FS305

This is ideal for the rack mount case that I'm putting together - I'm already using the three existing 5-1/4" bays for a tape and an optical drive, so I'm replacing one of the 120mm front fan and 5x 3-1/2" drive combo bays with this. A bonus is that if I don't have SAS drives handy for whatever reason, or I need to use laptop drives, this unit has the flexibility to allow me to use SATA or different footprint drives. The actual cage is made of ridiculously heavy gauge metal; it would be difficult to damage, I think. And while I could wish the plastic trays were a little more robust, with care they should last longer than the case itself, and they are easy and precise in regard to insertion and removal. The only surprise in the description was that I had to guess the fan size from the part number in the photo, and I guessed wrong. I thought it had a 120mm fan; it turned out to be 80mm, but it is a nice PWM fan.

The cage seems well constructed and the technical functionality has been superb. However, I did have to replace the fan on the unit after less than 2 weeks use. The fan started making clicking sounds. As I didn't want to be without a cage, I replaced the fan with an extra fan I had. Standard power connectors, sizing, and mounting made this easy, but I knocked one star off due to the fan failure.

I installed this in the top 5.25" bays of a Dell T330 tower server chassis, and it was a perfect fit. It looks great and blends in well with the case. I was pleasantly surprised by how quiet the fan is—especially important since this Dell server is already fairly quiet. Installation was extremely easy, and I absolutely love the trayless, screwless hard drive bays. It doesn’t get much more convenient than that. While I do think it’s a bit overpriced, the build quality and overall aesthetics are hard to beat. Overall, I’m very pleased with it—my only real complaint is the price.

I have a couple old-style PC computer cases with openings for three 5.25 inch drives, and I have lots of 3.5 inch hard drives. A couple years ago, I bought a couple other, cheaper brands of these sorts of bays to fit four 3.5" drives into each of my case's three high drive bays ... that worked ... but the slots and connectors started failing over time, due to cheap construction. One by one, a slot would start failing. I've now replaced those older, cheaper, bays with a pair of these Silverstone FS304 bays, and I am initially pleased with the construction of these bays. Each point of failure on my older cheaper bays seems to have been better engineered and manufactured on this Silverstone bay. Now I expect these Silverstone FS304 bays to last quite a bit longer. Also my drives slide in and out more easily and precisely aligned, and now I no longer need to attach a custom bracket to each drive, as this bay is designed to accept naked 3.5" hard drives, as is. Good stuff, as I often see from Silverstone.

Nice little expansion bay. Only wish it had small slots at the standard bay heights so I didn't have to cut my cases little mounting tabs, but nothing wrong per se. Would totally buy again if I have a need. Silverstone has continued to make reliable and great product I get a ton of use out of. Keep it up!

I recently picked up the SilverStone FS305-12G to add some extra drives to my system, and I'm really happy with it. This thing is built like a tank! Swapping drives is super easy with the hot-swap bays, which is awesome. I was worried about compatibility with my SAS drives, but it works perfectly. The built-in fan does a good job keeping things cool, and it's way quieter than I expected. I actually bought a Noctua fan to replace it, but honestly, I don't think I'll bother. It even comes with a key to lock the drives, which is a nice touch, and the little LED lights let you know what's going on. If you need more space for hard drives, definitely check this out. It's been great so far!

Purchased two of these to use in a build. They were easy to install. I did have an issue when I used the bottom holes for mounting as they stuck up inside the cage. I had use the screws provided for my case, versus the ones that came with the drive, so that could've been the issue. Instead I just mounted on the top. I really like how you just pop the drives in with no cages required for them. They look nice and are solid.

This probably should get somewhere between 4 and 5 stars, but 5 stars is for perfection. It's close but not quite there. My main issue with it is the latch mechanism which works well but I don't like how the strike plate is plastic. The latch is metal, but the stationary part that the latch hooks into is plastic. It's probably ok but I pull the release as I close the door because I'm picky and don't know if it'll wear the strike plate. If this is the only real complaint I can come up with, that should tell you the product is pretty good. There's a blue power LED, and each drive slot has its own LED that is blue when drive is present and a red LED that shines through the same little window for drive activity, making it turn purple when there's activity. And a fan hi/lo speed control which is awesome. I replaced resistors on the PCB to drastically lower the blinding LEDs and make the fan speed even lower, something that isn't easy to do unless you're good with SMD soldering. Interestingly the fan is a 3 wire but I don't believe the 3rd wire (tach) is used for anything. It doesn't complain when the fan is disconnected. Overall I love it.