About a year ago I picked up a large capacity hard drive for my system, it was to become my main drive, it was a 200Gb Maxtor DiamondMax 10 SATA drive, yeah it’s nice and fast but noisy. I hate a noisy system, I don’t want to hear my hard drive accessing data, I know it’s there it doesn’t need to remind me. I’ve lived with it for quite some time until Logisys sent me their HD-Silencer for review, and now I cannot hear that drive at all. The Logisys HD-Silencer truly is a product that does what it is supposed to do, as advertised. Read on if you want to quiet your noisy hard drive as well…

Logisys HD-Silencer

Reviewed by: Kristofer Brozio AkA Dracos

Sponsor: Logisys

Tech Specs,Features or the Basic Info:

Model #: HS102BL

Name: ALUMINIUM BLUE HARD DRIVE SILENCER

Description:

This is the ultimate solution in hard drive cooling and silencing by using the latest heat pipe technology. This product does not only offer more cooling power but also noise reduction. The finned aluminum heat sink plus 4 heat pipes offer the very best in heat dissipation. The HD cooling silencer is compatible with all hard drive that run at 10,000 RPM or lower. Air born noise is exceptionally low because the hard drive is mounted by specially designed rubber blocks, which stop any vibration noise generated by the hard drive, and significantly reduces those annoying "rumbling" and "clicking" noises that are very common in hard drives.

Specification:

Reduces hard drive noise by over 95%

Compatible with 1" high 3.5" hard drives (10,000 rpm or less)

Compatible with all interface hard drives

Does not affect drive performance

Fits into a standard 5.25" drive bay

Sits behind the bay blanking plate, so does not affect aesthetics

Lasts virtually forever! Easily transferable to your next PC

Manufactured from 100% aluminum for maximum heat dissipation

Rubber mounted blocks for damping

Does not work with cases using slide rails.

Price: $37.99 (From NewEgg at time of review)

A Better Look at Things

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The packaging that the Logisys HD-Silencer comes in is a bit larger than the silencer itself, there is of course quite a bit of packaging in there to protect it during transit. The overall feel of the packaging is that it is very tastefully done with a few pictures and a list of specs and features on the back to let you know exactly what you are buying.

Opening the box up we are greeted with an instruction manual, the instruction manual is detailed and anyone should be able to follow the instructions to complete the assembly of the HD-Silencer.

Beneath the manual we find a sheet of silicon that is to be attached to the HD-Silencer during construction of it, yes you have to actually build it.

Under the silicon sheet we get a glimpse of the HD-Silencer itself, it has an anodized blue look to it, gives me the impression of a massive heat sink. There is also quite a bit of foam padding and separate compartments for the various parts.

Everything is wrapped nicely in its’ own plastic bag or slip cover.

We find another small strip of silicon, various screws, thumbscrews, a self adhesive piece of foam padding, the bottom plate, a silicon foam spacer and the front and rear plates.

Taking a look at the HD-Silencer itself , it is very well made, solid and a bit on the heavy side.

There are spaces on the sides to screw in the rubber anti-vibration mounts.

The entire housing is made of aluminum, it is fairly heavy and seems well made, I see no real flaws or manufacturing marks, attention was paid to the details, that’s a good thing.

All in all the Logisys HD-Silencer seems very well made and designed to dissipate heat and keep your hard drive quiet.

Installation, Testing and Comparison

Ok, for the installation process, this is more of a build your own kit type of thing, this is a good thing sometimes, it makes you feel like you accomplished something at the end of the day. For those that are in a hurry this might not be for you, it does take about 15-20 minutes to get it assembled and installed.

You need to stick the silicon to the inside of the housing, then attach the end pieces with screws and thumbscrews, then you can attach the thin strip of silicon to the rear side of the inside of the housing and then the padded foam piece to to the inside front section.

Then of course we need to put a hard drive in there, I’m using my main drive which is a bit on the noisy side. The drive is a Maxtor 200GB SATA drive, and the silicon liner made it difficult to get the hard drive in, but I got it in.

Once we get the drive in we can fully assemble the HD-Silenceer, which is basically just adding another silicon foam spacer and the bottom plate. You can see how the connectors are just visible through the housing in the second picture. I have to say that once it’s assembled it’s like a brick, I mean it’s solid and the drive is not going to move.

There is one last thing to add to the housing, it is a green ground wire that get attached to one of the thumbscrews and to the mounting screw on your case. I installed the Logisys HD-Silencer in my Coolermast Centurion 532, and I did have to remove one of the slide locks to get it installed correctly. It does state in the documentation that it does not work with case with rails, but that is easily fixed.

The is a nice Logisys logo on the front of the HD-Silencer, that you really don’t see because your case is closed, and it is behind a bay cover, but cool nonetheless. I had no problems with the installation, the screws went right in actually.

For testing I have temps before and after installation. As for being silent I can tell you I cannot hear the drive at all anymore, it is now truly silent.

My ambient temp is 31C, yeah it’s hot here now.

I got a temp reading of 37C for the hard drive according to MBM without the HD-Silencer, with the HD-Silencer installed MBM told me that my drive was 40C. I did expect a rise in temperatures as there is no air flow, but 3 degrees is not bad at all. I can give up the three degrees to have a truly silent hard drive, this would be great if installed in an HTPC system where you want everything silent.

Summary:

While some may not like the idea of having to actually build the Logisys HD-Silencer, I actually did enjoy it. I felt like I accomplished something, it’s a good feeling.

The Logisys HD-Silencer does what it is supposed to do, it silences your hard drive. While it does raise the temps a few degrees, there is a trade off for the silence. The HD-Silencer is an excellent product that anyone looking to quiet there system must have. If you are a modder then you really might be interested in this, I can see having all the hard drives installed in the HD-Silencers and just looking really cool in a clear plexi case or a case with lots of windows. For those build an HTPC you might want to look into the Logisys HD-Silencer as it really does silence your hard drive, and that is something you desire most in an HTPC system.

DragonSteelMods gives the Logisys HD-Silencer a 5 out of 5 score.

Pros:

-Looks cool

-Very sturdy and well made

-Makes your hard drive truly silent

Cons:

-Some assembly required