Hard Drives Overheating -- Help Please!

[dzaborn]

I have lost a data drive for the second time this year. Both are Maxtor 7200 RPM drives. I have noticed every since I got my PC, even when I just ran the boot drive, that the drives were too hot to touch. I am convinced my HD failures are due to them running hot.

The three drives bays (all 3.5" are stacked at the front of the case right below the CD drives. The 5 power connectors from the PS are used to power the 2 CD's and 3 HD's so I have no spares.

The question is why is this happening. I found out that I have only a 250W power supply and it was mentioned that this is hardly enough to run what I have and one drive, much less three. I have decided to upgrade to a Antec True Power 430.

Here are my system specs.

Gateway 700x P4 2GHz 512RAM, 1 CD-RW, 1 DVD, 3 HD's, NVIDIA GeForce2 MX 400, Creative Sound Blaster Audigy in a mid-tower case.

Here are my questions:

1> Can a power supply that is not sufficient be causing my HD's to run hot? If not, what could be?
2> Is the Antec True Power 430 a good PS?
3> How do I know if that PS will fit in my PC and if it is compatable with the PC/Motherboard (I have searched but found nothing other than it will work with P4 systems)?
4> How can I cool down my system?

My 3 3.5" HD bays are mounted under the 2 5.25" CD bays and are stacked right on top of each other. There is about 1/4" space in between them. Do they make and sell 5.25" bays that I can mount in my PC to space them out?

I have a grate on the back of the PC where I could mount a fan to suck air out of the PC. But this grate looks as if it provides air for the PS fan, which resides hovering above the CPU, to suck in. The front of the Gatway case has a plate with holes, where I suppose I could mount an intake fan, but the HD's bays are almost flush up against almost and I don't know if there is room to fit it in there.

Also, If I am using 5 power connectors, what do I have to power any fans that I would add to my system?

Any help in answering my questions would be most appreciated!

Thanks dzaborn

 

[thraxes]

First: Welcome to AT

Second: The heat of the Harddrives is not related to how much juice the PSU can provide. You need to get some ventiation into that case and perhaps not cluster the harddrives too tightly together as then the heat won't dissipate. Try gettng one of these:
http://www2.alternate.de/prodpic/450x450/a/azz-09.jpg
You can fit two drives in the case and they are cooled by a 80mm fan. If you d get that thing, buy a silent fan to go with it because the one it comes with is loud as hell.

 

[dzaborn]

thanks for the reply! Are there any other suggestions about some of the other questions I had?

Thanks, dzaborn

 

[Pothead]

I've found the Maxtor 80gb 2mb versions get real hot quickly, 4 brand new ones have died on me in a six month time span.

1. Nope
2. Yes, it is a very good psu, fairly quiet (quietness is subjective)
3. Unless Gateway uses proprietary stuff, you are golden.
4. How about a new case...many of the new cases have an intake fan that blows directly on the hard drives.

Pictures would def. help. :beer:

 

[mechBgon]

Antec TruePower430 is very good, yes. Since you have a Gateway-brand system, however it's not 100% guaranteed to be a standard ATX power supply like the Antec is. Some Gateway cases also use a PSU with a proprietary latch-in setup (I have some of those at work).

You definitely need some airflow on your hard drives too. My solution might be a little drastic, but I'd suggest building yourself a system from scratch in a well-ventilated case that provides good hard-drive cooling capabilities (Antec SX635II, Antec SLK3700AMB, Antec Plus1080AMG, etc).

 

[fell8]

The Gateways I have tinkered with are propreitary, so you may have problems mounting the new PS.

 

[dzaborn]

thanks for the answers to my questions... I think I have decided to buy a nice big new case with lots of fans...

One more question to some things that were mentioned... The Antec TruePower 430 will work with my Gateway parts, just might not fit into the case? Is that what you wall were saying?

If so, that will resolve itself with a new case... I just want to make sure it will be compatable with my motherboard, etc...

Thanks again, dzaborn

 

[MDE]

If you get a new case, you aren't guaranteed to have your motherboard fit the case, which snowballs out of control. Your PSU isn't the problem (and it isn't guaranteed to fit the motherboard), so I wouldn't worry about it if I was in your situation. I'd focus on trying to get some airflow on the hard drives, or trying to mount one of them in a spare 5 1/4" bay, assuming you got the mounting brackets with the drives or have spares.