Harddrives in 5.25" bays

[IvyBat]

Helloooo,

I have an NZXT Apollo. http://www.nzxt.com/products/apollo/

So I saw you guys recommending to someone that he put his HDD's up in his 5.25" bays, and I was wondering if there's any practical way to do this in a non-Thermaltake Armor Jr. case? Or, really, anywhere but where the HDD cage is right now. I could go for the floppy bays, what's that, 3.5"? Just right, right?

Oh what a good idea! So do you think it'll work trying to put my harddrives up there, or if it's worth taking out the cage and putting the hdd's there (only one is "external" but i wouldn't take off the cover) in order to get more intake from the (optional) front fan I have in there already?

And would doing this heat up my hdd's too much?

Thanks mucho as always!!

[upd]

To answer your first question: Absolutely. There are some metal racks that you can get; I am not sure from where because my dad had some lying around the house. You attach them to the sides of your HDD and then the whole shi-bang slides right into a 5 1/4 bay. Of course with your case, you would put the racks on and then mount the tool-less pieces onto the racks.

Second and the 2 1/2 question: My HDD fit into my floppy drive bay when I tried it out once...Kind of pointless though. Gives the FDD a nice little heated seat.

Third to last questions: Is it worth it? Probably not for the other reasons I am about to explain. More intake from the front fan by removing the cage? NZXT designs their hard drive cages for allowing more airflow to pass in between the drives. Removing that cage will probably allow for more airflow to pass through quicker and unrestricted.

I have an older Western Digital hard drive. It is not the Caviar SE, but rather just the normal Caviar (80 GB). This is the HDD that I have mounted on the racks. The HDD, not being the SE version, already runs VERY hot, so putting it up on those racks below the optical drive will increase the chances of your drive overheating; at least in my case (no pun intended). Keeping the HDD in cage will of course keep the drive much cooler, and I would rather do that, I'm just too lazy right now.

The final thing that you can do if you REALLY REALLY want to have your HDD located up there is to use a hard drive cooler, specifically one that adapts your hard drive to fit in a 5 1/4" space. An example of a product that does this is the Thermaltake Hardcano 14 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811999148). This will add another fan to your case, but will most certainly be worth it in the long run when it comes to the life span of your HDD. (I am not promoting this product for you to use, it is just an example)

I am praying for that drive on the racks to die anyway so I can get a new one. :|

[SHaCK]

I got a few 3.5" to 5.25" rack from directron a while back, cheap as hell and when i say cheap it's dirt cheap lol. The mounting holes are not even stripped, I just used bigger screws and forced them in. At 0.99$ it's a decent bargain, but still cheap as hell.

I can't seem to find them on their site, but i still have some laying around, we can work something out if you want. Just ask for pics

[IvyBat]

hmm yeah
so my hdd's (with the fan blowing over them) run at 31C and 40C according to this HDD Health thing that uses S.M.A.R.T. so i dont think heat will be a problem..

i guess i wont do it, we'll see what happens when i put a new hsf on my processor :)