Andrew Heinzman
Modern computers are practically silent. But just a few decades ago, PCs were very loud. With the hum of a CRT monitor, the whir of some crappy fans, and the clicks of a hard drive, turning on a computer felt like firing up a spaceship.
Most people would prefer to live without a noisy computer, I assume. But for those who love retro cacophony, there’s always the HDD Clicker 2.0. Developed by Matthias Werner, this small board adds some alarmingly loud hard drive noises to your modern SSD-equipped PC.
The HDD Clicker 2.0 is actually quite simple. It attaches to your motherboard and draws power using a Mini-Molex connector. A small ATTiny microcontroller monitors your SSD’s activity, and a piezoelectric speaker produces a “hard drive noise” whenever your SSD reads or writes data.
Additionally, a small LED on the HDD Clicker 2.0 flickers when data is accessed by your SSD. This feature is intended for retro PCs, which often use a small LED to indicate hard drive activity. (Some people upgrade their retro PCs with new SSDs or reuse old PC towers for modern builds.)
If you’d like to create your own HDD Clicker, watch the above video and visit the Retroianer website for additional information. You can also pre-order an HDD Clicker from Serdashop for $25.
Source: Matthias Werner / Retroianer via Liliputing
