Consumer ratings: Cooler Master STB-3T4-E3-GP
Ratings
Category: Personal Computers
Brand: Cooler Master
Model: STB-3T4-E3-GP
Availability: Usually ships the next business day
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Cooler Master STB-3T4-E3-GP Report
Cooler Master STB-3T4-E3-GP Review by Honest John (Los Angeles, CA)
Summary: I'm very impressed with this, and purchased 2 for myself and one for my brother, which probably says more than anything else.
I've had many adapters like this, and so far this one is the best as it fits (crams) 4 drives into a small space with a fan.
It's a bargain, especially since similar enclosures only hold 3 hard drives.
I did NOT have a problem installing it in 2 different computer cases, but things like this can be unpredictable. So as a first step, before loading it with drives, check and see if it fits your particular case and situation. Also some people will realize after ordering that they don't have three extra 5.25 inch [DVD size] slots available, especially in smaller cases. I can imagine people ordering this and only realizing later they don't have room.
Okay, it fits where you'd normally have three DVD drives, but gives you room for four hard drives. The enclosure itself is designed to go inside the computer, but I'm also using one as standalone external enclosure to conveniently mount 4 drives outside my computer. This probably sounds crazy to some, but works well for me when I needed to add hard drives and didn't have any room inside. Take note this is not particularly attractive on the outside, and you need to run both power and data cables to it, but I don't care about as long as I had extra drives and some cooling, and it runs out of the way on a shelf next to the computer.
The fan gets very mixed comments from me: it's quiet which is great, but the airflow is also definitely on the low side.
However, although I can't feel much air blowing, touching the drives shows that they stay slightly warm but not hot, at least during my typical uses, so airflow is "adequate but not great" and definitely better than sitting in a no fan situation.
I REALLY wish the fan had some kind of three-way switch. The big problem with the fan is it is REALLY hard to remove the fan and the front black cover. If you do get the cover off, you'll unfortunately discover the fan itself is not connected with normal fat fan screws, but instead uses some strange rivet-like system. Neither I nor my brother were ever able to pull the fan off without breaking edges of the fan; although one of the reviewers said he swapped fans and didn't mention any problems, so maybe I'm missing some trick ... But using standard screws would have been a lot better.
So based on my experience, if the fan other has problems, or you just don't like the bright blue light, replacing it is somewhere between hard and impossible.
So hey COOLER MASTER! Make a second version of this so it is EASY for the user to both remove the front grill AND replace the fan, and use standard easy to access screws!
AND make a version of this with a faster fan with with three speed switch, which I see is available from your competitors for $6 retail.
Anyway, despite my gripes above, this is definitely a good unit and I recommend it if this 4 hard drive setup is something you want.
Cooler Master STB-3T4-E3-GP Review by Farley X Wilbur (Colorado)
Overall this drive enclosure is a good product and worth the money. As some have said, the fan is a bit slow, but relatively quiet as a result. The design is straightforward, metal edges are deburred and the fit is clean. For functionality, this gets five stars. The one real problem is the way the front is attached. Rather than the plastic snapping off with a couple of retainer clips, the front is screwed on by four tiny screws accessible only from the back, i.e. you must remove the entire unit to clean the filter, change the fan, add a real fan filter or whatever. If you are concerned with keeping dust out or easily cleaning the filter, don't buy the unit. Awkward maintenance loses a star for this product.
Cooler Master STB-3T4-E3-GP Review by jjceo (Greenwood, Indiana)
I build large computer systems and servers with many drives. This drive bay is an excellent way to add four 3.5 inch hard disk drives into the space of three 5.25 inch drive bays. I usually build computers in mid or full tower cases and some have as many as 10 or more drives in them. This module allows you to mount four drives into a shock mounted enclosure that is cooled by a 120x120 mm blue LED fan. This module then slides into three empty 5.25 drive bays and mounts with hardware that is supplied with the package.
I have used two of these modules in two different computers that use 10 drives. One is a WHS 2011 server with 17.2 TB of drives and the other is a six core computer with 16.2 TB of drives. The drives run cool and the fan is quiet and the module has a nice appearance when mounted into the case. The fan is replaceable and it has a cotton dust filter and a dust screen in the front of the module that can be cleaned. You would have to remove the module to remove the filter and this would take some work to do including unplugging the drives and removing and disassembling the module. I liked the shock vibration mounting of the design as it reduces vibration and noise coming from the drives and going into the drives.
This is a great way to expand your computer if you have the space to mount it. I recommend it and it is worth the money.
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Cooler Master STB-3T4-E3-GP:: Description
Easily convert your unused 5.25-Inch drive bays into a hard drive cooling area! Quickly and easily converts 3 drive bays to accept 4 hard drives and comes with a 120mm quiet fan to cool your hard drives. Quick and easy installation and is very stylish as well!
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