Two HDDs close together=Bad

[overst33r]

I just installed a new hard drive and i am worried that it will overheat because its like 1/4" away from my other one. I turned them around so that the metal part of the HDDs are facing each other, maybe that will help so the heat goes the opposite way?? Anybody have a similar system. I have a very small case so there is only three 3 1/2" bays.

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

I used to have two Quamtum Big Foots bolted together, and I never had a problem with them. Also, aside from strange and random occurances on here, I myself have never really had a issue at all with hd temps.
Tas.

 

[CalvinHobbes]

I actively cool all my hard disks in all my machines.

 

[overst33r]

Originally posted by: CalvinHobbes
I actively cool all my hard disks in all my machines.

did you just set up a fan next to them or did you get a in-bay cooler.

 

[Vegito]

my chieftech case has removable drive bay which allows a 80mm fan up front..
also the lian li has a 120mm fan for the drive bays..

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Well, I do use passive hd coolers, but they are more for mounting than cooling really. I imagine it helps some, but I don't have any 3.5" bays in my case, so everything works out for me that way...
Tas.

 

[thirdeye]

I've had 3 stacked on top of each other my Antec case for quite some time with just an 80mm fan in the drive bay to keep them. No problems with heat that I've experienced.

 

[Jeff7]

Funny thing about warm air, no matter which way you turn something that's putting out heat, the warm air always wants to rise.

My experiences with 7200rpm hard drives next to each other says that they'll reach 140F+ if they don't have some kind of air circulation. That's confirmed by touch and by the hard drive's internal thermometers.

 

[furballi]

Try to keep the drives around 35C or lower.

 

[overst33r]

they are running at 40C and 41C, thats not too bad.

 

[d2arcturus]

Originally posted by: forcesho
my chieftech case has removable drive bay which allows a 80mm fan up front..
also the lian li has a 120mm fan for the drive bays..

Yeaah Chieftec is the badass of all cases :laugh:, got one meself.
I have an 80mm blowing right over my two Raptors.

 

[albumleaf]

Originally posted by: mariok2006
they are running at 40C and 41C, thats not too bad.

Every degree above 30c causes MBTF to decrease exponentially

 

[furballi]

If the drive is mounted near the front air intake, then it should not exceed 35C with a room temp of 25C or lower.

 

[Texun]

Originally posted by: d2arcturus

Originally posted by: forcesho
my chieftech case has removable drive bay which allows a 80mm fan up front..
also the lian li has a 120mm fan for the drive bays..

Yeaah Chieftec is the badass of all cases :laugh:, got one meself.
I have an 80mm blowing right over my two Raptors.

Pretty much the same thing here except mine aren't Raprors. With a front mounted 80mm fan my Samsung (OS and Apps) is running 25 and the Maxtor (just downloads) is at 22C.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: mariok2006
I just installed a new hard drive and i am worried that it will overheat because its like 1/4" away from my other one. I turned them around so that the metal part of the HDDs are facing each other, maybe that will help so the heat goes the opposite way?? Anybody have a similar system. I have a very small case so there is only three 3 1/2" bays.

You're running a hard drive upside down? I wouldn't do that if I were you.

Big picture: if your hard drives are getting hot, get a better case. Antec SLK3000-B is nice, comes w/ 120mm 3-speed exhaust fan and can hold five drives. You can add a 120mm x 25mm fan up front if you really pack it to the gills and need the cooling.

 

[overst33r]

Originally posted by: mechBgon

Originally posted by: mariok2006
I just installed a new hard drive and i am worried that it will overheat because its like 1/4" away from my other one. I turned them around so that the metal part of the HDDs are facing each other, maybe that will help so the heat goes the opposite way?? Anybody have a similar system. I have a very small case so there is only three 3 1/2" bays.

You're running a hard drive upside down? I wouldn't do that if I were you.

Big picture: if your hard drives are getting hot, get a better case. Antec SLK3000-B is nice, comes w/ 120mm 3-speed exhaust fan and can hold five drives. You can add a 120mm x 25mm fan up front if you really pack it to the gills and need the cooling.

How come its bad to run the upside down?

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Heat rises back into the drive

 

[overst33r]

Originally posted by: The Pentium Guy
Heat rises back into the drive

That doesn't make any sense, the hdd emitts heat from all sides, maybe some spots more than others but that shouldn't make any difference

 

[Atheus]

Hard drives have an upside down? Which way up is correct?

 

[mechBgon]

I am more concerned about the bearing design and the incredibly-tight clearances between the platters and heads. Someone mentioned the other day that the fly height of the heads above the platters is about 1/2000th the thickness of a human fingerprint. Running your drive upside down in an attempt to keep it cool just doesn't seem like the right approach, somehow

 

[overst33r]

Originally posted by: Atheus
Hard drives have an upside down? Which way up is correct?

Apparently the correct way is: the power connection faces towards you when you look into the case. powerconnection>jumpers>ide/sata plug.

 

[nineball9]

Originally posted by: albumleaf

Every degree above 30c causes MBTF to decrease exponentially

Perchance, do you mean "MTBF" instead of "MBTF"?

Regardless, I, and perhaps other AT readers as well, would like to know where you got this info. If you can substantiate your claim please post a link to it or supply the title of a book or other publication where you found it.

For a quick reference, I went to Seagate's site (Specs in PDF format) and read the specs for their 7200.7 drives. Seagate's rated operating temps: 5-55 C and 0-60 C. (Non-operating temps are -40 to 70 C.)

Seagate's 7200.8 drives all have rated operating temps of 0-60 C and a 5 year warranty. This would seem to be counter intuitive to your exponential mean time between failure claim.

 

[mechBgon]

Here's a nice document with some info on temperature v. failure: SCSI v. ATA or really PS v. ES drives, see page 9, figure 11.

 

[piasabird]

You should do the exact opposite. The thick metal part of the hard drive case is what cools them off?????

If you had a fan blowing directly on them it would be better. Many cases position hard drive directly in the path of the intake air vents lower in the case.

Maybe you just have a case with a poor design and a poor air flow design.

I think a case like an Antec SLK3700AMB has an excellent design for cooling.

You might remove the Floppy drive and have enough room to separate the hard drives.

This looks like a nice case design:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129140

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

I've got 5 hard drive slots in my case and a nice big 120mm fan blowing right on them I have 3 drives in there with an empty slot between each one. My laptop hard drive runs at 45C, and my friend's runs at 55C , but they still work fine.