So I have been looking for a HDD cooling solution

[GasX]

I have spent some time looking for a HDD cooling solution that was 1. functional, 2. quiet and 3. did not have an external faceplate.

I finally found this. It is perfect - a simple heat sink / noise dampening unit. Hot the hell do you justify a $50 price tag? :Q

I can get a unit with a 7 in 1 card reader, fan controls and a digital readout for that money...

Anyone know of a simple HDD heatsink that is cheap and still lets the drive sit in a 3.5" bay?

 

[MercenaryForHire]

$50 for that? :Q

If you've got enough vertical clearance, just strap a CPU/northbridge heatsink on top. No, I'm not kidding.

- M4H

 

[GasX]

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
$50 for that? :Q

exactly! :Q

If you've got enough vertical clearance, just strap a CPU/northbridge heatsink on top. No, I'm not kidding.

- M4H

interesting...

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: Mwilding

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
$50 for that? :Q

exactly! :Q

If you've got enough vertical clearance, just strap a CPU/northbridge heatsink on top. No, I'm not kidding.

- M4H

interesting...

No kidding. In those MicroATX Silverstone cases, there's two drives in the top (Seagate Cuda IV 40GBs). With the top on, they hit a roasting 45C apiece during a heavy thrash. Popped the top and they stayed there. Strapped a slim Socket7 heatsink to the each side of the pair and topped it with the A-block from a Zalman heatpipe. Whammo - 38/39C on the drives.

- M4H

 

[PingSpike]

An old slot 1 cpu HS would probably be a good fit for the top I would think. I never thought about putting a sink on a harddrive before.

 

[GasX]

Originally posted by: PingSpikeI never thought about putting a sink on a harddrive before.

I have had some issues with hard drives in the past and I want to hedge my bets a little and prevent this from being the cause of future problems. My new case has a fan blowing right through the HDD cage, so that's a start...

 

[GasX]

winner?

who says you have to hook up the fans?

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: Mwilding
winner?

who says you have to hook up the fans?

Thats pretty cool. Now I want one. God dammit Mwilding!

 

[Mrvile]

Hmm, dual 50mm fans running at 5k rpm apiece. Wouldn't that be a bit loud?

 

[GasX]

Originally posted by: Mrvile
Hmm, dual 50mm fans running at 5k rpm apiece. Wouldn't that be a bit loud?

That's why I'd not power the fans and just let the heatsink do its work as the HDD sits in front of the case fan in my box...

 

[Tiamat]

I have the Passive Zalman heatpipe one and it did very little/nothing alone. In fact, the HDD still got pretty hot. However, upon removing the 5.25" bay cover, temps decreased by 10-15C as my rear exhaust 120mm fan was drawing air from that bay cover. Yes, I do have dust problems, but 10-15C on my HDD is worth cleaning my case once every 2 weeks. (peak temp with 5.25" cover in place was 52C, peak temp without 5.25" cover is 38-42C)

 

[GasX]

Originally posted by: Tiamat
I have the Passive Zalman heatpipe one and it did very little/nothing alone. In fact, the HDD still got pretty hot. However, upon removing the 5.25" bay cover, temps decreased by 10-15C as my rear exhaust 120mm fan was drawing air from that bay cover. Yes, I do have dust problems, but 10-15C on my HDD is worth cleaning my case once every 2 weeks. (peak temp with 5.25" cover in place was 52C, peak temp without 5.25" cover is 38-42C)

does that thing make things quieter as well?

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: Mwilding

Originally posted by: Tiamat
I have the Passive Zalman heatpipe one and it did very little/nothing alone. In fact, the HDD still got pretty hot. However, upon removing the 5.25" bay cover, temps decreased by 10-15C as my rear exhaust 120mm fan was drawing air from that bay cover. Yes, I do have dust problems, but 10-15C on my HDD is worth cleaning my case once every 2 weeks. (peak temp with 5.25" cover in place was 52C, peak temp without 5.25" cover is 38-42C)

does that thing make things quieter as well?

Opening a hole in the case will not make it quieter.

If you've got the space, I'm going to suggest going with the heatsink approach even more. For kicks, I strapped a pair of S370 sinks to a Seagate with basically zero ambient airflow. Didn't even break 35C when it was being hammered with a good hard defrag. :Q

- M4H

 

[Sentinel]

wouldn't it be fine just with an 80mm blowing on/across it?

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: Sentinel
wouldn't it be fine just with an 80mm blowing on/across it?

For the most part, yes, but hard drives don't have a lot of surface area. That's why heatsinks are finned instead of a solid chunk. He's also looking for some "thermal insurance" as well as keeping things quiet.

- M4H

 

[Jeff7]

Ultimate Hard Drive Cooler

Even without the fans, it still should do something. I have one, but I never actually did any before and after tests. The first hard drive that went in it didn't have temperature monitoring, and every hard drive I've had since has gone straight into the heatsink. It does get quite warm, so it is wicking heat away from the drive.



Oh. Darn. I just saw that bit about having to have it in the 3.5" bay. Um.....move the drive into a 5.25" bay?
Oh well, you could always just buy another case, one with a cooled hard drive cage.

 

[Sentinel]

Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire

Originally posted by: Sentinel
wouldn't it be fine just with an 80mm blowing on/across it?

For the most part, yes, but hard drives don't have a lot of surface area. That's why heatsinks are finned instead of a solid chunk. He's also looking for some "thermal insurance" as well as keeping things quiet.

- M4H

gotcha...:thumbsup:

 

[Rongisnom]

How did you attach the heat sink to the HD. I'm getting all the parts for a new rig on Monday and this is sounding like a very simple and interesting idea.