Reddit reviews SILVERSTONE SDP08 3.5 to 2 X 2.5-Inch Bay Converter

Well I guess I'll be ordering now. Quick question while I'm here. Do I need this for my SSD?

Here's one on Amazon for $7.99 that qualifies for Prime shipping. I would recommend it.

Holy crap, I think I have the exact same case.
NZXT, isn't it?

I got this to deal with the lack of an SSD mount.

The best solution is to snag one of these adapters or this one to mount the SSD in the 3.5 in. slot.

But to answer your immediate question... Yes, the SSD will be absolutely fine. I've had them literally taped to the inside of my case before with zero performance issues. They don't move, don't vibrate, and don't care how they're oriented or mounted.

SSDs are 2.5" drives, or laptop drive sized. My Intel SSD came with an adapter bracket to fit a regular 3.5" case slot. Looks like your Crucial m4 doesn't come with one, but they cant be too expensive.

But then I didn't need it coz my Fractal design case came with mounting holes for 2.5" drives as well. Most new/good cases do.

Mid tower is generally plenty room for a 6950. But it cant hurt to check actual dimensions before buying. My micro ATX case fit a 9.8" sapphire 6950 2G. Some cases have a removable middle HDD rack if you want to fit something longer.

EDIT:

• The MSI twin frozr III cards have slightly better cooling and might run quieter for the same load.
  
• 650 W is definitely sufficient if you're not going to OC+SLI. I dont know enough about that particular model though.
  
• That board is highly recommended around here
  

This is a 2.5-inch drive, the same form factor as an SSD. So If your case has mounts for SSDs, it can take your laptop hard drive. If it does not, you can get a bay converter. Install that where you usually install standard 3.5 inch desktop hard drives, and that location will now take the smaller laptop hard drive.

I just bought this one for my SSD, and it leaves me room to mount another if/when I purchase that. :)


Dual SSD Mount

Where is your existing 2.5inch SSD installed? Looking at 8300 service manual (pages 178, 187), it has a 3.5" internal drive bay. It probably already has a bracket to fit 2.5" SSD. To fit another 2.5" drive, you'd need a 3.5" to 2x2.5" bracket.

Have you opened up the machine and looked at your power cable situation and whether you need a splitter?

If you do not mind putting something together, you could use a 2U chassis like this Norco RPC-2304 or a 4U Norco RPC-431 if you want bigger motherboard options. They are 15.5" deep, so you would have a bit of room to spare.

The other option could be something like a Dell R210ii / R220 with four SSDs or 2.5" drives in it. You can get an adapter that allows you to put 2 2.5" drives in the spot for one 3.5" drive (like this) I believe those are roughly 15 - 16" deep as well.

i know what you mean. i have an mATX-based budget gaming rig in a big mid-tower with lots of fans and everything. it's only 3 expansion slots worth of height :P though i do have a video card in there so it's not quite so cavernous

jeez, didn't realize the mounting kits were so much. this is the most reasonable one i can find: Silverstone 3.5" to 2x2.5"

If you're looking for 4x 2.5" in a single 5.25", you could also get a 3.5" to 2x 2.5" adapter to put in the 3.5" slot instead of a 3.5" drive. I wouldn't worry too much about heat for 2.5" drives from laptops, since they usually don't have too much cooling/airflow in laptops anyway.

I'm at work right now but I http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002BH3Z8E/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?qid=1375651023&sr=8-3&pi=SL75 this is the one I have.

Samsung & Plextor are two of the best brands. Intel is very reliable as well but pricey. Crucial is also ok but the drives do not come with management software.

If you need a bracket then you're probably going to want plextor. If you're going to go with more than one SSD then you can buy a bracket. I would seriously suggest you figure out a budget. SSDs get pricey fast.

SSDs are small in size, you're probably not going to be able to transfer everything and it's a difficult process. Fresh installs are the easiest to make sure everything is aligned properly. And you're probably only going to fit a few games on there depending on the size of the games & drive.

A fair amount of people just by a drive to install Steam onto.

Sweet. I can just get a bay converter for a few bucks on Amazon and I should be fine then. Thanks for the help)

(http://www.amazon.com/Silverstone-Tek-3-5-Inch-Converter-SDP08/dp/B002BH3Z8E/)

Thank you so much for the response and info!

I saw this review on Amazon. What do you think?

That person also links to the following products. How essential/necessary do you think they would be to the node-804? I've read some other review that don't highlight suggestions as the review above does. What are your thoughts?

• SilverStone Technology 3.5-Inch to 2 X 2.5-Inch Internal Hard Drive HDD / SSD Bay Converter, Silver (SDP08)''
  
  
• Monoprice 108794 24-Inch 4-Pin Molex Male to 4 15-Pin SATA II Female Power Cable Net Jacket
  
  
• StarTech.com 4x SATA Power Splitter Adapter Cable (PYO4SATA)
  
  
• SilverStone Technology All Black Sleeved 1-to-2 Sleeved PWM Fan Splitter Cable (CPF01)
  
  Unfortunately I'm in a strange situation where I don't have as much time as I'd like to review/research for the absolute best route to go -- and I'm in need of making a decision very soon.
  
  I'm totally cool with building, although I must say that I'm not as experienced as I would like -- however, I will have time on my hands to learn what is needed to build the setup I decide to purchase.
  
  Any and all info/feedback is most welcome! Thanks!

Alternatively.

Looks like that other 5.25" bay is open, at least.

this is the one I was looking at @
amazon

Yes, it does look like each cage has 3. That's the bad thing about larger GPUs, a lot of the mid-tower cases can't hold a larger GPU without removing something.

If you don't have a 2.5 to 3.5 adapter for the laptop HDD you may be able to get a 2x 2.5 to 5.25 for one of the top optical drive bays, or 2x 2.5 to 3.5 like this.

Here is all of Newegg's HD brackets for under $10. Just pick out the one you like.

Here is one I found for $7 that is crappy cheap plastic.

Here is a metal one for $8.

And to finish it off: Here is an $8 one on amazon that qualifies for Prime 2 day shipping. It also houses 2 SSDs.

Yep, I have two!

Could I use this?

http://smile.amazon.com/SilverStone-Technology-3-5-Inch-Converter-SDP08/dp/B002BH3Z8E

Here is a PCI SATA controller card. It has four internal ports and two external. The externals can be used with eSATA enclosures. This gives you connectivity for six of your eleven drives.

For a case, I would use the Antec Three Hundred. It has 6 internal 3.5 inch bays, and three 5.25 inch bays. This allows you to put two 2.5 inch drives into a single 3.5 inch bay.

As far as a power supply, you wouldn't need anything special. Decent 500W would be more than enough. Figure you can use the ATA port on the motherboard for your freeNAS drive. So, 8 SATA drives using the two existing ports, the four internal on the PCI card, and the two external with enclosures, one ATA drive for the software. You can also use USB enclosures should you want to use the remaining drives.

if a case doesnt have 2.5 drive bays you can just get http://www.amazon.com/SILVERSTONE-SDP08-3-5-2-5-Inch-Converter/dp/B002BH3Z8E/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1372469847&sr=8-4&keywords=3.5+to+2.5 or something similar, some SSD's INCLUDE bay converters aswell, read descriptions.

Yep

>10 drive bays, which include: 3x 5.25" external, 5x 3.5" internal, and 2x 3.5" external bay

Most HDDs are 3.5", and most SSDs are 2.5". Note that this case doesn't have any 2.5" specific bays so you will need to make sure that you have a bay adapter (some SSDs come with a bay adapter, most don't). I have one of these Silverstone Bay Adapters in one of my 3.5" bays, and it does the job nicely, plus it turns each 1x3.5" bay into a 2x2.5" bay which is awesome.

Just a note when installing the bay adapter to use all of the bay screws and mounts that come with the HDD bay in your case. I took all of that out to put in the SSD bay adapter the first time I tried installing mine, and was confused and thought it wasn't compatible, but it definitely was.

Does anyone have a solution to mounting a 2.5" drive in a 3.5" hot swap bay.

~~I have seen 3.5->2.5 mounts like
this
and this~~


however they usually hold the drive in the center of the space, not to the right where the back plane is.

Edit, Answered my own question http://www.amazon.com/General-Drive-HDD-Adapter-CADDY/dp/B00F3QFKNS/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1395936089&sr=1-1&keywords=3.5+hot+swap+2.5+adapter