Hard driving cooling! (warning elaborate)

[MonsterEnergy]

So I've always thought my hard drive cooling setup was pretty efficient but I thought about it recently, and I could just be completely wrong since I'm only basing any comparisons off of my previous setups/experiences.

My case is enclosed on both the sides and top, the bottom and front are open to air. (My computer sits in my desk)

So my setup, I have an aerocool masstige full tower case, with three 120mm intake fans, a cheap $20 hsf (80m fan) which blows air over the cooler, towards the back of the case. Behind the CPU cooler I have a 120mm fan, which blows air out of the case.

I have six hard drives all enclosed in heatsinks and mounted in 5.25 bays. The heatsinks are all stacked on top of each other.

I have four 320gb two of which are setup in a raid one configuration, and two 36gb raptors (10ks).

My idle room temperature is about 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

My hard drives run at ~25 degrees celcius, idle, during intense file transfers and loading games they can get up to ~32 degrees celcius.


So do my drives run cool/hot? Anyone else with hard drive cooling setups, please post!

Also:

I've never had a hard drive partially or completely.

 

[Suprfire]

My HDD's run ~45c idle... i think you're pretty good there

others may have cooler drives etc..but mine have held up very well

 

[SmokeRngs]

Your hard drive temps are just fine. Maxing out around 32C is plenty cool. I have three drives with the hottest running 33C and don't worry at all about the temps. I might start worrying if my drives hit 40C but even then my worrying would probably be for no good reason.

 

[Blue Fox]

During the first few years of use, lower drive temperates actually increase failure rate (even compared to 50C). Optimal temperature is ~35C.

 

[graysky]

During the first few years of use, lower drive temperates actually increase failure rate (even compared to 50C). Optimal temperature is ~35C.

You got a reference for that statement?

 

[haste]

My raptor 150 failed after 2 years and it stays warmer than the rest of my hard drives.

According to speedfan, my HD temps are as follows:

Maxtor 300gb - 28c
Samsung Spinpoint F1 750gb - 25c (temp sensor is prolly off)
Raptor 150gb - 34c
Maxtor 320gb - 30c

This is when my computer is idle. They don't go up much when at full load, maybe 5-6c.


Op, I think you are fine. I have also heard about hard drives liking warm temps too, but have never seen any hard evidence about it.

 

[evilcartman]

Op, I think you are fine. I have also heard about hard drives liking warm temps too, but have never seen any hard evidence about it.

I think it was Google's study on all their massive amounts of HDD's for their servers. I don't have an exact link for that but I'm pretty sure that's where the idea that HDD's like slightly warmer temps rather than cold temps.


Edit: Found it! Here's a link to the Google write-up (it's a PDF). Take a look at pages 5-6, that's where they explain their findings on HDD temperature.

http://labs.google.com/papers/disk_failures.pdf

 

[sirmonkey1985]

During the first few years of use, lower drive temperates actually increase failure rate (even compared to 50C). Optimal temperature is ~35C.

ive heard this statement too.. but ive had a drive running under 30C 24/7 for the last 4 years.. so weather the statement has any truth to it or its 1 specific model or manufacture i dont know.. but until i see one of my drives die before the warrenty expires ill never know.. since all my drives run between 20 and 31C during the winter and 28-36C during the summer..

 

[MrMike]

The google study does indeed show that running a drive either too hot or too cold does increase the chance of failure, but it also shows that you may not see a failure from running at a hot temperature for years to come. Cold running drives have a more consistent failure rate after the initial three months.

I don't know what kind of temperature the platters prefer, but electric motors like it cool. Following that logic, I think it would be interesting to see what types of failures occured. I wouldn't be surprised if the failing cold drives were steady platter issues, while the drives being ran hot were electric motors burning out after being ran out of spec for too long.

More than anything, the google study in its entirety makes a case for purchasing hard drives with a five year warranty.

 

[Nenu]

Your hard drive temps are fine.
The case airflow is good for your hard drives but is terrible for your PC components!
You have what appears to be massive positive case air pressure with 3 fans in to 1 fan out.
The PC case should act like a wind tunnel so air flows past hot components and then exits the case at the back.

Try removing all the PCI slot blanking plates to allow more air to flow out the back of the case rather than the side and front air holes.
This will help prevent your gfx card recycling hot air into the case and provide another route out of the case for the hot motherboard/CPU air.

 

[MonsterEnergy]

Everyone, thanks for all the info. I had searched a lot, but never really been able to find anything about optimal running temperatures, so I just assumed like most electronic components, they would like it a bit chillier =).

Yeah, I also happen to have an 8800gt at the top of my case, with an audigy card right above it.

I was undecided about whether or not to get a pci slot card which would blow air out the back of a PCI slot at the top, or whether or not it would be worth the time and effort to take apart my pc, and create mounting points for two 120mm fans at the top.

Anyways, thanks for all the comments, I feel a bit better about my drives and they seem about average, maybe a little cooler than most.

 

[tuberc]

I've worked with EMC on their integrated disk cache arrays, the largest had 364 HDD's installed. They were tested at ambient, hot and cool temps for hours on end.
There never seemed to be a larger amount of disk failures at any one temp.