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


Whaler_99

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(Doesn't have to be 5 in 3)

 

Does anyone know of a silver drive case that's available? I was going to get the Silverstone CFP51 (but long story mean that I didn't). Now that I want to add extra drives....it looks like it's no longer being made.

 

It doesn't have to be easy to swap drives (would be a bonus) - it just has to be primarily silver since that's the case I've been using for my build. Ideally it would also have a fan to help with cooling (heat is currently not an issue).

 

Edit: Going to try the Lian Li EX-H34S - that seems to be the only option I can find after hours of searching...

 

But that's got a black front or is it just the internals you want silver?!

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(Doesn't have to be 5 in 3)

 

Does anyone know of a silver drive case that's available? I was going to get the Silverstone CFP51 (but long story mean that I didn't). Now that I want to add extra drives....it looks like it's no longer being made.

 

It doesn't have to be easy to swap drives (would be a bonus) - it just has to be primarily silver since that's the case I've been using for my build. Ideally it would also have a fan to help with cooling (heat is currently not an issue).

 

Edit: Going to try the Lian Li EX-H34S - that seems to be the only option I can find after hours of searching...

 

But that's got a black front or is it just the internals you want silver?!

 

It needs to be a silver front as well - I meant the EX-H34A.....but I can see me sending that back as well. 145mm wide means there's an annoying gap around the edge of the cage

 

I can see me getting a 4U case and being done with it....

 

Edit: although I've just spotted the EX-36

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  • 4 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I saw these bare-bones 5-in-3 cages in the Tower Cases thread.

 

Has anybody used them? Have any comments on them?

 

They don't have a back plane of any sort, they're not hot swap and they don't come with a fan, but...

Hot swap would be a nifty whiz-bang feature, but my server isn't so vital that it can't be down for 10-20 minutes.

I've got all the SATA & power cables I need already, so sharing connections would only reduce clutter in the box (which is good).

And I've already got some quiet fans for a home-grown solution I was working on (but haven't finished).

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I saw these bare-bones 5-in-3 cages in the Tower Cases thread.

 

Has anybody used them? Have any comments on them?

 

They don't have a back plane of any sort, they're not hot swap and they don't come with a fan, but...

Hot swap would be a nifty whiz-bang feature, but my server isn't so vital that it can't be down for 10-20 minutes.

I've got all the SATA & power cables I need already, so sharing connections would only reduce clutter in the box (which is good).

And I've already got some quiet fans for a home-grown solution I was working on (but haven't finished).

I have the norco equivalent on my main desktop.  They work, stay cool with the fan, but the one big caveat with them (and tbh pretty non-hotswap solution) is that its damn near impossible to get a drive out of them and replace it without disturbing the cabling to the other drives.

 

Safest way to change / add a drive to them is to remove all the cabling to the other drives so that you are forced to plug them back in (and in the process pretty much guarantee they are making a decent connection rather than a so-so one if you happen to just touch the adjacent sata cables the wrong way)

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I saw these bare-bones 5-in-3 cages in the Tower Cases thread.

 

Has anybody used them? Have any comments on them?

 

They don't have a back plane of any sort, they're not hot swap and they don't come with a fan, but...

Hot swap would be a nifty whiz-bang feature, but my server isn't so vital that it can't be down for 10-20 minutes.

I've got all the SATA & power cables I need already, so sharing connections would only reduce clutter in the box (which is good).

And I've already got some quiet fans for a home-grown solution I was working on (but haven't finished).

I have the norco equivalent on my main desktop.  They work, stay cool with the fan, but the one big caveat with them (and tbh pretty non-hotswap solution) is that its damn near impossible to get a drive out of them and replace it without disturbing the cabling to the other drives.

 

Safest way to change / add a drive to them is to remove all the cabling to the other drives so that you are forced to plug them back in (and in the process pretty much guarantee they are making a decent connection rather than a so-so one if you happen to just touch the adjacent sata cables the wrong way)

 

You haven't seen the rat's nest that is my server. If I'm doing anything to any drive I've got to pull cables, so I'm not going to take that as a negative.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I think I'll order 3 - that should fill up my Zalman MS800 case quite nicely. I promise to take a couple of before/after pictures just so y'all can get a good chuckle.

 

Just curious... 3 bays high is shorter than 1 drive wide, so there's extra space on top. These racks, though, look like they take up all of the 3 bays height. What happens to all the extra space?

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Those cages will work fine and are a great alternative, but having had unraid for years now, needing to swap drives in and out, the "hot swap" cages are so worth the money. They make it so much easier! And in reality, they are not really hot-swap per say. You still need to shut down the server to swap/move/change a drive, etc.

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I'm not specifically sure, as it doesn't explicitly state one way or the other, but I assume it does. Most of these 3x5 units, the backplane is pretty dumb and just passing through signals, so will support SATA I/II/III just fine. I know a couple models state support for I and II and but not III specifically, so maybe there you might have an issue.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

 

looks pretty solid, I might pick up 3 of these

 

Did you read the one scathing review? I'll often discount a single bad review, but this guy gives details that make it seem very believable. I'd stay away. And it is not cheap.

 

Look at THESE. I can vouch for them - have them in primary and backup servers. Flawless locking mechanism. Replaceable fans. Outstanding airflow. Little screws slightly annoying - but I'd buy these all day long. 10/10

 

Want cheap. I bought a few of THESE to use to mount external to my case. They are 4in3 vs 5 in3. Do I love them? No. But they work. I find I have to give the cage a little shove after the latch clicks to get good connection. But since I figured that out, I'd give them a 7/10.

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In another review I did I also commented on the trayless ones seeming to be a bit flimsy one the drive is installed (not very secure) and using a thinner 3.5" would cause issues especially depending on the orientation of the cage.

 

Conclusion, although a pain, almost any of the cages that require you to screw the drives into the tray are going to give you a better, more consistent experience, especially if you are removing and inserting drives a lot for some reason. Just a more secure design overall.

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  • 2 months later...

I recently moved and had to find a place for my server. I settled for a closet off my living room for the server.

.

I have three Norco 5x3 cages in my server and have never modified them. So the fans in the cages sound like jet engines ramping up. LOUD. Even with my closet door shut, I could still hear the server running. Tired of that I finally pulled the fans out of the cages and went with 3 of the Coolink SWiF2-800 Quiet PC Cooling Fan 80mm

 

Proceeded to pull the fans out of the cages and made a few blunders. If anyone is familiar with the fans in the Norco cages, you know that the fan mounting holes slide through a plastic sleeve. I broke one off on my first fan and then two on my second and just a half of one on the third.Wow..I suck. Put in put in the new fans but missed either one or 2 screws to hold the fans in on each one.Powered up the server and wow a huge difference in noise. Quit now. But with only 2 or t3 screws holding each fan, I was concerned about them moving.

I pulled case apart again and took the fans back out. The new fans had come with mounting screws, so I thought I would use those but fasten the fan from the outside in. I took a 1/16 in drill and drilled through the hole in the plastic sleeve. Drilling from the inside out. I then turned the rear mount of cage over and used a 3/16 in drill to drill through my pilot hole. I then mounted the fan back  I could then use the screws that came with the fan and screw from the outside of housing through to the new fan. Nice and tight.

I have attached pictures. 

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Edited by Harro
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16 hours ago, bjp999 said:

Server in a closet sounds a little constrained. Do you think you'll have adequate cooling. I would monitor it to make sure.

 

Was going to make a comment about it coming out of the closet, but decided to keep to myself. :)

Haha...ya the server finally came out.. :) but then went right back in. 

 

I have been monitoring the temps since the fan replacements and it seem that the temp are holding well within specs. 30 - 40 C, When I have no one over I keep the closet door open now since the noise level is very low. So far I am very impressed and also happy with how quite these fans are.

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On 5/1/2017 at 10:31 AM, Sphinkx said:

Anyone experience with the Black Vortex cases from Ivy Dock? You have a regular version and hot swap. Flashy with the led lights but maybe you can disable those..

 

Unlike the super micro mentioned a few posts ago this one has 6 Gbps sata. 

 

http://www.icydock.com/goods_cat.php?id=142

 

The SuperMicros are only rated at 3Gbps because 6Gbps didn't exist when they were originally made. My drives in there report 6Gbps connection speeds. Pretty academic, though, because no spinner can saturate even the 3Gbps bus.

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On ‎5‎/‎1‎/‎2017 at 9:31 AM, Sphinkx said:

Anyone experience with the Black Vortex cases from Ivy Dock? You have a regular version and hot swap. Flashy with the led lights but maybe you can disable those..

 

Unlike the super micro mentioned a few posts ago this one has 6 Gbps sata. 

 

http://www.icydock.com/goods_cat.php?id=142

 

These are superb units.   The front-mounted 120mm fan provides EXCELLENT ventilation ( the drives run much cooler than they do in units that have offset rear-mounted 60 or 80mm fans).   The lights can indeed be disabled -- there's a small slide switch to do just that.

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  • 1 month later...
6 minutes ago, Sphinkx said:

Looking good indeed. But I don't like the 80mm fan. Maybe a bit small and smaller fans tend to make more noise and the cage can get hotter. Especially if you have 5 HD running in it..

 

i thought that the most common fan for for all cages is 80mm... what the other cages use? 100, 120 mm?

 

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