Installation tips for an SSD?

Dave F.

Dave F.

Member
Hi
Due to the price drop of SSDs I'm thinking of installing one in my unit (It currently has a noisy desktop HDD as a temporary replacement.)

1. Does it need to be fitted into a caddy to screw into the HDR's 3.5 drive case or could it be secured with some double sided tape?

2. Does it require active cooling from the fan?

3. Are the any specifications for a particular type of SSD I should look out for?
 
It would be better to secure the SSD with something better than tape for long term usage. I certainly would expect it to require less cooling than a mechanical drive. If you want a short term experiment then any SSD will do as they will all have far more read and write performance than a conventional drive, if you want a long term replacement then you want to consider the TBW parameter of drives (Terrabytes Written) and try and estimate how much you will write to the drive per day (not forgetting the buffer on live TV allowing pause or rewind) and you can then calculate the likely life of the drive.
 
Dave F. said:
could it be secured with some double sided tape?
Click to expand...
Yes. I've written about it somewhere; you could drill the appropriate mounting holes in the caddy but mounting tape is much easier (the foam type). If you want it really strong use rear view mirror tape, I have some branded 3M.

Dave F. said:
Does it require active cooling from the fan?
Click to expand...
No, but the rest of the box does! Don't remove it. Bear in mind also that the HDD/SSD is the only means the firmware has to monitor internal temperature.

Dave F. said:
Are the any specifications for a particular type of SSD I should look out for?
Click to expand...
I destroyed an old SSD with the cumulative writes, but a more recent one is still going. Modern SSDs have much better lifetimes. However, if you're looking for decades-long reliability, I would still opt for a HDD. HDDs degrade, SSDs die (and HDDs are still cheaper per TB).

https://hummy.tv/forum/threads/woul...-a-standard-hard-drive-for-their-humax.10613/
 
Black Hole said:
he HDD/SSD is the only means the firmware has to monitor internal temperature.
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Interesting to know, but doesn't that, & the fan being almost totally encased around the HDD indicate the heat from the motherboard is of little concern?
 
Dave F. said:
doesn't that, & the fan being almost totally encased around the HDD indicate the heat from the motherboard is of little concern?
Click to expand...
I'd have thought so too. If the motherboard needed cooling, then the fan would run all the time, but it doesn't (in the stock setup or without the fan package obviously).
 
I have been using a Samsung EVO 870 1TB SSD in my main T2 HDR for 10 months.
  1. Would recommend a mounting tray to ensure the SSD stays firmly in place and to ensure a good airflow. I use a Sabrent mount type BK-PCBS to mount it in the Humax disc caddy. It is a neat slim metal frame with a SATA socket that the SSD plugs into and four screw points to fix the SSD in place (screws included in pack). The frame can then be bolted into the caddy like a standard disc. The Humax combined SATA and PSU connector can then be plugged in as normal. It takes minutes to install and is a solid fit.
  2. You are correct that the Humax disk caddy appears to be designed primarily to cool the disc. SMART stats for my SSD shows a maximum temperature of 58°C with the fan so I would be wary of running a Humax T2 HDR without the fan. The fan will pull in air through the extensive ventilation holes in the bottom panel of the machine cooling the internal PSU and the mother board
  3. I selected the Samsung EVO 870 as it claims a high TBW and comes from a major electronics manufacturer. Beware of bargain price SSD as there are fakes around.
A SSD does seem to make the machine slightly more responsive but it is fairly marginal. The T2 HDR performance bottle neck appears to be the processor not the disc.

Good luck with your SSD experiments.
 
Dave F. said:
Interesting to know, but doesn't that, & the fan being almost totally encased around the HDD indicate the heat from the motherboard is of little concern?
Click to expand...
That's not the point I'm making. Regardless of whether heat is a concern (for Humax, only interested in their product having a lifetime that exceeds the warranty period), it's the SMART stats which operate the fan, and the fan operating on the HDD closes the control loop.
 
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