HDD placement opinions

[dwell]

I recently got loaded my HTPC/gaming PC into a CoolerMaster Elite 341 to save space. Things are a little tight and I am looking to consolidate my 250 and 200GB drives into one large drive (probably 640GB).

The case has three spaces for 3.5" drives. One at the bottom under a 120mm fan, one right above the fan, and one in the 3.5" drive bay. pic

Looking for the optimal spot for a single drive. The bottom seems good but I am going to have to run the SATA power cable down to the drive, still the SATA data cable will be right under it so it's a win-lose. I've always felt the higher the better as heat rises but it's sort of a dead zone up there for airflow, plus there's a quad bakeshop in that neighborhood.

What's the general opinion on this?

 

[Zepper]

The bottom (PCB) side of a HDD is usualy the warmest, so I'd put it in the uppper HDD mount. Looks like the lower HDD mount will get little to no flow on the bottom side. You can get a little utility program called HDD Thermometer that shows your HDD temps in the task bar of the main Windows screen. Works good for me.
. Looks like you have spaces for a helper fan or two on the side panel if needed, so you should have no problem cooling your HDDs except if you put one in the floppy bays - I don't see how much air could get to that one.

.bh.

 

[seemingly random]

I have the CM 541 which has bad hd placement when considering air flow.

In the 341, it looks like there's room for up to three drives suspended vertically in the path of the front fan (500-700 rpm should be sufficient).

I'd also seal off the those huge air leaks in the side panel to enable more of a front to back airflow (and less noise leakage). Sometimes, the left and right side panels can be swapped with a little work.