HDD Heat

February 18th, 2003

I have 3 hdd's mounted underneath my floppy disk drive. They are stacked on top of each other. Is this setup alright? I am concerned about the heat that these three drives will make so close together. Will this cause any problems? I don't know where else to mount them.

Cheers.

**Taurus** · February 18th, 2003

tell us what kind of harddrives they are. certain models/brands are notorious for heating up.

you could also just feel them after your comps been running for maybe an hour. if they feel pretty warm or slightly hot, you might wanna try mounting one or two in the 5¼" bays.

jonifen · February 18th, 2003

take a look near the fascia of your computer case. you may be able to mount an 80mm fan there... on some cases (mine included) the gap available is just the right size to squeeze an 80mm fan in front of the hdds. it doesnt do a lot, but it gets the heat into the main part of the case, which other fans/exhausts can then clear out of the case.

**Zedric** · February 18th, 2003

If they are 7200 RPM drives they definately need a fan or a different setup.

February 19th, 2003

Is there any problem with them running hot?

My hard drives have been running HOT as in scalding hot for 2 years now.... I haven't noticed any problems...... but will they occur?

**Nick M** · February 19th, 2003

Cool them. HDD + lots of hot = Bad.

They are more likely to fail. I suggest a different setup.

**canadian_divx** · February 19th, 2003

how does heat effect the HDD?????

**Maveric169** · February 19th, 2003

Originally posted by canadian_divx
how does heat effect the HDD?????

Well heat on HDD's can corrupt data, and will shorten the life span of the drives. There was a formula that I saw once that predicted the life expectancy of computer hardware based on heat and time exposed. It was something like for every 2 degrees C over "optimal" (what ever that happens to be for that hardware) if run at that temp for 1 year constantly, you reduce the life of the hardware by like 3 months. It was something like that.

The bottom line is that you want to keep EVERYTHING in you PC as cool as possible. If these 3 HDD are internal (meaning behind the front of the case with no real air ventilation or in a exposed drive bay, as most are) the heat can become very hot depending on drive access and usage. I would recomend a HDD cooler for each HDD. There are some really neat ones out now that are complete self contained units that can cool multiple HDD's.

**Nick M** · February 19th, 2003

Originally posted by Maveric169
Well heat on HDD's can corrupt data, and will shorten the life span of the drives. There was a formula that I saw once that predicted the life expectancy of computer hardware based on heat and time exposed. It was something like for every 2 degrees C over "optimal" (what ever that happens to be for that hardware) if run at that temp for 1 year constantly, you reduce the life of the hardware by like 3 months. It was something like that.

The bottom line is that you want to keep EVERYTHING in you PC as cool as possible. If these 3 HDD are internal (meaning behine the front of the case with on air ventilation or in a exposed drive bay, as most are) the heat can become very hot depending on drive access and usage. I would recomend a HDD cooler for each HDD. There are some really neat ones out now that are complete self contained units that can cool multiple HDD's.

Good advice.

BTW, the self contained cooler units look really cool, but what if it breaks?

**Zedric** · February 19th, 2003

HDD

are rated for the temps they can handle during use. My Seagate is rated 0C to 60C and my WD is rated 5C to 55C. Pretty low if you think about it... Going over the upper limit is a really bad idea. It may work but there's no guarantee.

shaunj66 · February 19th, 2003

I have a Coolermaster DCD-4002 hard drive cooler on my precious maxtor 80gb (7200rpm) hdd, and it runs just fine. Nice and cool and it's not too noisy. It was quite cheap too.

**Maveric169** · February 19th, 2003

Originally posted by Nick M
Good advice.

BTW, the self contained cooler units look really cool, but what if it breaks?

Well that is a risk that you take, I guess you wuld want to get a fan monitor setup for that. But there was one that I saw a few weeks ago while I was looking for something else that could hold 3 HDD's and had a 3 fan 5.25 drive bay intake, with ducts that blow on all 3 drives. The review on it was pretty good except for the noise, apparently those 3 fans were screamers. But it was a neat setup and an easy was to cool up to 3 HDD's with 1 unit.

February 19th, 2003

I have had 2 hard drives fail on me due to heat and i have only one recommendation:

NEVER stack 2 or more drives directly on top of each other as the heat that gets generated multiplies and it gets trapped between the drives and cannot escape since the heat rises from the lower drive and cooks the upper one. I'd leave one bay between each drive and move up into the 5 1/4" bays if necessary.

If you have three drives stacked, running in a warm room for a long periods of time, u'd be lucky for them to last much longer than 2 years. I generally find that drives will become scolding hot if they are stacked. With space between them, they should only be luke warm, and in an optimal situation, with a fan behind them, they should be almost cold to touch.

Another good idea is to have auto spin-down enabled, so after say 20 mins your drives switch off and unecessary heat is not generated (this really does make a difference).

**Maveric169** · February 19th, 2003

The auto spin down sounds like a good idea period, how do you enable that feature?

jonifen · February 19th, 2003

I had an IBM 30Gb drive which died due to high temperature... the guy in the shop said he'd swap it for me at no charge on the condition i put an 80mm fan in front of the harddrives in the PC (he had the same case as me at the time and knew an 80mm fan would fit perfectly - which it did

). Luckily I had a spare 80mm fan at home, so I stuck it in front of the new Quantum (they had no IBMs left

) and its doing the business - recently added a 30Gb Maxtor aswell and both harddrives are running über cool

)

jonifen · February 19th, 2003

Originally posted by mbunny
Is there any problem with them running hot?

My hard drives have been running HOT as in scalding hot for 2 years now.... I haven't noticed any problems...... but will they occur?

some harddrives are able to take the heat more than others... although they're perfectly happy with scalding hot temperatures, its still worth it to cool them imo

February 18th, 2003	Top \| #1
downunderground Unregistered Posts: n/a	HDD Heat I have 3 hdd's mounted underneath my floppy disk drive. They are stacked on top of each other. Is this setup alright? I am concerned about the heat that these three drives will make so close together. Will this cause any problems? I don't know where else to mount them. Cheers.

February 18th, 2003	Top \| #4
Zedric NTFS Guru Joined: January 2002 Location: Sweden Posts: 4,006 Reputation: 890 Power: 175	If they are 7200 RPM drives they definately need a fan or a different setup. Did I help you? Please use the reputation system. Click the icon on the left! Proud host of the OSNN.net folding sigs. Want one? Check the folding thread! http://zedric.no-ip.com/

February 19th, 2003	Top \| #8
Maveric169 The Voices Talk to Me Joined: December 2002 Location: Elkhart, IN Posts: 1,148 Reputation: 130 Power: 128	Originally posted by canadian_divx how does heat effect the HDD????? Well heat on HDD's can corrupt data, and will shorten the life span of the drives. There was a formula that I saw once that predicted the life expectancy of computer hardware based on heat and time exposed. It was something like for every 2 degrees C over "optimal" (what ever that happens to be for that hardware) if run at that temp for 1 year constantly, you reduce the life of the hardware by like 3 months. It was something like that. The bottom line is that you want to keep EVERYTHING in you PC as cool as possible. If these 3 HDD are internal (meaning behind the front of the case with no real air ventilation or in a exposed drive bay, as most are) the heat can become very hot depending on drive access and usage. I would recomend a HDD cooler for each HDD. There are some really neat ones out now that are complete self contained units that can cool multiple HDD's. Disclaimer: Past performace and emerging trends are not always accurate predictors for future events. Consult your employeer reguarding overtime possibilies incase I am wrong and you have to buy more stuff. AMD Athlon 64 3000+ \| Gigabyte GA-K8NS Mobo \| 1 Gig Crucial XMS Ram \| Maxtor 200GB Sata Drive 8Meg Cache Primary Drive \| 60GB Backup Drive \| ATI 9550 \| Antec Trio 430W PSU \| Custom Case *Check out my new website* *http://13-dragons.net/*

February 19th, 2003	Top \| #9
Nick M OSNN Veteran Addict Joined: July 2002 Posts: 3,961 Reputation: 370 Power: 162	Originally posted by Maveric169 Well heat on HDD's can corrupt data, and will shorten the life span of the drives. There was a formula that I saw once that predicted the life expectancy of computer hardware based on heat and time exposed. It was something like for every 2 degrees C over "optimal" (what ever that happens to be for that hardware) if run at that temp for 1 year constantly, you reduce the life of the hardware by like 3 months. It was something like that. The bottom line is that you want to keep EVERYTHING in you PC as cool as possible. If these 3 HDD are internal (meaning behine the front of the case with on air ventilation or in a exposed drive bay, as most are) the heat can become very hot depending on drive access and usage. I would recomend a HDD cooler for each HDD. There are some really neat ones out now that are complete self contained units that can cool multiple HDD's. Good advice. BTW, the self contained cooler units look really cool, but what if it breaks?

February 19th, 2003	Top \| #10
Zedric NTFS Guru Joined: January 2002 Location: Sweden Posts: 4,006 Reputation: 890 Power: 175	HDD are rated for the temps they can handle during use. My Seagate is rated 0C to 60C and my WD is rated 5C to 55C. Pretty low if you think about it... Going over the upper limit is a really bad idea. It may work but there's no guarantee. Did I help you? Please use the reputation system. Click the icon on the left! Proud host of the OSNN.net folding sigs. Want one? Check the folding thread! http://zedric.no-ip.com/

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February 18th, 2003	Top \| #2
Taurus hardware monkey Joined: May 2002 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 3,206 Reputation: 90 Power: 155	tell us what kind of harddrives they are. certain models/brands are notorious for heating up. you could also just feel them after your comps been running for maybe an hour. if they feel pretty warm or slightly hot, you might wanna try mounting one or two in the 5¼" bays.

February 18th, 2003	Top \| #3
jonifen pffff... Joined: February 2003 Posts: 705 Reputation: 10 Power: 120	take a look near the fascia of your computer case. you may be able to mount an 80mm fan there... on some cases (mine included) the gap available is just the right size to squeeze an 80mm fan in front of the hdds. it doesnt do a lot, but it gets the heat into the main part of the case, which other fans/exhausts can then clear out of the case.

February 19th, 2003	Top \| #5
mbunny Unregistered Posts: n/a	Is there any problem with them running hot? My hard drives have been running HOT as in scalding hot for 2 years now.... I haven't noticed any problems...... but will they occur?

February 19th, 2003	Top \| #6
Nick M OSNN Veteran Addict Joined: July 2002 Posts: 3,961 Reputation: 370 Power: 162	Cool them. HDD + lots of hot = Bad. They are more likely to fail. I suggest a different setup.

February 19th, 2003	Top \| #7
canadian_divx Canadian_divx Joined: June 2002 Location: waterloo, Ontario, Canada, Planet Earth Posts: 1,551 Reputation: 150 Power: 137	how does heat effect the HDD?????

February 19th, 2003	Top \| #11
shaunj66 H.T.I.D! Joined: July 2002 Location: United Kingdom, South. Posts: 113 Reputation: 0 Power: 121	I have a Coolermaster DCD-4002 hard drive cooler on my precious maxtor 80gb (7200rpm) hdd, and it runs just fine. Nice and cool and it's not too noisy. It was quite cheap too.

February 19th, 2003	Top \| #12
Maveric169 The Voices Talk to Me Joined: December 2002 Location: Elkhart, IN Posts: 1,148 Reputation: 130 Power: 128	Originally posted by Nick M Good advice. BTW, the self contained cooler units look really cool, but what if it breaks? Well that is a risk that you take, I guess you wuld want to get a fan monitor setup for that. But there was one that I saw a few weeks ago while I was looking for something else that could hold 3 HDD's and had a 3 fan 5.25 drive bay intake, with ducts that blow on all 3 drives. The review on it was pretty good except for the noise, apparently those 3 fans were screamers. But it was a neat setup and an easy was to cool up to 3 HDD's with 1 unit. Disclaimer: Past performace and emerging trends are not always accurate predictors for future events. Consult your employeer reguarding overtime possibilies incase I am wrong and you have to buy more stuff. AMD Athlon 64 3000+ \| Gigabyte GA-K8NS Mobo \| 1 Gig Crucial XMS Ram \| Maxtor 200GB Sata Drive 8Meg Cache Primary Drive \| 60GB Backup Drive \| ATI 9550 \| Antec Trio 430W PSU \| Custom Case *Check out my new website* *http://13-dragons.net/*

February 19th, 2003	Top \| #13
Master-J Unregistered Posts: n/a	I have had 2 hard drives fail on me due to heat and i have only one recommendation: NEVER stack 2 or more drives directly on top of each other as the heat that gets generated multiplies and it gets trapped between the drives and cannot escape since the heat rises from the lower drive and cooks the upper one. I'd leave one bay between each drive and move up into the 5 1/4" bays if necessary. If you have three drives stacked, running in a warm room for a long periods of time, u'd be lucky for them to last much longer than 2 years. I generally find that drives will become scolding hot if they are stacked. With space between them, they should only be luke warm, and in an optimal situation, with a fan behind them, they should be almost cold to touch. Another good idea is to have auto spin-down enabled, so after say 20 mins your drives switch off and unecessary heat is not generated (this really does make a difference).

February 19th, 2003	Top \| #14
Maveric169 The Voices Talk to Me Joined: December 2002 Location: Elkhart, IN Posts: 1,148 Reputation: 130 Power: 128	The auto spin down sounds like a good idea period, how do you enable that feature? Disclaimer: Past performace and emerging trends are not always accurate predictors for future events. Consult your employeer reguarding overtime possibilies incase I am wrong and you have to buy more stuff. AMD Athlon 64 3000+ \| Gigabyte GA-K8NS Mobo \| 1 Gig Crucial XMS Ram \| Maxtor 200GB Sata Drive 8Meg Cache Primary Drive \| 60GB Backup Drive \| ATI 9550 \| Antec Trio 430W PSU \| Custom Case *Check out my new website* *http://13-dragons.net/*

February 19th, 2003	Top \| #15
jonifen pffff... Joined: February 2003 Posts: 705 Reputation: 10 Power: 120	I had an IBM 30Gb drive which died due to high temperature... the guy in the shop said he'd swap it for me at no charge on the condition i put an 80mm fan in front of the harddrives in the PC (he had the same case as me at the time and knew an 80mm fan would fit perfectly - which it did ). Luckily I had a spare 80mm fan at home, so I stuck it in front of the new Quantum (they had no IBMs left ) and its doing the business - recently added a 30Gb Maxtor aswell and both harddrives are running über cool )

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February 19th, 2003	Top \| #16
jonifen pffff... Joined: February 2003 Posts: 705 Reputation: 10 Power: 120	Originally posted by mbunny Is there any problem with them running hot? My hard drives have been running HOT as in scalding hot for 2 years now.... I haven't noticed any problems...... but will they occur? some harddrives are able to take the heat more than others... although they're perfectly happy with scalding hot temperatures, its still worth it to cool them imo