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HD coolers?

X

Xylo

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 5, 2005
Messages
421
I've been using a 7200RPM HD for a long time now with no cooling with no problems, but it appears people are strongly advocating cooling HDs nowadays? Is this with 10,000RPM drives only?...or 7200's also??

In any case, my system is going to be water-cooled. Should I watercool my HD or air cool it? Air-cooling it seems kinda silly if I'm going through the effort of water-cooling the rest of the system...and yet, water cooling seems maybe somewhat like "overkill"?...or inefficient, as where is the heat from HDs distributed to on the HD itself?? Also, air cooling in this area seems significantly cheaper?

Looking at HD coolers like the Koolance, Asetek, and Aqua coolers, all of which happen to be listed right here: http://sharkacomputers.com/wablhadr.html

I'm also wondering about cooling multiple drives...

Any thoughts?
Xylo
 
Some people like to water cool them, some don't. Do whichever you prefer, but realize that the HDD's don't really need water cooling, and a quiet fan or an aftermarket HDD cooler would be a good choice, and just as effective as a water cooled unit. Most of the HDD water coolers are made with small bore (6 to 8mm ID) in mind, so it will be a restriction to any system using 3/8" ID or higher.

I have a quiet Vantec Stealth 80mm fan cooling my 74gb WD Raptor (10k RPM) and a 300gb Maxtor Maxline 3 (7200 RPM), and I don't really feel the need to watercool them. I do want to water cool a 40gb WD Caviar for no other reason than for the heck of it though (but I think I want to try my hand at making a block for it instead of buying one).
 
Pooky pretty much said it all. Most people cool hot HD's either for silence, looks, or convenience. Depends on the HD as some get really hot like the WD Raptor drives. Up to a point the cooler a device is, the longer it will last. The other option for multiple drives is products like the Watercool Silentstar or the Aquacomputer AquaDrive. However, keep in mind that these are for 5.25" slots and are a little pricey. ;)
 
joining the choir. ditto, I just make sure there is some air from somehere blowing on them and now insist on cases with the hard drive rack at the lower front right behind the case cooling fans.

One thing thats not obvious is the metal casing of the drive acts as the heatsink for the entire drive. Sooooo you want to always use 4 screws to secure them with, make sure they are snung to the drive bays as the screw is the thermal conduit from the drive casing to the rest of your case to help bleed off heat. (I dont like some drive rails for HD's for that reason). a flat washer in between the drive and the bay at each screw location is a good idea if you can get one in there. This should also raise alarm bells at some of the rubber drive insulators sold for noise reduction. Not a good idea from a thermal standpoint. Course if the drive is in front of a fan who cares, the fan (or WC setup) will do the job.
 
Top Nurse said:
Pooky pretty much said it all. Most people cool hot HD's either for silence, looks, or convenience. Depends on the HD as some get really hot like the WD Raptor drives. Up to a point the cooler a device is, the longer it will last. The other option for multiple drives is products like the Watercool Silentstar or the Aquacomputer AquaDrive. However, keep in mind that these are for 5.25" slots and are a little pricey. ;)
Click to expand...

Yeah, those do look nice...
http://www.it-trade.at/newshop/index.php?cPath=27_28

But yes, quite pricey...esp., being in the U.S., I'm sure with currency conversion + shipping they'd be, well, a lot. ;)
 
Vertigo Acid said:
Haven't we already been over this last time someone mentioned watercooling hard drives?
http://www.storagereview.com/php/be...1&devID_0=259&devID_1=250&devID_2=35&devCnt=3
Raptors run about the same temperature as 7200RPM IDE/SATA drives, and are ice cold compared to many SCSI drives
Click to expand...

Perhaps it has been covered, so perhaps it would be a good thing to get a definitive stickied thread on?

As for your link, what does that effectively show other than some temperatures? Doesn't answer any of the questions I asked above.
 
Vertigo Acid said:
Haven't we already been over this last time someone mentioned watercooling hard drives?
Click to expand...

Well actually you and others said what you wanted to say and some of us others said what we wanted to say. I don't think there was a consensus on the subject.
 
Yeah that was the thread :) It's amazing how well the search function works isn't it?
 
I have no problem with people watercooling anything and everything in their case; that's not the issue. My issues is that people constantly refer to the Raptors as running "so hot". They are not hot drives, so stop calling them that.
 
Yes sir! What ever you say sir! :p

Well you know this is all quite subjective so I will say what I want and you say what you want. Some like it hot and live in the desert others like it cool and live by the beach. So if you happen to have a HD that you think is hot you can choose to cool it anyway your little heart desires. Last time I checked I was still living in a country where I can do whatever I please :D
 
:blink blink blink:
Are you high?
mad.gif

I provide *objective* temperature data for the raptor vs average 7200RPM SATA vs a SCSI drive that is 10 degress celcius hotter IDLE , and therefore is a "hot" drive
how the fuck is that subjective?
confused.gif
 
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