Noiseblocker NB-X-Swing Review

Introduction

Computer Silencing has gotten quite serious in recent years. Low dBA Fans, Heat Pipe CPU Coolers and Sound Proofing are the main products a Silent PC would contain. However, there is one area that should probably be tackled first, this is, Hard Drive Silencing. The churning of Hard Disks is quite possibly the most annoying sound for most enthusiasts, this is why NoiseBlocker have created the ‘NB-X-Swing’ – a Dual Hard Disk Drive Noise Reducer.

About Noiseblocker

Noiseblocker are a German company who specialize in computer hardware which aims to silence your PC. They are a fairly new company with a small line-up of products, however many of their case fans and CPU coolers have recieved a lot of praise by computer enthusiasts and have won a number of awards at top review websites.

Features

  • 100% Compatibility – Fits all 5.25″ Drive Bays
  • Extended HDD Durability
  • Mounts one or two Hard Disk Drives
  • Decouples your Hard Disk Drives off the case
  • Reduces noise from Hard Disks up to 7dbA
  • Protects Hard Drives from shocks

Packaging

The NB-X-Swing arrives in a cardboard box with two rectangular ‘windows’ allowing you to see the snazzy blue Noiseblocker. Plastered all over the packaging are the specifications and features of the HDD noise reducer- in both German and English.

Noiseblocker NB-X-Swing Review

On the back of the box are some more features and specifications which are written in German. The address of Noiseblocker, the website address and email address are all displayed at the bottom of the box.

Noiseblocker NB-X-Swing Review

Inside the box are eight hard drive screws, a short manual and the NBX Swing- which is seated in a thick piece of packing foam.

Noiseblocker NB-X-Swing Review

Noiseblocker’s NB-X-Swing

The NBX Swings are blue anodised aluminium, 3mm or so thick. They are an odd angular shape which have all the necessary holes in them for different drive positions. Looking closely at the swings, they could be a more simple shape, however I think that the rather odd shape adds to the effect and makes them look pretty cool.

Noiseblocker NB-X-Swing Review

Printed in white along side the arms of the swings are a Noiseblocker logo and the words ‘X-Swing’. These white decals look very nice mixed with the blue anodised aluminium.

Noiseblocker NB-X-Swing Review

Sticking up from the Noiseblocker are rubber cylinders. These are the main parts of the NB-X-Swing which are supposed to dampen noise. The rubber cylinders are flush with where the screws would go to secure the NBX to your drive bays – this ensures a tight fit. When you screw into the caps on the dampeners, the rubber compresses, this ensures that all noise is then dampened.

Noiseblocker NB-X-Swing Review

Installation

The installation for the X-Swing is pretty simple. Simply screw the metal sided arms of the Swing to the sides of your hard drives, pop it into a 5.25” drive bay and then screw into the rubber dampeners to secure it in place. Fortunately, the Noiseblocker can also be used with cases that have ‘posh’ drive mounting systems.

Testing

Unfortunately I don’t have any sound equipment to measure the decibels at this low dbA so you’ll have to go on the verdict from my human ears.

I mounted one 80GB SATA hard drive to the Noiseblocker NB-X-Swing. This hard drive normally makes a horrible churning, vibrating noise when seeking for a lot of data. However, when I mounted the disk drive on the Noiseblocker, most of this churning noise was dampened to virtually inaudible.

Although I did notice one thing, that is, when you use more than one hard drive, the vibrations can sometimes ‘tingle’ between the screws and the metal arms. Even though this noise is very light, it can still be heard. I found this odd, as when I reverted back to using just one HDD, the noise vanished again.

After having another look at it, it turned out some of the screws weren’t tight enough. When I reinstalled the two hard drives with the tighter screws, the noise was dead again.

Conclusion

The Noiseblocker NB-X-Swing is a classic example of a simple product that works. Its neat looks, simple construction and thick aluminium mean that the X-Swings have a great sense of quality.

This product retails at around £10, quite expensive for two bits of aluminium and a bit of rubber; however you are paying for a product which really works and feels of great quality. Personally, if I wanted to silence my computer, then the NB-X-Swing would be top of my list.

Pros

  • Simple and Effective
  • Easy to Install
  • Looks Great

Cons

  • A little Pricey

Award Image

Search

Sponsor

NetPortal

Latest Article

CoolIT Domino i5 Testing

Back in July this year we tested the CoolIT watercooling kit using a heavily overclocked AMD 7750+ BE. It’s performance really surprised us with it absolutely caning the other coolers in question. However, processors have quickly moved on since July and we’ve got the likes of the Intel Core i7 and recent i5 dominating the market. For this reason, we thought some i5 testing using our trusty CoolIT Domino was in order. Let’s see if the performance from the Domino still survives in this day and age…

Read Article »

Related Content

Feb 02

Lavasoft Ad-Aware Game Edition

Lavasoft are known throughout the spyware protection industry as a class leader, providing quality software which is reliable and effective. The free version of Ad-Aware is immensely popular with computer users worldwide, but here today we will be looking at what the Game Edition offers over the free or pro editions, and whether it is worth the $24.95 or £15.46 it can be bought for.

Read the Story »
Jan 29

Spire TherMax Pro CPU Cooler Review

What started from simply an aluminium block in the Intel Pentium I era, CPU coolers have become one of the most adapted pieces of hardware used in computers. However, the principle of such a product is much the same to how it stood back in 1993 when the original Intel Pentium microprocessor was introduced.

In the last few years, there seems to have been a definite slow-down in the modification of CPU coolers. Companies are now seeming to follow a standard: aluminium fins, copper heat-pipes and a 120mm fan. And would you blame them? Well as the saying goes ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’, so probably not. Today, for review, we have a CPU cooler from a company named ‘Spire’, they’re fairly new to us, so let’s see if this TherMax Pro cooler surprises us with any new offerings to the processor cooling scene…

Read the Story »
Dec 27

Stratospherix NetPortal 1.2

Imagine being able to access the files and folders on your PC from a mobile device. For most of us, this would massively change the way in which we work. Instead of waiting until you’re near a PC to be able to preview and proof read reports for tomorrow’s meeting, you’re now suddenly able to do it whilst travelling about, therefore making full use of your available time.

Dream-not though, this is now reality. NetPortal, an app available to iPhone users boasts to be able to do just this and many more tasks. Furthermore, costing just £2.99 (or $4.99 to our American friends) on the fruit-shop’s store, Stratospherix’s app sounds too good to be true. Let’s find out if it is…

Read the Story »
Dec 14

Xigmatek Dragoon and Cuirassier Memory Heat Spreaders

Memory cooling is one of those things that most people leave untouched. There may be several reasons for this: the foremost being that the stock heat spreaders on most memory modules will be sufficient for most user’s needs. But occasionally, there will of course be users who need to push their memory to the limit – particularly overclockers and gaming enthusiasts. These users will therein need some hardcore cooling for their precious RAM. With that in mind I introduce you to the Xigmatek Dragoon and Cuirassier heat spreaders.

Read the Story »