Cooled too much?

[MaMMa]

I've got an AMD 2500+ mobile. During the summer it'll idle around 42 C when OCed to 2.5ghz.

Now that its winter, I have my window open and a fan blowing the cool air strait into my box. It can get as low as 28C idle and 40s load. I know that the cooler the CPU runs the better, however, keeping my hard drives really cool and everything else inside it. Would this be a problem for my hard drives?

 

[killernoodle]

No, hard drives are very resilient against just about anything.

 

[AACDIRECT]

No, hard drives are very resilient against just about anything.

They can be to cold. Most companies have an operating range posted on their website.

WD says that their drives should be operated in a 41F to 131F range.

Non operational temp is -40F to 149F

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=59

Click the environmental tab

 

[The[H]uman]

only thing i woudl worry about is with a window open and blowing into case would be mostiure build up

 

[AACDIRECT]

only thing i woudl worry about is with a window open and blowing into case would be mostiure build up

Yea I had a buddy that hooked a window fan to a dryer hose ducted into his case. That was a big issue. Did bad things.

 

[sithspit]

I would worry about the thermal contraction and expansion that can occur from being that cold, then heating up under load, and then cooling down when off...You get the idea.
The range you speak of might not cause any damage but it probably would sooner or later.

Components such as hard drive rely on very precisely tuned mechanical parts and I would not want to risk such dramatic swings in temperature.

An easy, fun and extreme way to demonstrate thermal expansion/contraction is to heat up a glass jar with a torch (a stove might be able to get it hot enough) and then throw it into a bucket of cold water.

 

[Archmage]

With those temperatures, there's nothing to worry about...

As far as moisture: well that's another issue.