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Mounting 2.5" HDDs behind the motherboard, safe?

xeromynd
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I have an R5, and have been daydreaming about ways to make it even more minimal, and have all drive cages removed from the right side of the case. (No 5.25" cage, and neither of the 2.5" cages)

 

This would mean having two rear-mounted 2.5" hard drives. Do you think heat buildup would be too much? I can grommet the screw holes, so vibrations "shouldn't" (hopefully) be a problem.

 

I realize SSDs are a safer possibility for this, but that's not the kind of $$$ I'm looking to spend on data drives at the moment. Boot drive is m.2 on the motherboard.

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are HDDs generating heat ?

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A little bit, yes. 

I can check later today (they are in the 3.5" cage now). Do WD blacks have any kind of temperature monitoring?

Else I can use the two temp cables that came with my Commander Mini to check, but that won't be until my new build is finished.

CPU  5820k - 4.0GHz @ 1.27V  |  MOBO X99-Pro  |  RAM 16GB Ballistic @ 2133MHz  |  PSU HX750i 

 

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I have an R5, and have been daydreaming about ways to make it even more minimal, and have all drive cages removed from the right side of the case. (No 5.25" cage, and neither of the 2.5" cages)

 

This would mean having two rear-mounted 2.5" hard drives. Do you think heat buildup would be too much? I can grommet the screw holes, so vibrations "shouldn't" (hopefully) be a problem.

 

I realize SSDs are a safer possibility for this, but that's not the kind of $$$ I'm looking to spend on data drives at the moment. Boot drive is m.2 on the motherboard.

do you have a air tower or a liquid cooler

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do you have a air tower or a liquid cooler

 

Air with sufficient airflow (not that it would really reach the back of the motherboard tray though), CPU is an AIO. No custom loop if that's what you mean.

 

**EDIT** when I say "yes they get a bit hot" I mean a bit "warm." Also should be noted that i DO have all my drives in one cage at the moment, so that is probably contributing to heat. (3 WD blacks on top of eachother and one ssd)

CPU  5820k - 4.0GHz @ 1.27V  |  MOBO X99-Pro  |  RAM 16GB Ballistic @ 2133MHz  |  PSU HX750i 

 

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Air with sufficient airflow, CPU is AIO though. No custom loop if that's what you mean.

i was wondering because if you have a air cooler the vibrations would be horrible and if you have a crappy water same problem. What gpu do you have and is it reference or is it not reference.

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Air with sufficient airflow (not that it would really reach the back of the motherboard tray though), CPU is an AIO. No custom loop if that's what you mean.

H100i should be fine and what cooer is the 960 using

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i was wondering because if you have a air cooler the vibrations would be horrible and if you have a crappy water same problem. What gpu do you have and is it reference or is it not reference.

 

EVGA GTX 760 with plans to go to a 980 in the future, why?

 

To clarify, I'm asking about heat behind the motherboard being an issue from two mechanical drives. All other temps at load are fine with my current setup. (GPU, CPU etc...)

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EVGA GTX 760 with plans to go to a 980 in the future, why?

 

To clarify, I'm asking about heat behind the motherboard being an issue from two mechanical drives. All other temps at load are fine with my current setup. (GPU, CPU etc...)

i know i am talking about how heat will be fine but the vibrations are the issue and fans make vibs

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i know i am talking about how heat will be fine but the vibrations are the issue and fans make vibs

 

All case and radiator fans have gaskets, no need to worry about fan vibrations. Like I said, I have rubber grommets for the 2.5" drives if necessary, I'd think those should help.

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All case and radiator fans have gaskets, no need to worry about fan vibrations. Like I said, I have rubber grommets for the 2.5" drives if necessary, I'd think those should help.

yes then it would be fine what specific drives are you planning to put in there

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yes then it would be fine what specific drives are you planning to put in there

 

Not sure yet, two 1TB 2.5"s behind the motherboard (I've had good experiences with Seagate 2.5"s) and two m.2 drives (eventually) on the board.

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Not sure yet, two 1TB 2.5"s behind the motherboard (I've had good experiences with Seagate 2.5"s) and two m.2 drives (eventually) on the board.

i would reccomend hgst/hitachi as there mtbf is low and with vibrations that would be a good idea

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If they're low-power drives then you should be all right. Something like the WD Green or Red or X from some other brand (I'm not very familiar with other 2.5 inch drives) would be good behind the motherboard tray. Most definitely not a WD Black or Velociraptor, nor a Seagate Cheetah, they will generate a sizeable amount of heat that should be dealt with by active cooling.

 

As far as vibrations go, you could mount them with velcro or double-sided tape on the back which will help dampen the vibrations. Get good-strength stuff and you won't have to worry about them falling off.

 

Mounting them vertically or horizontally won't matter.

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I have an R5, and have been daydreaming about ways to make it even more minimal, and have all drive cages removed from the right side of the case. (No 5.25" cage, and neither of the 2.5" cages)

 

This would mean having two rear-mounted 2.5" hard drives. Do you think heat buildup would be too much? I can grommet the screw holes, so vibrations "shouldn't" (hopefully) be a problem.

 

I realize SSDs are a safer possibility for this, but that's not the kind of $$$ I'm looking to spend on data drives at the moment. Boot drive is m.2 on the motherboard.

 

It can be a concern depending on how hard you're hitting the drives and how good the airflow is in your case otherwise. You can monitor the temperatures using something like CPU-Z HWMonitor or something like that to make sure they're not getting too hot. For example for the WD Blue, they can safely operate up to 60C, but you'd want to make sure it doesn't warmer than the mid 40C. If it does, you'll need to relocate it.

 

Another option is to put it in an eSATA external enclosure -- yes you can use them as a boot device. Since you're wanting to run 2 of them, you should be able to find an enclosure that supports it. Just find one that also provides a fan to keep things cool.

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It can be a concern depending on how hard you're hitting the drives and how good the airflow is in your case otherwise. You can monitor the temperatures using something like CPU-Z HWMonitor or something like that to make sure they're not getting too hot. For example for the WD Blue, they can safely operate up to 60C, but you'd want to make sure it doesn't warmer than the mid 40C. If it does, you'll need to relocate it.

 

Another option is to put it in an eSATA external enclosure -- yes you can use them as a boot device. Since you're wanting to run 2 of them, you should be able to find an enclosure that supports it. Just find one that also provides a fan to keep things cool.

 

I won't be booting to either of them. One will be primarily a backup drive that only ever gets used when I decide to make some backups of files, so that one will hardly ever get used. The other one would be my audio drive, which is only in use when I'm working on an audio project. System drive would be through m.2 drive on the board.

 

As far as what drives to actually get, I'd be looking at 1TB, 7200RPM at minimum, 2.5" obviously. All I can seem to get on Newegg are the following (well, the only ones that have a decent amount of reviews anyway)

 

Seagate "Laptop" Drives  - Not on newegg, and not sure how good they are.

http://www.seagate.com/products/laptop-mobile-storage/laptop-internal-drives/laptop-hdd/

 

HGST Travelstar 1TB 7200RPM SATAIII

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA2W02KN0922&cm_re=2.5%22_1tb_7200-_-22-145-881-_-Product

 

My gut tells me to go with HGST on this one.

 

Luckily I think my corsair commander kit came with some temperature monitoring cables, so I could hook those up behind the motherboard if necessary. I know I could do external drives, but I'd really like to keep everything in the case if possible. If this isn't all feasible though, I can still obviously stay with my 3.5" drives.

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I have an R5, and have been daydreaming about ways to make it even more minimal, and have all drive cages removed from the right side of the case. (No 5.25" cage, and neither of the 2.5" cages)

 

This would mean having two rear-mounted 2.5" hard drives. Do you think heat buildup would be too much? I can grommet the screw holes, so vibrations "shouldn't" (hopefully) be a problem.

 

I realize SSDs are a safer possibility for this, but that's not the kind of $$$ I'm looking to spend on data drives at the moment. Boot drive is m.2 on the motherboard.

 

 

Hey xeromynd,
 
As long as you allow proper airflow for all your parts, the drives are firmly mounted to the case and don't cause any vibrations and cables are properly distributed, you shouldn't have any problems mounting them anywhere. Modern drives can actually work in almost any position as long as they are not influenced by any vibrations. I would advise you to check the drives' manual to see their recommended working temperature. What drives are you using?
 
Captain_WD.

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Hey xeromynd,
 
As long as you allow proper airflow for all your parts, the drives are firmly mounted to the case and don't cause any vibrations and cables are properly distributed, you shouldn't have any problems mounting them anywhere. Modern drives can actually work in almost any position as long as they are not influenced by any vibrations. I would advise you to check the drives' manual to see their recommended working temperature. What drives are you using?
 
Captain_WD.

 

 

Thanks Captain.

 

I don't have the drives yet, but they'd need to be 1TB - 2.5" - 7200RPM - SATA6.0 GB/s .

 

SSDs would obviously work too, and be much more on the safe side as far as temperatures and vibrations (none) go, but that's some serious $$$$$. Only in a world where I can grow dollars in my backyard.

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Thanks Captain.

 

I don't have the drives yet, but they'd need to be 1TB - 2.5" - 7200RPM - SATA6.0 GB/s .

 

SSDs would obviously work too, and be much more on the safe side as far as temperatures and vibrations (none) go, but that's some serious $$$$$. Only in a world where I can grow dollars in my backyard.

 

 

HDDs do have spinning parts and thus some vibrations. If you are not careful with the mounting, they can touch the side panel and cause vibrations and resonance with the case and be VERY loud. Make sure you monitor those temps and if anything goes out of ordinary, test them in their regular places. :) Everything else should be fine with those 2.5" drives (I assume WD Blacks).
 
Captain_WD.

If this helped you, like and choose it as best answer - you might help someone else with the same issue. ^_^
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