Hard Disk Temp in Dell office PC is 60 C. Is that too hot?

[kaiten]

My work PC is a new Dell Dimension E510. It's a P4 3.4GHz, 2GB DDR2, 250 GB hard disk. Both SpeedFan and HDDLife show the disk temperature at 60C during normal use.

From a Google search, this seems to be too high. Should I be concerned about disk life and data safety?

 

[orangat]

Yes if the temperature reading is from smart. Your hd won't last long under that operating temp.

 

[kaiten]

I think the reading is coming from SMART. Is there another program to check the temperature? I put my hand on the disk after opening the case and it doesn't feel warm to the touch. Any ideas?

 

[furballi]

Download HDtune to check your HDD temp. This software is very accurate (at least with my Seagate HDDs). The reported temperature at AM startup is 1C lower than the room temperature.

Nominal HDD temp is between 30 and 40C. As I type, my room temperature is 65F with a HDD temperature of 25C and CPU temperature of 28C (7% CPU load).

Most Dell cases DO NOT vent well. The cooling fans are under-tuned to yield quiet operation. The internal case wiring and layout can be very messy. But hey, it's a Dell. Low price and subpar to par performance.

You can open the case to see if the temp goes down. Short of re-engineering the system, I'd leave thing alone.

 

[F1shF4t]

It could also be a faulty sensor, touch ur hdd to check if its hot. I got an hdd which reports high temps but is only slightly warm to touch.

 

[Rubycon]

Verify physically.

Use something like this to verify temps.

 

[Bobthelost]

If it's correct it's too hot. Touch the HD and it should be painfully hot. The pain receptors start firing off a little over 40*C if memory serves.

 

[kaiten]

HD Tune also reads 58-62 depending on the app I'm running. But since it seems cool to the touch it is hopefully just a sensor problem. Time will tell.

I wanted to do a custom build, but a no go from the boss so I'm stuck with the Dell. But hey, I was using a PIII-550 MHz and 324 MB ram so I can't complain.

 

[furballi]

If the top of the HDD is warm, then the sensor is probably faulty. I take it that this is a small mom-n-pop outfit without an IT department?

Folks will learn that the consumer grade DELLs are junks. My $ is with HPs and E-machines.