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I can see we need to enhance this Forum software with a way to input audio recordings!

This way we can compare empirical measurements of fan noises.

You know, just like my “Fan Club” (real inscription on one of my banker boxes).

p.s.  future “groans” will be instantly censored

You do know the name an attorney gave his new baby daughter?

Answer:  SUE!!

p.s. What happened after you were no longer a “Tech Weenie”?

1 user thanked author for this post.

SueW

As I read his summary, the intake fans have dust filters, so the air they move has little if any dust, once inside the chassis.

By design, the exhaust fan(s) move a lower air volume.

The combination produces an interior air pressure that is higher than the exterior air pressure.

This means any extra interior air pressure is forced out via other small gaps and crevices in the chassis, which prevents dust from entering via those same gaps and crevices.

1 user thanked author for this post.

SueW

This is also my understanding:

“P.S. check your HD spec to see if it needs both 12V and 5V (and each power rail’s supply current needs.) Typically 3.5″ HD needs both and 2.5″ only needs 5V.”

source:

https://www.udoo.org/forum/threads/supplying-power-to-3-5-inch-hdd.6992/

repeating:

That web page says:

“This is an eSATA 2.5 inch HDD High Speed Cable with USB Power and eSATA DATA transfer Cable.”

Yes!

Then, the only outstanding question is the amount of DC power provided by the chipset to that powered eSATA port.

The link you provided to that cable’s specs does mention 2.5″ HDD, but it does not mention 3.5″ HDDs.

Don’t 3.5″ HDDs require MORE DC power than 2.5″ HDDs?

Have you tried that cable with a spinning platter HDD?

Also, that connector should work with 3.5″ HDDs.

That web page says:

“This is an eSATA 2.5 inch HDD High Speed Cable with USB Power and eSATA DATA transfer Cable.”

This bird’s eye view of an HP Z240 Tower workstation could be easily expanded with:

(a) 2 x 3.5″ HDDs

(b) front card guide (intake fan housing):  see drawing

(c)  4 x PCIe expansion slots, all PCIe 3.0

(d)  an optional PCI slot and PCB can be plugged into a custom connector on the motherboard, at PCI slot cover #5

(e)  counting slot covers, by NOT installing that custom PCI slot at (d) above, instead we have installed our favorite Vantec dual 70mm fan that blows UPWARDS across the PCIe slots towards the CPU’s HSF

(f)  lastly, there is an optional dust filter that fits neatly inside the front bezel

 

See current prices at Newegg for “refurbished HP Z240 Tower workstation”:

https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?d=hp+z240+tower+workstation&N=4016&Tpk=refurbished+HP+Z240+tower+workstation&Order=1

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/hp-z240-workstation-updated-rgs-mac/

Looks like the latest version was announced circa July 2016.

the fan housing behind the front panel is called “Front Card Guide”

One question I have NOT yet asked of that retail seller:

Can they pre-install Windows 10 to an M.2 NVMe SSD

INSTEAD OF a 2.5″ SATA SSD?

With the expertise showing at their Internet website,

I would expect this would be no problem for them —

except maybe requiring a Special Order.

bird’s eye view of HP Z240 Tower workstation:

Samsung M.2 NVMe drive is visible at top/center

I can offer one “refinement” to that policy:

we have been having wonderful success purchasing and upgrading REFURBISHED HP Z240 workstations:

the interiors are laid out with great attention to detail, cable management and such.

They come with Windows 10 64-bit already installed, which reduces the marginal cost of all that hardware to $100 +/- .

The Intel CPUs have integrated graphics, which are more than adequate for our needs.

Here’s one retail supplier:  Under “Workstations” scroll down to “HP Workstations”:

https://pcserverandparts.com/

The money saved, as compared to purchasing comparable NEW workstations, can be applied to adding more DRAM, more storage etc.

The Z240 has one NVMe M.2 socket on the motherboard.

The upgrades we have done with success are:

32GB of DDR4

2 x Western Digital 500GB M.2 NVMe SSD w/ headsink (one in a PCIe M.2 adapter)

front fan and fan housing attached to interior of front panel (cools 1 x NVMe SSD)

dual Vantec PCI slot fan in empty PCI expansion slot

2.5 GbE NIC in x1 PCIe 3.0 expansion slot

not yet purchased:  optional dust filter that installs behind front bezel

And, you said you don’t have a compatible cable with an eSATA connector.

There are similar “slot adapters” that come with 2 standard SATA connectors,

NOT eSATA connectors.

like this:

https://www.startech.com/en-us/cables/esataplate2