Question to all Define R4 owners.

[marshedpotato]

Hi everyone

I have a question about my Fractal Define R4 case. I am looking to move my hard drive near the top of the case, where the optical drive bays are.

This is shown here: http://imgur.com/zlrm5dp

I have managed to remove the middle and bottom set of Hard Drive caddys, however, for the life of me, I can't manage to remove the black block underneath the optical drive bays. What I am referring to is shown here: http://imgur.com/2HKp5E8


Is anyone able to walk me through it? I would really love to know how to do this, as I would love to do it myself. Like I say, I figured out how to remove everything else, but I am left with this black block and I can't seem to get it off! Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks

Brad

 

[marshedpotato]

Just incase anyone with a Define R4 has the same question and stumbles upon this thread, here is the private message I received from the overclock.net user JackCY whose computer is featured in one of the pictures:

Hi,

the whole 3.5" cage assembly can be unscrewed including all the plastic elements. Yes that piece in question can be tricky, you will need a small Phillips screwdriver, small as in not tall, otherwise pretty normal phillips screws. The screws are accessible from inside the 5.25" bay if I remember correctly. Yes the screwdriver has to be small to get it there, I have one that is about 95mm tall. There is excess space above the 5.25" bay so it fits there.

It's marked:
LANCERTM NO.2x38mm CR-V

That's kind of the only non-destructible way and how it has been assembled originally.
Otherwise you would have to drill the screws, cut the plastic, etc. from the other side to get rid of it, or just pry/break it off, a destructible mess.

2nd, I'm not sure there are holes in the 5.25" bay that will match with a 3.5" HDD, so I would drill them where needed with a small dremel and add rubber spacers to offset the drive from the metal cage, again, screwed in from inside the 5.25" bay, you would need a small Phillips screwdriver for those HDD screws, even non standard length drive screws.
The 5.25" cage is bolted in, can't be removed without drilling the rivets out and also serves as a structural support. It is quite a resonance chamber if you hit it with something you will hear it. I've added noise absorption material normally used to quiet down metal car panels (floors, doors, trunks) to the bottom of 5.25" cage to make it flush, where you would like to attach HDD. And covered it with fake black carbon. Same thing done to the bottom where my SSD is and top above 5.25" cage. Still the cage would resonate, hence I have stuffed it with open cell foam which finally made it not resonate if I hit it or hit the case.
Point being if you screw in an HDD or anything that rotates (ODD) to the 5.25" bay it will amplify the noise.

Personally I have kept the 5.25" bay in and used it to suspend the HDD from it on rubber, it's sort of like rubber strands in a paracord. Bought long time ago for something else entirely, should be available in some shops that have buckles, ropes, paracords, these sort of things. This way the HDD transfers minimum of vibrations to the case, practically none. It's also possible to do this inside the 5.25" bay.

Putting an HDD belly up on the bottom of the case instead of the 3.5" cage with a double sided tape or similar is probably a better option than to screw it to the 5.25" bay.

The plastic on the 5.25" bay is the same as the other plastic attached to the 3.5" bay, but it uses different holes on it to attach and is attached from opposite direction I believe, they are interchangeable.

~J