5.25 Mobile Racks

[Heliocentrical]

I've been looking into 5.25 Mobile Racks for my 5.25 bays since I hate wasted space in my PC. I has anyone had any experience with them? I want to get one that's able to hold both a 3.5" HDD and a 2.5" SSD so I've been looking at these ones below. Kingwin looks like the best option in terms of price.

 

Kingwin KF-256-BK https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BMJ1WDG/

 

Syba SY-MRA55006 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00834SJ8K/

 

Enermax EMK5201U3 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N3R409Y

[BTGBullseye]

Honestly, the build quality of KingWin has historically been extremely lacking. I wouldn't be surprised if it broke on first use.

 

If you don't need the USB ports, (either because you are already using the internal connector on your motherboard, or don't have USB 3.0 on your motherboard's connector) then you might want to get this instead. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817997070&cm_re=5.25_bay-_-17-997-070-_-Product (it also has an integrated cooling fan, which WILL prolong the life of your drives significantly)

 

Syba is a pretty decent manufacturer.

 

Buying the Enermax is going to give you the exact same thing you get with the Syba, so I'd say not to waste the extra money on it.

 

If you really want to have tons of extra storage, you could always go for a 6-bay one... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817198068&cm_re=5.25_bay-_-17-198-068-_-Product

 

Just a reiteration, unless you need those USB ports, (and they're worth the $13 extra to you) I suggest going for the $20 Rosewill docking bay.

[Heliocentrical]

Do HDDs and SSDs roast inside of mobile racks? Maybe I should look for mounting brackets instead. Are there any mounting brackets that can mount both a 3.5" HDD and a 2.5" SSD?

[BTGBullseye]

There aren't any dual mounting brackets that I know of.

 

The don't "roast" per se, but they do run a little hotter than average since the racks are a mostly enclosed area. Even if it wasn't, the 5.25" bays aren't designed to be cooled by the system fans, as they are designed to be an enclosed area. (like a DVD burner, or empty space)

 

The best option at this time for mounting 2 drives in a 5.25" hole is that Rosewill with the cooling fan. If you aren't going to use the drives that much, and are going to use the USB ports, then the Syba is better. Running cooler is better, running less is better, when it comes to HDD/SSD.