Today I will be reviewing an external HDD enclosure from Icy Box called “IB-318STU3-B” (wonderful name). It has a USB 3.0 interface which should boost the data transfer speeds significantly, at least according to the specs.

INTRODUCTION

Only months ago, the third revision of the USB standard appeared. I’ve seen it called both “USB 3.0” and “USB SuperSpeed”. What is clear is that the new version includes several improvements compared to USB 2.0.

The most important update is of course the increase of the data transfer speed (theoretical) to 4.8Gbps (600MB/s) compared to USB 2.0’s 480Mbps (35MB/s). This is really a huge difference.

Another important change is the maximum power output of USB 3.0 of 900mA (500mA in USB 2.0), which will allow USB 3.0 ports to power a number of devices and accessories to laptops. In real world, this means fewer AC adapters to accessories like external harddrives, notebook cooling pads etc.

The really great news is that USB 3.0 is 100% backwards compatible with USB 2.0 and USB 1.1.

OK, enough details of the new USB 3.0 standard, let’s instead have a look at the specifications of the IB-318STU3-B:

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Below are some images of the accessories included with the IB-318STU3-B.  As you can see it’s nothing out of the ordinary: a manual; an AC-adapter; an USB 3.0 cable; the plastic stand and the rubber vibration pads.

ICY BOX IB-318STU3-B IN DETAIL

One thing about Icy Box’s products that always impresses me is their choice of high quality materials. This baby is made of aluminum in a nice matte black finish:

Because this is a 3.5 inch box I think it makes a rather big difference that it is made of aluminum instead of steel (lighter).

The ICY BOX logo is barely visible on the sides of the unit, which gives it a very classy and sober look

All the connectors and the power button is located in the back of the unit. There are no connectors or anything else in the front.

To open the case up you have to loosen a screw placed in the bottom of the unit.

As you can see there’s not much to say about the inside of this case. The control PCB has the AsMedia ASM1051 chip.

The installation of the hard disk couldn’t be simpler. Just anchor the HDD to the SATA data and power connectors and then fasten it directly to the chassis placing the vibration dampeners between the chassis and the HDD.

TESTS AND RESULTS

In a previous motherboard review I came in contact with USB 3.0 for the first time. The tests I made then were intended to clarify the potential of this new standard. Therefore, I will not have it as my main focus in this review.

Instead I am going to test the transfer speeds with two different disks, one with a SATA2 interface and the other with a SATA3 interface. The disks I am using in this review are a Seagate 7200.10 SATA2 320GB and a Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX SATA 3.0. My test system:

In order to realize the tests I used HD Tune 2.55, CrystalDiskMark 2.2 and HD Tach 3.0.4.0. I transferred a one big file of 3.3GB and also a folder containing 265 files with a total size of 596MB.

Here are my results from the software tests:

The results are indeed very good. We see a big difference between SATA3 and SATA2. In read and write speeds we are talking almost a doubled performance. USB3 has no troubles handling the higher numbers for SATA3. Clearly the bottleneck is now the disks we use. The question is: when will disks reach the limit of what the SATA3 and USB3 interfaces can handle? I doubt we will ever get there with mechanic disks, I think we will have to rely on SSDs to take things to the next level.

Here are the real world tests:

Again, what determines the transfer speeds is what disk we put in the IB-318STU3-B. We have to also consider that the hard disk in my test system is a SATA2 7200rpm disk which also limits the transfer speeds to and from whatever external disk we connect. I.e. the transfer speeds in the “real world” tests should be considered as not entirely reflective of the SATA3/USB3 standard.

I also did a measurement of the power drainage that the external drive had on my system. I used the SATA3 disk for this test. Below are the results:

The USB 3 standard is supposed to have power saving functions which are enabled when the disk has not been used for a while. However, I never saw any of this, the minimum consumption was constantly at 10W.

CONCLUSIONS

Icy Box has managed to produce a good looking, high quality HDD enclosure with the IB-318STU3-B. It features the latest version of both SATA and USB and it seemingly works perfectly. Furthermore, it was easy to install the drive and since it is fanless, there are no noise emissions to talk about.

One thing that annoyed me is the fact that an AC-adapter is required. I guess this is not anything I can blame this product for, but instead a limit of the USB3 standard. Another thing that might be on somebody’s wish list is some connectors in the front of the device. For me, it would only ruin the sober looking design, so I wont’t put it up on the con-list.

As an investment, at around 50-60 Euro it can’t be considered expensive, but remember you will have to buy a HDD to put in it as well.

Pros:

• Looks and design
• General quality with aluminum housing
• Supports SATA3 and USB3 as well as all the old SATA/USB standards
• Price

Cons:

• AC-adapter

The final score is 90 out of 100 owls, and we give the “Icy Box IB-318STU3-B″ our Editor’s Choice Award.

Thanks goes out to Icy Box for letting me review this HDD enclosure.

Author: Manuel González Fernández

Translator: Vince Emiloz Sanderson

Summary: Icy Dock has an interesting hard drive case which lets us mount 2.5 inch SSD hard drives (or normal mechanical 2.5 inch drives) in conventional desktop chassis. In other words it converts a 2.5 inch SATA150 or SATA300 drive to a 3.5 inch SATA drive.

INTRODUCTION

Until recently there was no point in installing 2.5 inch drives in desktop cases. These drives couldn’t compete with the 3.5 inch drives either in performance or price. With the SSDs now dropping in price the scene has somewhat changed or is at least undergoing a change. If you are building a HTPC or something similar you may actually want a SSD in it to make it more silent, faster or for whatever reason. Now as most desktop cases, even smaller HTPC cases, only supports 3.5 inch drives, you will need some kind of converting hard drive enclosure if you want to install a 2.5 inch hard drive. And this is where the Icy Dock MB882 case comes in.

Let’s take a look at the specifications:

The average score of the Icy Dock MB882 from other expert reviews is currently 85% at TestSeek and it has won several awards. More info from the manufacture can be found at the product page.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The enclosure comes enveloped in a simple hard plastic cover which lets us see the product entirely.

The only accessories included in the bundle were the manual and a couple of screws for mounting the enclosure in a desktop chassis (as you do with normal 3.5 inch drives).

ICY DOCK MB882 IN DETAIL

The external appearance of ICY DOCK MB882 is sober in its matte black color casing made of plastic. On top of the case we can see the manufacturer logo and also some instructions on how to open the case. On the front side of the case you can see the ventilation grid.

In the back side of the case I found the SATA data and power connections located directly under the ventilation grid. The fact that this case has ventilation openings both in the front and back means that if you place a fan in front of the case the circulation of air will move perfectly through the enclosure.

To open the ICY DOCK MB882 you just push the top cover towards the back of the case and then just lift it up to open the case. Inside the box I found a steel structure which will hold and secure the hard drive which you place in it. The anti vibration system which I mentioned in the specifications consists of two rubber bands which will press against the hard drive and thus absorb the vibrations. The small PCB in the case is the adapter between the SATA connectors from the hard drive to the casing’s SATA connectors.

INSTALLATION AND TESTS

The installation of a hard disk in the ICY DOCK MB 882 is really easy. Just place the drive inside the case in the right direction (…I know) and then when you close the case the disc will connect to the casing’s SATA connectors through a mechanical solution which activates when closing the top cover.

In my test I used a regular (mechanical) Toshiba of 2.5 inch drive of which I did not have any previously measured data of temperatures or performance. I therefore measured the temperatures of the drive mounted inside the ICY DOCK MB882 enclosure and compared them with the temperatures of the drive when not mounted. There results of my measurements can be viewed in the table below:

The test was realized in the Antec Skeleton case which has a front cooler blowing air on the hard drive at all times.

As I had hoped, the performance of the disc was not affected. The tiny differences which followed my test is normal, the exact same figures are very rarely obtained in these kinds of tests even if no outer conditions are changed. The slightly higher temperature of the disk when mounted within the enclosure should be expected since the cooling surface is naturally smaller.

CONCLUSIONS

As I mentioned in the beginning of this review, the fact that all solid state disks are in the 2.5 inch format has created a problem for consumers who wants to have SSDs in their desktop systems. For the time being there are very few solutions like this so Icy Dock is in a good spot with this enclosure.

I would like to emphasize its cooling system which consists merely of two ventilation shafts, one in the front and one in the back of the enclosure. This may not sound like much but it does the job very well. Another strong point is its super easy installation. The cost for this case isn’t much to talk about at around $25 (18€). It’s just another factor which makes it even easier for me to recommend.

Pros:

• Good quality
• Lets us use 2.5 drives in regular chassis
• Affect on drive performance and temperature is minimal
• Low price

Cons:

• None

The final score is 95 out of 100 owls, and we give the “Icy Dock MB882” our Editor’s Choice Award.

As you know, TestSeek collects all expert reviews of many different product types. Head over to our Harddrive Enclosures category to find all expert reviews of alternatives to the Icy Dock MB882.

Thanks goes out to Icy Dock for letting me review this enclosure.

Author: Manuel González Fernández

Translator: Vince Emiloz Sanderson