Computer Fans & Cooling

The Antec MX-1 Actively Cooled Difficult Drive Enclosure is at the higher end of the 3.5" hard drive enclosure marketplace. Nonetheless the advantages of the case far outweigh the expense. Antec are well known for offering high end desktop and tower cases for maximum cooling of internal components.

The overall design of the case is optimised to enable for a minimal footprint with the greatest cooling for the difficult drive. This ensures a great operational life for the hard drive by means of active cooling (a fan is mounted below the hard drive inside the case, consequently minimising the likelihood of the drive malfunctioning as a result of overheating). The enclosure is also backed up using a three year warranty which is significantly longer than most enclosures.

We decided to install a 750mb Samung SATAII drive within the enclosure, and discovered the installation extremely straightforward following the pictorial directions enclosed using the enclosure.

The lid towards the enclosure was removed by releasing a screw from the base and sliding the lid back and up. To be able to install the drive, two further screws had been removed together with two power connectors, and the tough drive mount slid forwards and removed. The difficult drive was held in location similar to other enclosure by four screws. Nonetheless, in contrast to other enclosures, the drive rests on four rubber gromets as well as a rubber gasket, which minimise the vibrational noise of the drive, a issue in less expensive enclosures. Right after this we rebuilt the enclosure in reverse of the above techniques.

The Antec MX-1 Actively Cooled Difficult Drive Enclosure has two interfaces for connection to PCs, a regular USB connection (~480MBps), or an eSATA interface to ensure that it can act as a regular drive towards the method (consequently faster than USB).

We attempted both interfaces and discovered both to be straightforward to connect. Antec even contains a cable and faceplate for mounting in desktop instances for ease of connection.

Following connection each interfaces gave quick transfer speeds as expected for each and every interface, and also the tough drive was immediately recognised in XP and Vista.

All in all of the Antec MX-1 Actively Cooled Hard Drive Enclosure is really a really well created and stable platform for backup devices and supports all the newest SATAII tough drives. We undoubtedly suggest the enclosure in spite of the extra expense for individuals that need a really stable and secure external backup device.