Hard drive enclosures come in many styles and many, many companies make them, but the majority of them lack any type of active cooling which in some cases could be a bad thing for your hard drive. I can understand why companies prefer to utilize a passive cooling solution, they’re trying to keep the size down to keep it portable in an effort to persuade the consumer to buy their product because it’s small and won’t take up much space while traveling. Don’t get me wrong, most passively cooled enclosure do a decent job at cooling but I’m not sure I would want to keep the hard drive powered on for hours at a time in such an enclosure, it’s nice to be able to transfer what you need and then power it down.

Thermaltake has sent me their Max 4 hard drive enclosure that features active cooling in the form of a silent 80mm fan that is only 15mm thick, so it really only adds about 15mm to the overall thickness of the enclosure and keeps your hard drive cool. The Max 4 also features dual interfaces in the form of USB and eSATA allowing you to utilize the higher transfer rates of an eSATA connection if there’s one available. So continue on to check out this enclosure…

Thermaltake Max 4 Active Cooling eSATA and USB 3.5" SATA HDD Enclosure Review

Author: Kristofer Brozio

Sponsor: Thermaltake

Tech Specs,Features or the Basic Info:

Thermaltake Max 4 Active Cooling eSATA and USB 3.5" SATA HDD Enclosure

Features:

-Including 80x80x15mm blue LED silent fan.

-Supporting eSATA & USB2.0 interface – the best performance & convenience.

-Application for 3.5" SATA HDD.

-Blue LED indicator for power and disk activity.

-Made by Aluminum body for thermal solution.

-Transfer speed up to 3Gbps(eSATA); 480Mbps(USB 2.0)

Specs:

P/N: N0012USU

Case Type: 3.5 SATA HDD

Fan Type: 80x80x15mm Fan

Weight: 425g

Dimension: 215x134x50mm / 8.46×5.28×1.97

Material: Aluminum & Plastic

Interface: SATA to eSATA , SATA to USB2.0

SATA compatibility: SATAII SATAI

Transfer rate: Up to eSATA-3Gbps & USB2.0-480Mbps

Power Source:

1) External Universal Switching Power Adapter (12 V 2.0A/5V 2.0A)

2)UL, FCC, CE, CSA Certified

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Accessories:

-eSATA external Cable

-USB2.0 Cable

-SATA to eSATA PCI bracket

-Power Adapter

-Foot Stand

-Fan Dimension: 80x80x15mm

-Current: 0.16A

-Voltage: 12V

-Fan Speed: 1500 RPM

-Noise: 20 dBA

A Better Look at Things

The packaging for the Thermaltake Max 4 is very nicely done, it features many pictures on the front and back along with specs and features listed as well.

Opening the box we find the enclosure itself is wrapped in bubble wrap from protection, along with eSATA cable, eSATA bracket, USB cable, user manual, drive CD, power supply and a plastic stand.

The enclosure is a silver color with black accents, on the right side we find the 80mm cooling fan,

On the back is where we find the connection for power, USB eSATA and the on/off rocker switch with most of the back cover being ventilation holes. On the front is where the LED indicator is and ventilation holes. The Max 4 fan pulls air into the enclosure and blows it out the front and back, essentially blowing air across the drive keeping it cool.

Installation, Testing and Comparison

Installation is very easy, first you’ll need to remove four screws to open the Max 4, then the Max 4 comes with plastic clips, the clips have pins that lock into the existing holes on the side of your hard drive and then you secure the clips to the Max 4 with screws. Then you’ll need to plug in the appropriate power and data connectors to your hard drive, and re-assemble the enclosure with the four screws and you’re all done.

The included stand is a nice touch, and it allows for good airflow as well. The fan has a blue LED in it to match the blue LED indicator on the front.

As for testing and speeds we know that of course the eSATA interface is going to be the faster of the two, so obviously if your motherboard is equipped with an eSATA interface you’ll use that, of you can use the eSATA pci bracket that Thermaltake included .

The speeds are on par with other SATA enclosures that I have tested before so there’s nothing spectacular to report in that area.

The idea of dual interfaces is nice and I think all enclosure manufacturers should take the growing popularity of eSATA into account when designing their enclosures. It’s nice to be able to have the choice of USB or eSATA so you’re assured of compatibility with pretty much every computer out there today.

Summary:

Most hard drive enclosures today lack any fans at all for cooling in an effort to remain quiet, and as small as possible to make it portable thus making it more attractive to the consumer. While we have many options in the way of portable storage, they’re still quite a bit away from the capacities reached by 3.5 hard drives and sometimes you just need to transport large amounts of data.

I for one would rather add a little bit of thickness to the dimensions of my enclosure if it would keep me drive cooler, thus possibly ensuring a longer life for it.

With the Max 4, Thermaltake has created a portable hard drive enclosure that really isn’t much larger than others out there today, it offers dual interfaces and the ability to help keep your hard drive cool, it’s a great combination that I think most people will appreciate.

DragonSteelMods gives the Thermaltake Max 4 HDD Enclosure a 5 out of 5 score and our Recommended Award as well.

Pros:

-Active cooling for your hard drive

-Portable

-Virtually silent

-Comparable to others on market

-Dual interface

-Easy installation

-Nice extras included

Cons:

-None really

I would like to thank Thermaltake for the chance to review the Max 4 HDD Enclosure and for their continued support of DSM.

Discuss, Questions HERE