The 5X3 Cage review - Norco, SuperMicro, iStarUSA and Icy Dock

[ProfQ]

Hi henris

Nice looking cages. About your fan question, please keep in mind that the link you posted is to a PWM Nexus fan. Norco 5in3s use standard fans. If your cages also use standard non-PWM fans, then you can't go wrong with the Nexus silent fans. Here's the link

 

http://www.nxstek.com/NXS-nexus80mmrealsilentcasefan.htm

 

Good luck

ProfQ

[henris]

From the Greenleaf review I read:

"The stock fan is a 4-pin model, however the backplane provides only 3 pins to power the fan. The good news regarding fan replacement is that any standard 3-pin or 4-pin 80 mm fan will work."

 

Isn't a 4-pin model the same as a PWM fan? And if I'm connecting a PWM/4-pin fan to 3-pin connector I will simply loose the fan control and the fan will run at full speed?

 

 

[ProfQ]

Three pin fans are the way to go, and more so if you want to consider fan speed adjustability via a DLNA or similar fan speed controller. Besides they are cheaper. The Nexus silent fan range is considered a reference low noise (silent) fan.

Hope this helps.

[ironicbadger]

I had hard time trying to find any of the recommended 5in3 cages available back here in Europe/Finland at least at a reasonable price. Finally found these:

http://www.xcase.co.uk/product-p/caddy-53v2.htm

 

I'm planning to order two of these. The total price (incl. postage from UK to Finland) per cage is 90eur (115$).

 

If I have understood correctly these are re-branded Norco SS-500 V2. The next thing to find out is a fitting replacement fan. None of the recommended fans are locally available and I would hate to order anything this cheap over-seas. Could I use one of the following:

http://www.nxstek.com/NXS-80mm-pwm-fan-ultra-quiet.htm

http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product.php?product_id=2943

 

Hey Henris,

 

I'm in England too and have used X-Case before. I'm really curious about these cages too and want to know whether you ordered one or not?

 

I'm thinking of ordering 3 cages and replacing the fans in them also. Where have you got to in your research on these?

 

Cheers!

[switchman]

When you get them, set them side by side just like they will install in your system.  Look at the hole pattern on the side where you attache them to your case.  They are not always assembled the same way.  You can easily change them so they are all the same.  Quality control is not the the best on these.

 

As far as the fan goes, the more air you can move through them the better.  I have the Coolink SWiF2-800 Fan and really which I had purchased the 801.

[henris]

I'm in England too and have used X-Case before. I'm really curious about these cages too and want to know whether you ordered one or not?

I'm thinking of ordering 3 cages and replacing the fans in them also. Where have you got to in your research on these?

Yes, I did purchase two cages and I've been really pleased with them. The overall build quality is very nice and the drive trays connect promptly to the back plane.

 

I replaced the cage fans actually two times. First I got the Nexus PWM referred in my previous post but since the cage offers only 3-pin connector the fan was actually louder than the original since it was running at full speed all the time. The second time I decided to try something different and got these:

SilenX Effizio 80mm Thermistor, max.1700rpm, http://www.silenx.com/quiet.fans.asp?sku=efx-08-15t

 

The replacement fans are excellent, even during parity check temps stay in 35-37C range and I cannot hear the fans (I have 4 Samsung 2TB F4 Green drives in each cage). I guess you could take any fixed rpm fan with similar stats (35CFM, <15dbA) to get sufficient cooling with near to silent operation.

 

The fan replacement for each cage took 7 minutes (I timed it in the second run) even with some tinkering. Just follow the instructions in Greenleaf blog.

[ironicbadger]

My pair arrived a couple of days ago and I'm really impressed. Apart from having to flatten the tabs on my 5.25" bays which was a pain everything went smoothly.

 

I've done a small write up, nothing too serious, on my blog.

 

http://blog.ktz.me/?p=145

[henris]

Very nice review! One note; it is optional to use both power connectors. It would make sense only if you have a redundant power supply with two independent power lines. I'm running these cages with a single power connector.

 

Fully agree about cable management. Even though you normally get only 4 ports from a single SAS HBA channel, it still makes creating a neat cabling a much easier task. In my case I chose to combine a single port from motherboard for each cage to get to 5 ports needed.

[ironicbadger]

Very nice review! One note; it is optional to use both power connectors. It would make sense only if you have a redundant power supply with two independent power lines. I'm running these cages with a single power connector.

 

Fully agree about cable management. Even though you normally get only 4 ports from a single SAS HBA channel, it still makes creating a neat cabling a much easier task. In my case I chose to combine a single port from motherboard for each cage to get to 5 ports needed.

 

This is exactly what I've done. The 2 ports I chose from the mobo happened to be my 6GB/s ports, so guess where the parity drive now is??

[PeterB]

One note; it is optional to use both power connectors. It would make sense only if you have a redundant power supply with two independent power lines. I'm running these cages with a single power connector.

 

This is only sensible if using all green drives.  The maximum current specification for a molex pin is 11A (for a new connector).  As the components age, the electrical resistance (power loss and heat generation) will increase - a potential source of problems.  Using a power splitter cable will only move the weak point in the system.  Five non-green drives can exceed the 11A specification.

 

The multiple power connectors are there for a reason, and it's not simply to do with redundancy.  I run two separate power connectors from my single psu to each drive cage for my own peace of mind, even using all green drives.

[henris]

One note; it is optional to use both power connectors. It would make sense only if you have a redundant power supply with two independent power lines. I'm running these cages with a single power connector.

This is only sensible if using all green drives.  The maximum current specification for a molex pin is 11A (for a new connector).  As the components age, the electrical resistance (power loss and heat generation) will increase - a potential source of problems.  Using a power splitter cable will only move the weak point in the system.  Five non-green drives can exceed the 11A specification.

Which drives would cause a continuous power consumption of 26,4W/drive (11*12/5)? For instance WD 3TB Greens are maxing out on spin up to 10,24W and 4,96W under constant load (source).

 

I assume that short time spin up loading would not cause any problems even with an ageing connector. I'm definitely not an expert on this subject so these were real questions

[PeterB]

One note; it is optional to use both power connectors. It would make sense only if you have a redundant power supply with two independent power lines. I'm running these cages with a single power connector.

This is only sensible if using all green drives.  The maximum current specification for a molex pin is 11A (for a new connector).  As the components age, the electrical resistance (power loss and heat generation) will increase - a potential source of problems.  Using a power splitter cable will only move the weak point in the system.  Five non-green drives can exceed the 11A specification.

Which drives would cause a continuous power consumption of 26,4W/drive (11*12/5)? For instance WD 3TB Greens are maxing out on spin up to 10,24W and 4,96W under constant load (source).

 

I assume that short time spin up loading would not cause any problems even with an ageing connector. I'm definitely not an expert on this subject so these were real questions

 

Yes, as I said, using a single power connector is probably safe if you only use 'green' drives.  If you look at the specification for 'black', 15,000 rpm drives, you will see that spinup currents can exceed 2A.

 

I would say that instantaneous high currents can can cause damage at the contacts and, over time, can result in unreliable operation.  I have experience of molex connectors on single drives (some time ago, when drives were more power hungry) where the contacts go bad and the nylon housing melts.

 

However, my original post was merely to point out that multiple power connectors are designed into drive cages for safety reasons on a technical basis, not simply to provide redundancy.

[henris]

However, my original post was merely to point out that multiple power connectors are designed into drive cages for safety reasons on a technical basis, not simply to provide redundancy.

Point taken, thanks for the clarification.

 

As you said in a previous message, using molex splitters anywhere outside the PSU will not help. Thus you would need two separate outputs for each cage. For a 20 drive system with 4 cages this would mean 8 outputs. I think such amount is quite rare, for instance Corsair TX850M which is otherwise sufficient for 20 drives has only two separate outputs. I think for larger systems the only option to provide safety is to use green drives.

[PeterB]

Thus you would need two separate outputs for each cage. For a 20 drive system with 4 cages this would mean 8 outputs. I think such amount is quite rare, for instance Corsair TX850M which is otherwise sufficient for 20 drives has only two separate outputs.

 

My Seasonic X650 came with eight molex connectors and it is possible to obtain additional wiring harnesses for modular PSUs.

[henris]

My Seasonic X650 came with eight molex connectors and it is possible to obtain additional wiring harnesses for modular PSUs.

I think I'm getting a bit confused. Looking at the pictures below you can see that Seasonic X650 has three individual outputs for SATA/IDE and Corsair TX850M has two. Reading from this thread also a single wire run has a maximum current which has to be taken into account. In the thread it was stated to be 20-24A for 18 cauge wire but this page states that it is 16A for 18 cauge case wiring. Compare it to the 11A for Molex pin and I'm now totally confused. If those number are correct, the limiting factor is the amount of individual cable runs from the PSU and you would not get anywhere near the 20 drives with either of the mentioned PSUs when using non-green drives. Am I missing something here?

 

Seasonic X650

http://images.bit-tech.net/content_images/2010/08/zero-noise-seasonic-s-x-series-fanless/seasonic-fanless03.jpg

 

Corsair TX850M

http://content.hwigroup.net/images/products/xl/126934/2/corsair_enthusiast_tx850m_850w.jpg

[PeterB]

In the thread it was stated to be 20-24A for 18 cauge wire but this page states that it is 16A for 18 cauge case wiring. Compare it to the 11A for Molex pin and I'm now totally confused. If those number are correct, the limiting factor is the amount of individual cable runs from the PSU and you would not get anywhere near the 20 drives with either of the mentioned PSUs when using non-green drives. Am I missing something here?

 

Yes - whereas the connector can be damaged by a short term high current (causing arcing), a wire is damaged by heat.  A short term high current will not raise the temperature of the wire significantly.  The ratings for a wire are given for a steady continuous current.

[leepenny]

Just building my first server and came across these 5x3 cages (i'm in the UK) - anybody have any experiences with these

 

http://www.servercase.co.uk/shop/components/hard-drives/hot-swap-drive-modules-sata-sas/3x5.25-to-5x3.5-sassata-6.0-gbs-trayless-hotswap-cage-isgand35silver/

 

the hard drive cages are the last items I need to buy (3 of them)and am split between these and the icybox 5x3 cages

 

The first option seems to be a winner but would like some input before spending £300 plus !

 

 

[Harpz]

I would also be interested if anyone has had experience with these as was thinking about getting some also. Also looked at the icybox ones as well

 

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk

 

 

[prostuff1]

Those look like iStar cages.  The iStar cages are what LimeTech uses in its build and people seem to like them.

 

I am not a fan of the icybox cages, did not like the way they "felt".  I much prefer the Norco cages over them.  I have not used the iStar cages so can not speak to there quality.

[gnollo]

I own four Norco's (X-Case). The thing is, why would anyone want to use a caddy with no trays?

I killed two new hard disks (I think) by accidentally putting them in contact with another hard disk, when I was using the cooler master 4 in 3.

I so love the fact that the Norco's trays will stop me from doing that again...

[prostuff1]

I own four Norco's (X-Case). The thing is, why would anyone want to use a caddy with no trays?

I killed two new hard disks (I think) by accidentally putting them in contact with another hard disk, when I was using the cooler master 4 in 3.

I so love the fact that the Norco's trays will stop me from doing that again...

I am a fan of trays in my cages also.  The 4 screws I need to remove do not bother me in the slightest

[leepenny]

I own four Norco's (X-Case). The thing is, why would anyone want to use a caddy with no trays?

I killed two new hard disks (I think) by accidentally putting them in contact with another hard disk, when I was using the cooler master 4 in 3.

I so love the fact that the Norco's trays will stop me from doing that again...

I am a fan of trays in my cages also.  The 4 screws I need to remove do not bother me in the slightest

 

The choices available in the UK are limited (unless ordering from the US) - i've managed to find the icydock and icybox and came across the istarusa cages by accident - the norco and supermicro I havent seen for sale in the UK (yet) - personally if I could get the norco's I would go with them - out of the three above that are available which is peoples preference?

Also has anyone else corrupted/damaged hard drives by using a trayless 5x3 cage ?

[gnollo]

http://www.xcase.co.uk/product-p/caddy-53v2.htm

 

this is what I bought, it is a rebranded Norco 5500, and I think the price is pretty good.

[gnollo]

Also, I bought four SilenX Effizio from here to replace the fans on the four Xcase caddies.

 

http://www.pc-cooling.de/Silent+PC/Cooler/Temp.+geregelt/200100245/SilenX+Effizio+80+x+25+mm+-+15+dBa+-+Thermistor+-+L%FCfter.html

 

My unraid server now sits in the cinema room, so I want to make it silent, ideally (although it is not too bad right now, it sounds like a small plane flying in a distance...).

[gnollo]

So I bought the SilenX Effizio from Germany (not sold in the UK) and now the server runs, about 10 degrees hotter than before.

The fans are much quieter than the stock ones, and they do get noisier as parity calculates, so I guess the Thermistor does work (they didn't spin for a few minutes until temperature was higher than the minimum level)

I have setup parity and let it go on for an hour, temperatures reported are in the pic below

I don't like to see red, and I do wonder if 50 is above what I can accept...

Shall I send them back or can I live with 50 C?