NVMe: 2.5" SFF drives working in a normal desktop

[Paul A. Mitchell]

Here's a copy of the recent message I sent to
Rodney Reynolds of 3dgameman.com/

Re:
Antec P380 Case Review | 3dGameMan.com

Hello Rodney,

Several years back, I got so tired of reading repetitive chassis reviews,
that I decided to head out on my own -- out beyond the bleeding edge.

I had an aging aluminum Thermaltake chassis at that time, and
I hit upon the following combination:

Thermaltake A2309 Case Accessory - Newegg.com

Silverstone FF121 120mm Fan Grille and Filter Kit - Newegg.com

Keeping the dust filters clean is really EEE-ZEE:

turn the vacuum cleaner ON, quick pass over each 120mm filter,
turn the vacuum cleaner OFF -- no need to tilt the chassis
or even touch any of the rear-panel cabling.

I think you could help the industry at LOT by demonstrating
this filter solution, and highlighting the vendors who do
provide simple-to-access dust filters at the front panel.

p.s. On some really ol' Antec chassis, I even bolted
a 120mm fan to the outside of the left-side panel
-- right over a few super-hot 3.8GHz Pentium 4 model 670s --
and of course added that Silverstone FF121 to the fan.

STILL WORKS GREAT!

Thanks!

MRFS

 

[neo]

Thermaltake and Antec are two brands that I have learned to avoid.

Also, how do dust filters relate to NVMe drives?

 

[T_Minus]

The dust filters are not adequate to provide real filtration, your CPU HS will still require blowing out... sure they stop large particles but not dust, not fine dirt, etc... depending on location I have to blow-out my CPU HS every 6mo or so, with a filtered case completely... just some food for thought If you're using the filters and getting 0 inside it's likely your environment is already mighty clean.

Of course that's my experience and 02 YMMV

Also, you mentioned vacuuming --- I hope you meant using it as a BLOWER If not, wow... you've been lucky

 

[Paul A. Mitchell]

> Also, how do dust filters relate to NVMe drives?

The topic here is "NVMe: 2.5" drives working in a normal desktop."

Others voiced concern about cooling the 2.5" version (see above).

I mounted those Thermaltake iCage enclosures with the fan at the front,
blowing in -- to cool the drives. The filter was mounted on the fan,
to help catch some dust. And that arrangement was very easy
to vacuum -- no need to open the chassis or disconnect any cables.

Because the iCage is open at the rear / interior side of that enclosure,
it should be easy to connect compatible NVMe cables to 2.5" NVMe drives.

This was the setup I used with an older Thermaltake chassis,
which of course was compatible with their iCage enclosure.

If you'll click on the links to Newegg's product pages,
you'll see photographs there.

And, yes, I did also remove cables and open the chassis,
to blow out any additional dust with an air compressor,
about once a year. And, keeping the carpet in my apartment
clean also helped reduce dust accumulation.

Of course, many later-model desktop chassis mount drives properly --
behind fans integrated at the front panel of a tower or mid-tower
chassis, and for those chassis this iCage is not appropriate.

p.s. Just sharing some past experiences here, for those
who may have not considered these issues and
who may want to continue using an older, existing chassis.

 

[Paul A. Mitchell]

p.s. See #239 above, quoting:

"but still there's a question of heating.
"if heatsink is so close to the adapter, it will be difficult to cool it down."

In other words, the cooling fins are right up against the PCB.

 

[neo]

If you are worried about airflow, you wouldn't impede it with an air filter.

 

[T_Minus]

I'm still waiting for someone to tell me how to turn the cards to "max power"... did I miss that someplace? Or, worse, forget !!

 

[T_Minus]

Thermaltake and Antec are two brands that I have learned to avoid.

Also, how do dust filters relate to NVMe drives?

I don't have much experience with Thermaltake.

However, I built for friends/family and myself a little over half-dozen ANTEC CASE + PSU systems ~6 years ago and none had any issues with the PSU, and some are in use today. Not a huge sample size but the case was sleek, very roomy, filtered, and the PSU was "made to fit" from ATENC, some PSU are now replaced with fanless platinum seasonic

 

[neo]

From my personal experience, I don't touch Antec PSUs with a 10 foot pole.

 

[coolrunnings82]

From my personal experience, I don't touch Antec PSUs with a 10 foot pole.

I have built a couple hundred computers using Antec power supplies. The ones that have worked the best for me have been the Earthwatts 380w. I did run into the issue with the smart power units though and that cost me about 20 power supplies. The current units seem to be a little bit better but I do not use their budget lines or high wattage low end models. Seasonic ftw!

 

[T_Minus]

Antec - CP-850

I believe is the one I've used in the past.

 

[Patrick]

p.s. See #239 above, quoting:

"but still there's a question of heating.
"if heatsink is so close to the adapter, it will be difficult to cool it down."

In other words, the cooling fins are right up against the PCB.

Does not help really. The SATA connector is what is blocking airflow to the fins. You can point a fan all day at them, but there is no path for air to travel for 70% of the fins.

 

[TechIsCool]

Does not help really. The SATA connector is what is blocking airflow to the fins. You can point a fan all day at them, but there is no path for air to travel for 70% of the fins.

Lets just water cool them and be done with it.

 

[Paul A. Mitchell]

I've used these Vantec HDD coolers in the past, but for 3.5" form factors:
Vantec Aluminum Hard Drive Cooler with Dual Fans - Model HDC-502A - Newegg.com

Here's one for 2.5" form factors:
Rosewill RDRD 11003 2 5" SSD HDD Mounting Kit for 3 5" Drive Bay w 60mm Fan | eBay

Another:
Evercool Hard Drive Converting bracket for 3.5 inch HHD/SSD Bay HDB-25351

There are lots of ways to adapt the myriad of HDD coolers
for 5.25" and 3.5" drive bays: 3.5 fits in any 5.25;
2.5 fits in any 3.5 and in any 5.25.

 

[Jeggs101]

I've used these Vantec HDD coolers in the past, but for 3.5" form factors:
Vantec Aluminum Hard Drive Cooler with Dual Fans - Model HDC-502A - Newegg.com

Here's one for 2.5" form factors:
Rosewill RDRD 11003 2 5" SSD HDD Mounting Kit for 3 5" Drive Bay w 60mm Fan | eBay

Another:
Evercool Hard Drive Converting bracket for 3.5 inch HHD/SSD Bay HDB-25351

There are lots of ways to adapt the myriad of HDD coolers
for 5.25" and 3.5" drive bays: 3.5 fits in any 5.25;
2.5 fits in any 3.5 and in any 5.25.

I'm totally confused?

 

[noxep]

What an effing joke! I just received my goddamn $4k+ intel P3700 2TB only to find out there are no cables to hook that thing up. Mine didn't come with one probably because its an OEM version. Out-effing-standing. Anyone selling that retarded cable by any chance..?

 

[Patrick]

What an effing joke! I just received my goddamn $4k+ intel P3700 2TB only to find out there are no cables to hook that thing up. Mine didn't come with one probably because its an OEM version. Out-effing-standing. Anyone selling that retarded cable by any chance..?

P3500, P3600 and P3700's do not come with the cable. Only the 750 (hence the story in the first page in this thread. Maybe try @neo for the cable.

 

[noxep]

P3500, P3600 and P3700's do not come with the cable. Only the 750 (hence the story in the first page in this thread. Maybe try @neo for the cable.

Thanks for the hint.

 

[Dsigma]

looks like that Funtin adapter is actually a working solution for us, cableless owners of p3700
when SFF 8639 aka U.2 cables will be available ... | Intel Communities

i just bought one.
can't wait to bring my p3700 alive :]

Bought one too.
The U.2 cables are too difficult to find.

 

[noxep]

I ended up buying an Intel 750 for the sole purpose of taking that cable, just like some other members here. I simply cannot squeeze that Funtin adapter on the mobo since i got 4 VGAs pretty much taking up all PCI-E real estate.