ICY BOXIB-AC652 5.25 Inch Internal Mounting Frame for Multiple 2.5 Inch and 3.5 Inch Hard Drives and SSD, Steel, Black

ICY BOX IB-AC652 Internal Mounting FrameSUMMARYA well made well designed solution for installing a 2.5inch (SSD) or a classic 3.5 inch HDD in the 5.25 CD/DVD drive bay. The bracket mirrors exactly the hole centres of a CD/DVD drive and provides fixing holes for 2.5 and 3.5 inch drives and all necessary screws. Installation is easy and straightforward and no modification of the bracket is required to fix inside the 5.25inch bay or to attach any of the drives.However, it should be noted that the bracket is not symmetrical and for correct fixing into the drive bay must be inserted a) the correct way up and b) with the rear end towards the back. Failing to do this may mean that it will not fit correctly. I suspect those reviewers who mention needing to make mechanical modification may not have understood that the bracket is asymmetrical and has a right and wrong way of being inserted. As the old English saying goes “its a bad workman who blames his tools” or in this case his materials!PRODUCTThe bracket is supplied with all necessary screws. There are 16 screws for the 2.5 inch SSD, 4 screws and 4 rubber washers for a 3.5 inch HDD, and 4 screws to fix the bracket into the 5.25 inch bay. It comes well packaged in a sturdy box with basic instructions.SCREWS AND SCREW HOLES (IMPORTANT NOTE)All screws have the correct thread to screw into an SSD, HDD or DVD/CD. The sides of the bracket are drilled and tapped to take the normal DVD/CD fixing screws and these holes mirror the positions of the screw holes found on a DVD/CD. BUT NOTE this these holes only mirror the DVD/CD hole positions if the bracket is inserted in the correct orientation. Put it upside down and the holes do not match/line up with the DVD/CD hole spacing - see pictureSome reviewers have commented that the bracket is not drilled for a 3.5 inch HDD. They are mistaken - it is. To fix a 3.5 HDD you will need to insert the provided large rubber washer into the large hole and use the large headed HDD screw - see picture.NOTE also the threaded holes in the bracket were threaded (tapped) prior to the bracket being powder coated. That means that the powder coating (paint) has clogged the threads. Which means that when you try to screw in the fixing screws the thread is very very tight and the paint coating may prevent the screw being screwed in. You may need to clean the thread by either firmly screwing in one of the provided screws to clear the threads or, if you have a M3 tap, using this to clean the holes. I tried both methods. Both worked but the tap was easier. When this was done i noticed small dust like flakes of paint on the tap and screw thread which confirmed my suspicion that the threads were clogged with paint. I believe some reviewers have commented that in their opinion the screw threads in the bracket are not the same as the DVD/CD screw threads. I suspect that these reviewers may not have looked carefully at the bracket to discover the paint clogging the threads.INSTALLATION I needed this to install 2 SSDs into an HP Microserver. The bracket installed with no problem and was able to be locked in-place by the locking mechanism used by HP. BUT this was only possible because I inserted the bracket the correct way up and with the rear facing the back.ORIENTATION On my bracket the CE label was on the top of the bracket and towards the rear.MY CHOICE I choose this bracket over the alternative plastic drive bay brackets/slide in enclosures as I thought that because of the open design there would be much better air flow over the SSDs and the metal frame might act as a heat sink. The reported temperature of the 2 SSD's is the same as when they were mounted loosely into the case so I conclude that the bracket has not caused the temperature to increase.Highly recommended.