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Thread: SATAMAXI System Reviewed

  1. #1

    SATAMAXI System Reviewed

    Not sure if this is where I should post this but...

    I bought this kit and installed it and have to report that it rocks and works well. The kit comes with a Firmtek Seritek 1s2 card and allows you to mount 3 more drives internally right next to the big processor fans so they get plenty of cooling for $395.

    It seems like the only logical place to have put the system as there is a screw for a mounting plate right on the Mac itself. I'll bet that Apple had planned this upgrade to happen in this very same spot.

    Installation:
    Apart from trying to get the locktite screw out to mount the mouning plate, everything was very easy and clever. One tip, make sure you have a set of allen keys as the kit takes 2 styles a 2 mill and one other size that i didn't have. The power acually comes from the ouput of a Sata drive with legacy and sata power on it. I didn't know that the legacy power connector on a Sata drive outputs power if you input using SATA power connectors, enough to power at least 3 drives. The Kit comes with all the neccessary cables for the instalation of 3 drives but if you want to install 3 drives, you must purchase an additional firmtek 1s2 card for $69.

    After mounting the base plate, you mount 1 mounting plate each onto each of your drives, then mount the drive onto the base plate. The whole thing Fits like a glove at a Martha Stewart party. It's also very sturdy.

    Here is an intereting note: If you plug your drives in in the wrong ports on the Firmtek card than were you had them originally, it won't boot, so keep track of which drive went where fo those of you who have a firmtek card already.

    Also, the fans run more frequently.

    I'm happy with my purchase.

    BEST,
    Christian Choi

  2. #2
    Quote Originally Posted by litemover
    Not sure if this is where I should post this but...
    BEST,
    Christian Choi
    Sounds better than the G5 Jam,
    Just leave it running for a week on 24/7 and see if anything goes wrong....

    I leave most things on for weeks at a time - just to check.

  3. #3

    Danger Danger

    The Sata maxi raid faiiled on me last night!

    Was doing some heavy rendering in AE and all of the sudden after 6 hours, the machine thermaled on me, I think. The on button was still on but everything went black, I pushed the on button on again an everything came back, for about 3 seconds, I pushed it on again and the same thing happened!

    I turned off the machine, took out one of the 3 drives (storage one) and it came back. I'm about to go back to rendering and see if I run into the same problems.

    I called Promaxx tech support and they said either it is a power issue or a heat issue or both and that they will test it out more.

    Could be that my radeon card's fan is less than a centimeter away from my sata card?

    Christian

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by litemover
    I called Promaxx tech support and they said either it is a power issue or a heat issue or both and that they will test it out more.

    Could be that my radeon card's fan is less than a centimeter away from my sata card?

    Christian
    Ahhh yes - heat and power...

    The raptor drives run quite hot.

    My 10k Atlas IV scsi drives seemed to be much cooler last time i checked.
    They are a much better bet for internal mounting.

  5. Heat

    I was wondering how that drive mounting solution would effect the airflow and temperature of the air to the processors. I am still going to go with the G5 jam and if I ever need more I will find some kind of external case for the hard drives.

    Tyler
    Tyler Roach
    Eclipse Creativity, Inc.

  6. #6
    SataMaxi thermaled out with 2 drives. I think the furthest drive back is near a heat sensor.

    If it isn't, then this solution will not work for the raptors at least.

    Failed after less than 1 hr running 2 layers of 720p content.

    Sorry for the hype.
    Christian

  7. Smile

    Thanks for posting the problem.

    Tyler
    Tyler Roach
    Eclipse Creativity, Inc.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by tylerr
    Thanks for posting the problem.

    Tyler
    these internal sata solutions are horrible.
    they dont work.

    they wont work unless they do some real engineering.

    christian's computers crashed during recent shows because of heat and cabling issues.

  9. #9
    You just need to be very careful with raptors as they run extra hot. I have drive coolers for all my raptors and since then, I've not had a single problem.

    Don't run them in standard boxes though or you will run the risk of them shutting down and/or complete data loss.

    Christian

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