There are loads of HDD enclosure in the market, but hardly any of them have active cooling to keep the hard disk temperature under control. Antec came out with its active cooled hard disk casing named as Antec MX-1. Loaded with a fan of diameter 70~80mm and has e-SATA and USB 2.0 connectivity. The casing is pretty big compared to rest of the hard disk enclosure in the market, and I assume it’s the biggest one I have ever seen. Quality of the product is excellent, as expected from antec and has a good finish to it.
Now lets check out the drive and see if the active cooling is effective or not.
Packaging
The casing comes in a well packed box.
Comes with all the necessary cables
[BREAK=Casing]
Casing
Lets take a look at the exterior of the enclosure.
The Dimensions of the casing is 21.9 x 14.6 x 5.7 cm. As said above the finish of the product is excellent. It has two layered plastic with aluminum structure to absorb HDD and fan noise.
In the back it has the exhaust vent and necessary ports (Power, USB, e-SATA and power switch)
Comes with a stand to the mount the casing vertically. The stand also has rubber feets in the bottom.
Has 4 rubber feets in the bottom. The small screw in the right hand center of the casing when removed allows us to open the casing.
Antec logo
[BREAK=Installation]
Installation
The screw in the bottom of the casing has to be removed first.
Once the screw is removed, turn over and slide the top cover of the casing as shown in the pic.
Once the cover is removed it reveals the interior, the drive mount with fan and the control board. The drive mount has silicone pad to absorb HDD noise. Also one can see the sata connectors in the control board.
To remove the drive mount, remove the screw in the left and right side of the drive mount. Also remove the drive led plug connection in the right.
Slide in the SATA drive and align it to the SATA connectors on the control board and attach the drive to it.
Turn over carefully and screw in the given screws into the holes cushioned with silicon.
Once the hard disk is fitted firmly, put back the drive mount into the enclosure and put back the drive led plug connection.
Close the top cover and put back the screw from the bottom.
Once the power button is switched ON, the LED will start glowing. IMO, they could have placed the LED in a visible place, i didn't find it in the first place, had to search for it.
[BREAK=Testing]
Testing
I used Simpli Software's HD Tach to test the read speed, burst speed and random access. To find the average transfer speed i used Total Commander. The drive used in the Casing is Seagate 320GB SV 35.2.
HD Tach Scores:
System:
e-SATA:
USB 2.0:
Total Commander:
e-SATA:
USB 2.0:
Summary:
Temperature and Noise:
After an hour of data transfer between the drives in my system and the drive in MX-1. I was surprised to see the temperature of the drive in the case is almost same as the drives in the system.
Noise level without the hard disc is rated at 20db, yes the fan is very quiet, and even with the hard disc mounted i couldn't hear much of a noise.
[BREAK=Conclusion]
Conclusion
The performance of Antec MX-1 is similar to any other e-SATA casings from reputed, but the active cooling and the noise dampening sytem makes it stand apart from other casings in the market. Available in itdepot for Rs.3819/- and it comes with 3 yrs warranty from antec, i find it decent when compared to the e-SATA casings from other brands.
Thanks to Mr.Vinod of Cyber Space Abacus for giving me this drive for the review.
My next review will be on Antec P182 SE
Now lets check out the drive and see if the active cooling is effective or not.
Packaging
The casing comes in a well packed box.
Comes with all the necessary cables
[BREAK=Casing]
Casing
Lets take a look at the exterior of the enclosure.
The Dimensions of the casing is 21.9 x 14.6 x 5.7 cm. As said above the finish of the product is excellent. It has two layered plastic with aluminum structure to absorb HDD and fan noise.
In the back it has the exhaust vent and necessary ports (Power, USB, e-SATA and power switch)
Comes with a stand to the mount the casing vertically. The stand also has rubber feets in the bottom.
Has 4 rubber feets in the bottom. The small screw in the right hand center of the casing when removed allows us to open the casing.
Antec logo
[BREAK=Installation]
Installation
The screw in the bottom of the casing has to be removed first.
Once the screw is removed, turn over and slide the top cover of the casing as shown in the pic.
Once the cover is removed it reveals the interior, the drive mount with fan and the control board. The drive mount has silicone pad to absorb HDD noise. Also one can see the sata connectors in the control board.
To remove the drive mount, remove the screw in the left and right side of the drive mount. Also remove the drive led plug connection in the right.
Slide in the SATA drive and align it to the SATA connectors on the control board and attach the drive to it.
Turn over carefully and screw in the given screws into the holes cushioned with silicon.
Once the hard disk is fitted firmly, put back the drive mount into the enclosure and put back the drive led plug connection.
Close the top cover and put back the screw from the bottom.
Once the power button is switched ON, the LED will start glowing. IMO, they could have placed the LED in a visible place, i didn't find it in the first place, had to search for it.
[BREAK=Testing]
Testing
I used Simpli Software's HD Tach to test the read speed, burst speed and random access. To find the average transfer speed i used Total Commander. The drive used in the Casing is Seagate 320GB SV 35.2.
HD Tach Scores:
System:
e-SATA:
USB 2.0:
Total Commander:
e-SATA:
USB 2.0:
Summary:
Temperature and Noise:
After an hour of data transfer between the drives in my system and the drive in MX-1. I was surprised to see the temperature of the drive in the case is almost same as the drives in the system.
Noise level without the hard disc is rated at 20db, yes the fan is very quiet, and even with the hard disc mounted i couldn't hear much of a noise.
[BREAK=Conclusion]
Conclusion
The performance of Antec MX-1 is similar to any other e-SATA casings from reputed, but the active cooling and the noise dampening sytem makes it stand apart from other casings in the market. Available in itdepot for Rs.3819/- and it comes with 3 yrs warranty from antec, i find it decent when compared to the e-SATA casings from other brands.
Thanks to Mr.Vinod of Cyber Space Abacus for giving me this drive for the review.
My next review will be on Antec P182 SE
