Seagate External Storage Achilles Heel - ST3000DM001

UaVaj · 11-22-2012, 04:23 AM

just giving back to the anandtech community. learn so much here.

i own two of these ST3000DM001. with torrent usage/transfer. ambient temp is 80F and HD temp is 130F. right at the threshold of failure - 140F.

the original variant of this particular external seagate drive was notorious for issues. the problem is not the drive itself. the drive is excellent. it is the enclosure that is the achilles heel. there is absolute no breathing room. the bottom vents are useless. the second generation variant which add rear vent was no better.

if anyone own these drive. ripp them out of the enclosure or buy the bare drive and install them into a fan vented enclosure and you are golden.

with a small fan just enough to keep the air moving. with the same torrent usage/transfer load. they are running at a cool. 100F. been running for 11 month 24/7 no issue.

blastingcap · 11-22-2012, 10:57 AM

So you are recommending spending another $30 on an external enclosure just to run the damn thing? Seriously? I would recommend a Toshiba Canvio Desk USB 3.0 external drive instead. 3 year warranty, drive temps top out at 50 C, don't give money to Seagate as long as they skimp on warranties.

UaVaj · 11-23-2012, 05:26 AM

you trying to compare apples to oranges.

seagate is 7200 rpm w/ 64mb cache
toshiba is 5700 rpm w/ 32mb cache

willing to say the toshiba runs warms too. bottomline is any hard drive especially higher performance 7200 rpm drive will not like air tight enclosure.

however if less performance is your cut of tea, more power to you.

btw. 50C/122F for a 5700 RPM is hot!

tommo123 · 11-23-2012, 07:55 AM

true, as for speed though 7200 vs 5400 is the same since most people (i think) use these drives for storage so a slightly faster drive that runs warmer isn't really worth the extra cost. hell, if it made drives more reliable i'd go for a 4TB drive that was 3200 rpm or something. platter density would make up for the drop in rpm. all we lose out on in seek time and that's crap on ext drives anyway as most self power down when not in use