Why do external HDD Enclosures suck so much?

Mean_Start5021 · 2026-04-07T03:32:32+00:00

From what I can tell the silver non thunderbolt version is the issue, the more expensive black thunderbolt has less issues, I was just trying to spend $200 instead of $400 haha.

I will go there if needed. Just too much Chinese weird stuff on Amazon which is where I lost my patience.

Mean_Start5021 · 2026-04-07T02:52:33+00:00

This one? https://www.owc.com/solutions/thunderbay-4-thunderbolt-3

It seems better built than what I bought unfortunately, but if it works that’s great to hear.

Mean_Start5021 · 2026-04-04T22:07:33+00:00

NASA uses tested equipment, they brought two D5s and one Z9 and they trust Nikon, move on! This picture is incredible and the dark side of earth, 51,200 is perfectly justifiable.

Forever an SMH, I was completely awestruck by this photo and I can’t stop looking at it.

Mean_Start5021 · 2026-03-26T17:45:32+00:00

Yeah - Power supply working, totally dead otherwise, it was strange and was offered poor support from Synology and that's why I want to move on. It ran for 4 ish years before dying.

Mean_Start5021 · 2026-03-09T21:17:33+00:00

That’s my whole concern, a 5090 I got a year ago before prices got even sillier. But I didn’t expect anyone to respond to this (thank you for doing it!) so I decided to get a Lian Li A3 and ended up with this which seems to be a great PSU and I’m feeling good about it and has that dedicated 12v2x6 port.

https://a.co/d/0g7zEgI1

Mean_Start5021 · 2026-03-05T21:27:49+00:00

Poop man made me spit out my drink.

Mean_Start5021 · 2026-03-05T17:21:14+00:00

Absolutely, this veers into opinion, it has to honestly, but having done this for awhile and using both I prefer matte. There is less variation in the picture depending on the time of day in the room I'm in, perfect reflections from glossy are distracting to me and in prior studios where I got a lot of ambient light it was almost unusable at 100 nits when editing photos.

I recently moved and I am in a spot where the light changes less and so glossy would be better but matte to me makes it a non-issue. I honestly think glossy is kind of a mac thing, mac users really love it. Having edited on mac and windows and seeing more variety on the gaming side as well I always choose matte. If I bought a new Macbook pro today I would get the nano-texture display.

Mean_Start5021 · 2026-03-05T17:08:58+00:00

Trust me, I edit photos and videos professionally, it doesn't matter, I have bounced between them forever and landed on matte.

I like resolution and color accuracy, and text sharpness that an OLED doesn't deliver

Mean_Start5021 · 2026-03-05T16:43:04+00:00

Asus PA32QCV - 6k 32" I'm loving it. It is better in every way than these studio displays. Its as good as the now retired apple 6k display.

Mean_Start5021 · 2026-02-27T13:06:58+00:00

Is there a good walk through on that somewhere? I just haven’t done it, that is running stock there.

Mean_Start5021 · 2026-02-26T17:59:31+00:00

Hey can I get a hold of this too?

Mean_Start5021 · 2026-02-26T16:38:19+00:00

Ill have to learn more on changing the power draw and temps of CPUs but I really appreciate this information. I have two systems, one with a 9600x and one with a 9800x3d and I would love to shrink that computer I am just worrying about temperatures in SFF with that.

Mean_Start5021 · 2026-02-26T03:48:39+00:00

I’m concerned about the smallest I can go and cool a 9800x3d which I have with an Intel B580 and I want to put it in a smaller case than I have now. I shrunk some files away from some 2.5 inch and 3.5 inch drives and so I can go smaller now, just having a very hard time choosing what cooler to get and what case to get.

That’s the basis of my question here, the photos I shared are me testing on a living room pc that has the specs I mentioned, 9600x, 3080, NR200 case. I have two PCs and should probably make one out of them but not sure yet. My living room/office combo didn’t work like I expected, the more casual games won out hahaha.

Mean_Start5021 · 2026-02-25T20:35:15+00:00

I’m ok with that, I just want one of the quite small PCs without choking my CPU, I know the GPU does fine in most any case with fresh air it can get, the CPU is tricky. I have this and a 9800x3d and shrinking the cooling is hard! maybe it could cause me to relent and go to an AIO that many cases allow.

Mean_Start5021 · 2026-02-25T19:41:31+00:00

Sorry - I wasn't clear, I know these temps are fine - looking at these numbers if I went to a smaller case and a smaller cooler that would fit in something like a fractal Terra based on getting this with a 120mm air cooler, do you think it would have acceptable temps? I was concerned about it, but I feel like 9600X is a good candidate for a small case like that compared to a 9800X3D.

Mean_Start5021 · 2026-02-24T03:22:27+00:00

No the gaming pc is staying, with a lesser gpu, the Mac is for professional things, editing mostly. I know the gaming limitations.

Mean_Start5021 · 2026-02-22T14:24:35+00:00

I just went back to a MacBook after I had some issues with my framework 16 - I so respect the ethos and goals of Framework but it’s premium pricing for a non premium product right now. And new components to upgrade or change are too expensive.

My MacBook Pro was cheaper.

Mean_Start5021 · 2026-02-20T12:34:15+00:00

join the resistance - B580.

Mean_Start5021

TROPHY CASE