with thin bungee cord.