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3.5" hard drive enclosure with fan
Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2022 8:18 am
by Jim Zipp
I'm looking for suggestions for a good case with fans for my 3.5" drives. I've been using Burly Drives from MacGuru for years and they are ok but weight a ton and are huge. I use these drives as more or less a main drive as I work in 2 locations and constantly back it up to computers in both of my offices so it travels in my brief case with me.
Any suggestions? Not looking for a cheap unit, just one that is reliable and has efficient cooling. Thanks, Jim
Posted: Sun Nov 13, 2022 11:05 pm
by photoman4343
Jim, I have two 3.5 inch external hard drive cases with fans built in. Here are the details on the model I use:
The external hard drive cases I got are made by Rosewill, model RX-358 U3C, 3.5 inch SATA to USB 3.0 & eSATA. You can fit any 3.5 inch drive into it. The 8 TB limitation sometimes found in documentation is somewhat misleading. I installed a 14 TB and a 12 TB.
I hope you can find this model. Some newer Rosewill cases with fans do not work with 14 TB drives or 12 TB drives.
Another option is to just buy an aluminum external hard drive case without a fan and then buy a very small fan that you can put right next to the case to keep it cool. I do this too.
When you search for external hard drive cases try and get ones that have ports that support faster transfer speeds. USB 3.1 is faster than USB3.0.
Other brands to look at are Sabrent and Orico to just name two. I got mine at NewEgg
Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2022 7:34 am
by Jim Zipp
Thanks Joe. I do have 14TB drives in mine and the way I move it around a built in fan is a must. I'll check out the brands you mentioned. A quick check finds your first suggestion out of stock everywhere. I'm not in a rush as Mine are all working at this time but would love to find a unit a little smaller and lighter. The Burly drives are tanks! Thanks, Jim
PS. Can't wait for solid state drives of high capacity to become more affordable.
Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2022 12:11 pm
by photoman4343
I was afraid of the "out of stock" for that Rosewill model. It may no longer be available. I tried a newer Rosewill model but it would not work with the 14 TB drive. I will look for more info when I am on my desktop and see if I have a file note about another case with a fan. Good luck!
Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2022 6:25 pm
by schlansker
I am pretty happy with the Probox unit. I have installed an ESATA card in my PC and backup transfers are much faster using ESATA than USB 3. It works fine with 18TB drives.
Mediasonic PROBOX 4 Bay 3.5” SATA Hard Drive Enclosure – USB 3.0 & eSATA Support 18TB HDD
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09WP ... UTF8&psc=1