Reddit mentions of EverCool Dual 5.25 in. Drive Bay to Triple 3.5 in. HDD Cooling Box

You can definitely stick with the Fractal series. I did because I couldn't have a loud, unsightly machine setup anywhere in my home. I have my main system w/ 10 Drives + 2 SSDs + 3 NVME drives in an R6. That has a DAS connected with 19 drives inside an R5; 8 stock bays + 3 in 2x5.25 bay adapter + extra 3 drive cage + extra 5 drive cage.

As you are in Europe, you might not even have to pay crazy shipping charges to buy spare drive cages from https://www.fractal-design-shop.de/Define-R5_1. In the US I had to source the extra drive cages from r/hardwareswap but that proved to be easier than I expected. Here is a pic I took before I added the 2nd 5-bay drive cage: https://imgur.com/a/TWL8IB1

Edit: Request for more info...

I have not done a build log as I am not yet "finished" with the build, but it looks like there is sufficient demand for parts info so here it goes:

I have an R6 for my main NAS server loaded with the motherboard, 10 3.5 drives and one SSD. The R5 has two extra drive cages (3 + 5) as well a 2x5.25-to-3x3.5 bay adapter.

The expansion cards I use are:

• 1x LSI 9210-8i with SAS to SATA cables for 8 of the 10 internal drives in the R6. The other 2 + SSD use SATA ports on the motherboard.
  
  
• 1x LSI-9207-8e connected via 8088 cables to two HP SAS expanders powered in the R6 by riser cards which connect to the drives with the same SAS to SATA cables as above.
  
  Additional parts I used:
  
  
• An SFX PSU is important so you can fix the extra drive cages. Don't skimp on this one. You don't need a ton of Watts (I'm using a 600W Gold) but you need quality, you are hooking up thousands of dollars of drives to it!
  
  
• Power splitters: One & Two
  
  
• Power switch to turn on the DAS PSU and reset it any time you need to take the NAS offline (DAS always must be powered on first)
  
• Fan controller for powering fans in the DAS
  
  More inspiration can be found here: https://www.serverbuilds.net/16-bay-das

I added this 3-in-2 adapter to my R5. It works well for me, although I only put 2 HDDs in it, and my SSD. I did decide to upgrade the fan with a Noctua, to keep it nice and quiet. There are probably better adapters out there, but it works well enough for me.

I found that after some usage the door and filter began to rattle and make a little noise. Since the server sits in my living room with me, I took it out and attached the filter over the fan. Presto, no more noise.

http://www.amazon.com/EverCool-Dual-Drive-Triple-Cooling/dp/B0032UUGF4

there are many options, thats just one.

I just added this to my tower, it seemed like the best trade off of 2x5.25 bays for 3x3.5 HDDs, has a fan and removable/washable filter. Fitment was perfect, also comes with a bracket for 4x2.5 drives if you wanted. If you need hotswap ability though I'd look at something like what you have, or I thought of buying this one.

I painted all of the faceplates to match the case as close as I possibly could. All of the front panel components were black:

EverCool Dual 5.25 in. Drive Bay to Triple 3.5 in. HDD Cooling Box https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0032UUGF4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ybi2Cb4W2XVGV

Sabrent 74-in-1 3.5" Internal Flash Media Card Reader/Writer with USB Port, Black (CR-USNT) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GAKX34E/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_g7g2Cb0S7E9C2

Easy but spendy: https://www.amazon.com/ICY-DOCK-FatCage-MB153SP-B-Module/dp/B009HIMZ3G

Less expensive but not hotswapable: https://www.amazon.com/EverCool-Dual-Drive-Triple-Cooling/dp/B0032UUGF4

sure, turns out I have 11, but room for 4 more.

warning, its not pretty, and the pictures are slightly better than potato quality. I don't have a lot of room for lighting equipment and camera gear by it :)

basically, I picked up this case around the year 2000, I had several drives in my main pc so I wanted all those bays, and at the time, all those fans to keep my rig cool.

years later, the thing was noisy and I wanted something else, replaced it with a different gaming case that I like much more, and is much more quiet nearly silent which is nice since this is in our living. I passed the to the server where it is much more at home. these are the drive enclosures I am using, they are nothing special and as you can see the drives are packed relatively tight. those puny little fans aren't much, but they keep the temp alarm in stablebits scanner from going off.

I have a Z400 with 8 drives internally, 7x3.5 with 1 SSD. I converted the top two drives with an evercool 5.25 to 3.5 converter with fan: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0032UUGF4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

To handle the drive management and not get screwed if raid fails, I use drivepool, which is great, and allows you to view the files on another PC using just basic windows if the mobo craps out, has great tools for duplication and managing drives with SMART errors if you also get the scan software.

​

has been awesome and bulletproof for me, recommend it.

Not sure how that works but this is what I use in my air540 with a noctua redux fan: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0032UUGF4/

https://www.amazon.com/EverCool-Dual-Drive-Triple-Cooling/dp/B0032UUGF4/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1525231791&sr=8-3&keywords=hdd+bay+fan

Like this?

For ten comfy drives, Fractal Design Define R5
and two of these.

For eleven drives, three toasty, Fractal Design Define R5, and this.

For twelve comfy drives, Lian-Li PC-A79.

For thirteen drives, four comfy: Corsair 750D, this, and this.

For fourteen drives, five toasty: Corsair 750D, this, and this.

Here's one: https://www.amazon.com/EverCool-Dual-Drive-Triple-Cooling/dp/B0032UUGF4

Does it have to be hotswap?

If not I used one of these for about 10 months

EverCool Dual 5.25 in. Drive Bay to Triple 3.5 in. HDD Cooling Box https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0032UUGF4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_ZRGCCbFJ77584

It only converts to hold 3 hdds. But it's only 25 bucks. And if you have 3 5.25 bays that still gives you 9 more drives of storage. Hell. If you pay for the shipping I'd give you mine as I don't need it anymore.

I only have 1 though. I don't need it because I finally converted to an actual server case that holds 15 drives in a 4u form factor.

I'm seeing those new pictures now, that's odd. You can also mount fans to the other side and below the drive bays? That should actually be enough airflow without pulling them out completely, I didn't realize that was an option from Corsairs website.

Ninja edit: Are those 5.25 bays right above the drive bays? If so, try pulling the covers off for them and rigging a fan there somehow (zipties or string or something). There are better options to do it right (https://www.amazon.com/EverCool-Dual-Drive-Triple-Cooling/dp/B0032UUGF4) but if you want to upgrade cases at some point anyway, no reason to spend extra money. I would bet that makes a big difference in temps

You can also look to get some 5.25 inch bay hard drive bay. Amazon has some for $25

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0032UUGF4?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_image

I have two servers using this case, my old one and my current one. I wish I would have known the R6 had that many drive bays so I could have gotten that, but alas I had my R4 sitting unopened in a box for a year or so and figured I'd use that since I already paid for it. I ended up buying one of these for $22 to get my 10 drives in there neatly.

The Phanteks luxe is solid. Built in space for 6 hdd. There are fan mounts in front of the cages, as well as behind. It also has 3 5.25 bays up top that can be used for hdd. I'd recommend either of the following. They both have fans and filters.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0032UUGF4/ref=aw_wl_ov_dp_1_11?colid=1R50JI9CCOVOT&coliid=I177JLQNQCPEN8

2 Bay to 3 hdd with a 80 mm fan. That said it's a tight squeeze for 3 hdd if you wanted to go that far. If you go with two hdd it would have plenty of space.

Or for future potential, this one.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00GSQMYY0/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_7?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1W7VJMCZRZBUQ

That's a 3 bay to 4 hdd with hot swap and a 120mm fan. Also has converters to put in and if you wanted.

Lastly, the case also has built in space for two ssd.

Cherry on the Sunday is, IMO, it's a gorgeous case with a lot of Modular setup and is great for air cool, but also setup for water if you ever go that route.

Right now, ending tonight, on ebay is one at a current total bid with shipping of around $60. But it also has a nice stack of extra fans with it.
Just search Phanteks luxe.
Good luck.

I just upgraded my unraid server to a Z420 (E5-2650) I got off ebay. I currently have 4 HDD and 2 SSDs installed with room for 2 more HDD. I grabbed one of these to turn the 2 x 5.25 bays to 3 x 3.5 HDD, https://www.amazon.com/EverCool-Dual-Drive-Triple-Cooling/dp/B0032UUGF4. I removed the fan from that adapter (to give me a little more room) and it is still plenty cool. I only have one drive (WD4000FYYZ) in the bracket right now that runs at about 90F and i've only seen it hit 99F at its highest. I'm sure with 3 drives installed in the bracket they would run a bit warmer.

The motherboard will normally come with 4 SATA cables, and the PSU will have all required power cables. The case will have the front panel cables. The parts selected will easily all fit. The WiFi card is a 1x PCIe card and the motherboard has room for 3 (note that if using a dual slot card like a graphics card in the top slot will block the slot below it leaving only one open). You could also get a m.2 WiFi card that installs flat against the motherboard, or use that to install another SSD.

http://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/cases/core-series/core-1100

>"Innovative vertical HDD bracket, which can hold two 3.5" drives or three 2.5" drives, or one drive of each size"

Which you can install your two 2.5" SSD on. It also has 2x 5.25" drive bays that you can get adapters to make space for 3x 3.5" drives for more storage.

After looking at a few more cases I think I should have recommended this first. It is built with sound dampening mats on the inside. The Cooler Master Silencio 352
http://www.coolermaster.com/case/mini-tower-silencio-series/silencio352/
It comes with a front intake and rear exhaust fans already installed and has the space for more drives.

Specs
>5.25" Drive Bays: 1 (the max. length of ODD: 170mm / 6.7 inch)
>3.5" Drive Bays: 3 (1 exposed, 2 hidden)
>2.5" Drive Bays: 4 (hidden)
>Cooling System
> Top: 120x15mm fan x 1 (optional)
> Front: 120mm fan x 2 (one XtraFlo fan (no PWM / LED) installed, one optional)
> Rear: 120mm XtraFlo fan (no PWM / LED) x 1 (installed)

I've used this case on about three builds now. (for friends and family, cheap as possible HTPC builds.)

This case is cheap, and very small. The size is what makes it attractive in my eyes. Well ventilated, larger cases are better for most serious gamers, but if you are just a college student looking for a small cheap case, I recommend this little guy.

Pair it with some new fans, and one of these and this little case isn't so bad.

Just a quick update:

This is what the computer presently looks like:
https://imagebin.ca/v/3wEkyovksy3v
https://imagebin.ca/v/3wElE7Rth5j2

This is the heatsink/CPU cooler I'm looking to replace:
http://www.dell.com/support/contents/td/en/rc1078561/Videos/VideoPlayer/I3aHNvMDE6skbLcTSinAvJL1H3eATLKu?c=td&l=en&cs=aedhs1&s=biz

I've decided to throw an evercool 5inch Optical Drive caddy fan in this for more frontside suction into the case. It presently has none.

https://www.amazon.com/EverCool-Dual-Drive-Triple-Cooling/dp/B0032UUGF4

That space above the HDD is unused and that's where I'd like to try and mount another 80mm fan if possible.

Do you think I could cut out the HDD caddy which is used presently to hold an SSD and place the SSD elsewhere?

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/meteaz/saved/#view=HctD4D

I also have these in it, and they are not on pcpartpicker and are not included in that 625watt estimate. And when I looked again it's actually 628.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0032UUGF4?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00[2]
http://www.amazon.com/EXCELVAN-Multi-Function-Dashboard-Reader-USB3-0/dp/B00J4FJC8I/ref=sr_1_11?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1450366914&sr=1-11&keywords=5.25+media

I've used this to add 3 drives by removing the DVD and spacer:
https://www.amazon.com/EverCool-Dual-Drive-Triple-Cooling/dp/B0032UUGF4/ref=sr_1_14?keywords=2+5.25+to+3.5+bay+adapter+fan&qid=1573668231&sr=8-14

The issue then is that the Dell power supply only has 4 sata power connectors.

https://www.amazon.com/EverCool-Dual-Drive-Triple-Cooling/dp/B0032UUGF4

Not familiar with the z620 specifically, but it looks like it has 3x3.5 + 2x5.25. The above gets you to 6x3.5 and (personally) I would toss in a cheap 30-120GB SSD (or 2) for the boot and use the hdds for vms. Just velcro the SSD(s) somewhere--or if you're feeling fancy drill a couple holes in the bottom of the case to mount them properly. (This would put you at 8 so you may need a sata/sas card depending on your hardware. If you have a SAS port that should add 4xSATA ports.) Then I would recommend a ZFS mirror on the HDDs.

I must be a bit slow today. Your VMs are going to stay on the current machine, but you want to get rid of those drives? I'm just clarifying that you aren't going to be running VMs across a Gb network.

At any rate, it sounds like a stand alone FreeNAS box with low power CPU might suit the bill nicely. Check out http://blog.brianmoses.net/2015/01/diy-nas-2015-edition.html

EDIT: to get enough drives you may wish to check out http://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/comments/29i0j4/for_the_wiki_which_raid_card_andor_sas_expanded

Also, I think with some creativity I bet you can get 6 drives plus an SSD into a Lenovo TS140. It looks like it ships with the ability to have 3 3.5inHDDs. You can leave an SSD Velcroed to the bottom of the case and then add a 5.25 to 3.5 3 drive thingy: http://www.amazon.com/EverCool-Dual-Drive-Triple-Cooling/dp/B0032UUGF4 There isn't much better value out there...

Bingo! Thanks! $25 for this item is actually perfectly what I'm looking for.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0032UUGF4

never tried this product out, but based on what you're looking for, figured it might help?

EverCool Dual 5.25 in. Drive Bay to Triple 3.5 in. HDD Cooling Box

https://www.amazon.com/EverCool-Dual-Drive-Triple-Cooling/dp/B0032UUGF4

https://www.amazon.com/EverCool-Dual-Drive-Triple-Cooling/dp/B0032UUGF4

The USFF has internal room for a 2.5 drive, and a second one in place of the slim dvd.

The DT holds 1x3.5 and 1x2.5. You can replace the full size dvd with another combo adapter, but there are only three SATA ports on the motherboard, you you’ll want something like a Perc H200/h310.

The MT holds 2x3.5 and 1x2.5 and 2x3.5.
You can easily expand that to 5x3.5 using one of these 3x HDD to 2x 5.25 adapters:
https://www.amazon.com/EverCool-Dual-Drive-Triple-Cooling/dp/B0032UUGF4

Once again, you’ll need a HBA for more SATA ports. You can pretty easily add another 2-3x 3.5 drives on top of the stock 2x if you want to put in some work. Bringing the total 3.5 drives to 8x.

You could get this to give you 3.5" HDD bays in place of a 5.25" bay. Or, get one of these dual 5.25" to triple 3.5" adapters!

huh? what do you mean. I just double checked now - here is an example: https://www.amazon.com/EverCool-Dual-Drive-Triple-Cooling/dp/B0032UUGF4

great if you want more storage options internally

I have the fractal define r4. I added this bay EverCool Dual 5.25 in. Drive Bay to Triple 3.5 in. HDD Cooling Box https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0032UUGF4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_PEx7QErjWZOiN

So now I have a total of 11 3.5" bays. Also, it came with an adapter for mounting quad 2.5" drives. I rigged it onto the base of my case. So now I also have room for 4 ssd's.

But yeah, the r5 already has 3 slots on the back of the motherboard for ssd I think. R4 has some too, but you can't actually mount them without removing the motherboard first (aka useless for me).

Just noticed that monstrosity of a case.

Wouldn't it be better to get a Fractal Design Define R5 and add a 5.25" to 3.5" adapter to drop in more disks?

Do you have a general case thermometer temp? To be honest sounds like airflow. Which is overheating your entire computer and your CPU and or videocard, hard drive in an effort to save itself is shutting down. From the panel design it shows through air vents going up and down which if you setup the water cooling to pull "all" heat out would be fine. But you said that you don't have it on the video card? Correct? Also are you pulling heat away from the hard drives? I had issues with some hard drives where they would get really warm and have issue's. The fix was to get a drive slot fan. Something like this https://www.amazon.com/EverCool-Dual-Drive-Triple-Cooling/dp/B0032UUGF4 The theory being creating airflow enough to remove all heat out of the case would prevent the parts from overheating too much. Of course that would mean you no longer can close your door and have the clean facade. So if you want to keep your case looking clean I would try to figure out a way to remove all heat from the case. Not just the CPU and video card which you should already be doing to be honest but from your hard drives. Sometimes depending on your workload even memory.

This might do the trick if you need to put all 3 over in the smaller side.

Yup! Almost bought the DS6 but I got the rosewill off amazon for $86 open box lol. I got the three 3.5 drive adapter that fits into two 5.25 bays on amazon. Adds 6 more drive capacity to the beast


EverCool Dual 5.25 in. Drive Bay to Triple 3.5 in. HDD Cooling Box https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0032UUGF4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_O4VpDb4T4PYVC

I'd get something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/EverCool-Dual-Drive-Triple-Cooling/dp/B0032UUGF4/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1518400997&sr=1-3&keywords=5.25+3.5+hdd