How does SANDRA Measure HDD Temp?

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godzillasdm

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hi all,

I was curious as to how SiSoftware Sandra or any other software measures Hard Drive temperature. The only thing any software can do, is to translate what information is available.

Temperature is only available thru physical measure. Does the HDD actually have some sort of thermometer?

Also, anyone know how accurate is Sandra? My HDD was running 60*C on load, i opened the case up and redid the HSF on CPU, close the case, and all of a sudden it dropped 10*C to 50*C on load. (Weird that the HSF had anything to do with it.)

Only thing i can think of is, i moved the thermal sensor of my case fan. maybe that caused the fan to spin faster, when detecting more heat elsewhere.

Thanks. please answer how sandra detects hdd temp!!!
GODzillaSDM
 
depends on whitch harddrive you have. some have the sensor internal. why do you think that scsi hd's get those "heatsinks" on the sides? thats for cooling. thats why you have to cool a harddrive. some old hd's dont have a temp sensor build in but most hd's today have it.
 
Anyone here use SiSoftware Sandra, and believe their temperature report is accurate??

anyone know any software that will display ur temps in a small window constantly? Without doing the whole mainboard test thru Sandra.

thanks
thai
 
Motherboard monitor can display your HDD temp as well, depending on the drive.
 
I don't trust SiSoft Sandra for temps at all. I'm not sure the last time I looked at the temps through it and they were correct. I know it can't report my CPU voltage correctly. There is no way I am running 2.45 volts through my 2400+. The CPU would have been fried long before that.

As for reading the temps from hard drives, some hard drives have temp sensors built into them and some software can read. I don't think my 2 WD40BBs have a temp sensor although my old (dead) IBM Deathstar did.
 
Originally posted by SmokeRngs
I don't trust SiSoft Sandra for temps at all. I'm not sure the last time I looked at the temps through it and they were correct. I know it can't report my CPU voltage correctly. There is no way I am running 2.45 volts through my 2400+. The CPU would have been fried long before that.

As for reading the temps from hard drives, some hard drives have temp sensors built into them and some software can read. I don't think my 2 WD40BBs have a temp sensor although my old (dead) IBM Deathstar did.
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last i checked, your mobo detects the stuff, and software merely reads it, therefore, the voltages reported by sandra are merely what they are receiving from the mobo (COULD be that sandra is detecting the wrong "channel" or whatever from the sensor chip on mobo)

my temps from mbm5 and sandra were always the exact same, no matter what
 
the 10 degree drop was prolly from opening your case, changing the case temp, therefore cooler air around your HDD
 
Originally posted by Rix2357
it's SMART :p
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yes thats right...its called S.M.A.R.T, this is a real acronym...but im not too sure what it stands for. S.M.A.R.T. actively monitors drive stats on most hdd's today and can report error count, uptime, temps, spindle spin up time, and even estimate life expectancy of drive (which i dont really trust) it also logs all this info...most hdd temp monitoring progs no doubt use S.M.A.R.T.
 
Speedfan is another monitoring proggy that will display hd temps...as long as you're not using a Silicon Digital controller (i.e., the SATA controller on the A7N8X Del).
 
Originally posted by =XTG=
yes thats right...its called S.M.A.R.T, this is a real acronym...but im not too sure what it stands for. S.M.A.R.T. actively monitors drive stats on most hdd's today and can report error count, uptime, temps, spindle spin up time, and even estimate life expectancy of drive (which i dont really trust) it also logs all this info...most hdd temp monitoring progs no doubt use S.M.A.R.T.
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i got the smart thing disabled in my bios, should i turn it on? or leave it off? or does it matter?
 
Originally posted by kllrnohj
last i checked, your mobo detects the stuff, and software merely reads it, therefore, the voltages reported by sandra are merely what they are receiving from the mobo (COULD be that sandra is detecting the wrong "channel" or whatever from the sensor chip on mobo)

my temps from mbm5 and sandra were always the exact same, no matter what
Click to expand...

The temps from MBM5 and SiSoft Sandra rarely match for my system. I've read a lot of posts on here about other people experiencing the same thing. The temps are usually all over the place too so I doubt it's just reading the wrong info.

I also mentioned it reading my CPU voltage wrong. There is no way my CPU is going to be using anywhere from 2.45-2.85 volts. That is the range that Sandra likes to report. I run mine at 1.85. There is a bit more wrong there than just reading the wrong sensor or something.

These examples are the reason why I tell people not to trust temps and stuff like that from Sandra. My experiences show it is not reliable. Besides, it's better to have a program that is actually made to do that kind of thing. They usually work a bit better and can give you real time monitoring.
 
I have used the following programs to check system temperatures.
Bios, ASUS Probe, MBM5, Speedfan and Si Soft
All of them show different temperatures. Some will be close but no 2 will show the same temperature at the same time.
The Bios is the least accurate it seems to me. MBM5 will show them at say 38c or so and will go into bios and it will read 25c or so. ASUS probe also never seems close to me. Speedfan and MBM5 seem about the best to me as they show more and seem to be close to what it should really be.

Speedfan is the only one I have got to work on my hard drive. I have the Maxtor 120g 133 and it has the censor in it. I am sure the others can but I have never got them to work (Have not tried that hard)

Sure would be nice if in the future someone came out with something that was 100% right all the time lol. They may be now but when you try a few different things and all show something different you just do not know who to trust.

I always try to follow about the ones in the middle as that always seems close to what others get with close to same set up. You can see in my sig what I am running and about at what temps most times.
Some day I might try water cooling as with 10 fans running full time in my case it can get a bit much at times. I have installed some smart fans 2 now to help some as I turn them down when I am just doing things like this and turn them up while gaming and such. I have all of the manual control knobs all run to close to the same spot so I can just open side of case and adjust them all real fast. I also have been thinking of getting one of them things so I do not even have to open the case but have not yet. It only takes me a few sec to get it down now as my case is real easy to pop open with the latch on the side and all.
 
QUOTE "the 10 degree drop was prolly from opening your case, changing the case temp, therefore cooler air around your HDD"

actually, the 10 drop is with CASE CLOSED.
 
Originally posted by micah
I have used the following programs to check system temperatures.
Bios, ASUS Probe, MBM5, Speedfan and Si Soft
All of them show different temperatures. Some will be close but no 2 will show the same temperature at the same time.
The Bios is the least accurate it seems to me. MBM5 will show them at say 38c or so and will go into bios and it will read 25c or so. ASUS probe also never seems close to me. Speedfan and MBM5 seem about the best to me as they show more and seem to be close to what it should really be.

Speedfan is the only one I have got to work on my hard drive. I have the Maxtor 120g 133 and it has the censor in it. I am sure the others can but I have never got them to work (Have not tried that hard)

Sure would be nice if in the future someone came out with something that was 100% right all the time lol. They may be now but when you try a few different things and all show something different you just do not know who to trust.

I always try to follow about the ones in the middle as that always seems close to what others get with close to same set up. You can see in my sig what I am running and about at what temps most times.
Some day I might try water cooling as with 10 fans running full time in my case it can get a bit much at times. I have installed some smart fans 2 now to help some as I turn them down when I am just doing things like this and turn them up while gaming and such. I have all of the manual control knobs all run to close to the same spot so I can just open side of case and adjust them all real fast. I also have been thinking of getting one of them things so I do not even have to open the case but have not yet. It only takes me a few sec to get it down now as my case is real easy to pop open with the latch on the side and all.
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hmmmm, i always heard/thought that the BIOS is infact the most accurate.......
 
Originally posted by IYIENACE
I use HDDTemperaturePro for my Raptors, works great. They stay around 33*C and during defrag go about 46*C

http://www.hddtemp.com/
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Well, seems to tell me I needn't worry. At idle mine are 26C.

I kicked defrag on for my main drive (there's still not much on my second 120gigger) and the temp went up to a whopping ... 33C after 5 minutes or so.

Then again I do have an 80mm fan blowing fresh air directly in to my case (Antec 1080) over one of the hard drive bays. I wish there was another bay built in over the other intake fan (some of you know what I'm talking about). Oh well.

edit: it just went up to 34 a couple minutes later. Me thinks it won't break out of the middle 30-40 C range.

edit 2: went back down to 33, but then i started searching for a file and opened up adaware while attempting to defrag and it went back up to 34.

Ambient is around low 20s probably.
 
My mobo temp is 31*C right now due in great part to poor ribbon cable routing and a dirty filter :( That should explain my high temps. Plus my Raptors are stacked and below that a WD1200JB so it's not getting a whole lot of fresh air @ the moment.

I'm starting a major system upgrade so I'll deal with it then lol.
 
Thing is, my mobo is 32, my cpu is 35. At full load it stabilizes at 45* With Zalman 7000cu. Ambient is around 72*F all the time. My MOBO used to be around 27* too. :(
 
I'd like a Zalman 7000, but can't justify the $50 right now. Might consider it once summer comes. Right now at full load I haven't seen my CPU pass around 52.

I've forgotten if that one used a back plate on the Mobo, I'm not taking my Mobo out. Too much effort. :)
 
Originally posted by emorphien
I'd like a Zalman 7000, but can't justify the $50 right now. Might consider it once summer comes. Right now at full load I haven't seen my CPU pass around 52.

I've forgotten if that one used a back plate on the Mobo, I'm not taking my Mobo out. Too much effort. :)
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Ouch, my SK-7 is awesome (do they even make these things anymore?) and only cost $20 + a fan (up to 80mm), which i put a tornado on that, and am getting about 34C full load (tornado is 7v modded)
 
Yeah, don't think they make that anymore. All their current copper coolers are in the $45 to $55 range that I've seen (not including lower prices if you hunt outside of newegg, etc). They have one aluminum one in the 20s.
 
I dont put too much stock in HD temp sensors. MBM reported my hard drive as 27ºC all the time, even when it was 5ºC ambient in my room (left a window open in winter...).
 
Originally posted by emorphien
I'd like a Zalman 7000, but can't justify the $50 right now. Might consider it once summer comes. Right now at full load I haven't seen my CPU pass around 52.

I've forgotten if that one used a back plate on the Mobo, I'm not taking my Mobo out. Too much effort. :)
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I am currently running a DangerDen Maze 2-2 waterblock...I can remove or install it w/out removing the mobo from the tray. W/ a little forethought it's a snap...my brother and I simply cut a square section out of the back of the mobo tray & now I have full access to remove or replace the block, cpu, etc as needed. I recently bought a mobile 2400 Barton from the 'Egg & replacing the cpu was no sweat. ;)
 
Originally posted by arDAWG
I am currently running a DangerDen Maze 2-2 waterblock...I can remove or install it w/out removing the mobo from the tray. W/ a little forethought it's a snap...my brother and I simply cut a square section out of the back of the mobo tray & now I have full access to remove or replace the block, cpu, etc as needed. I recently bought a mobile 2400 Barton from the 'Egg & replacing the cpu was no sweat. ;)
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yeah, i've seen articles showing how to do that online, really quite nice, cept, my mobo doesn't even HAVE 4 mounting holes..... boo-hoo me :(
 
Originally posted by kllrnohj
yeah, i've seen articles showing how to do that online, really quite nice, cept, my mobo doesn't even HAVE 4 mounting holes..... boo-hoo me :(
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Yeah AMD really dropped the ball there, by removing the 4 mounting holes from the spec. :mad: 'Course the mobo manufacturers share some of the blame cuz they should know ppl wouldn't want 2 throw out their relatively high $ waterblocks or Swifty's when they upgraded. My brother purchased an early rev of the NF7/s (which he eventually RMA'ed due to hd corruption issues) and it was sans the mounting holes. ABit got the picture fast though, cuz the rev 1.2 board my bro got in the RMA deal has the 4 mounting holes. Sometimes manufacturers actually listen to us. ;)
 
How are those odd swiftech things with the circular pins instead of fins? I've seen them go for a lot less cash than some of the Thermalright monsters (and Zalman).
 
Originally posted by arDAWG
Yeah AMD really dropped the ball there, by removing the 4 mounting holes from the spec. :mad: 'Course the mobo manufacturers share some of the blame cuz they should know ppl wouldn't want 2 throw out their relatively high $ waterblocks or Swifty's when they upgraded. My brother purchased an early rev of the NF7/s (which he eventually RMA'ed due to hd corruption issues) and it was sans the mounting holes. ABit got the picture fast though, cuz the rev 1.2 board my bro got in the RMA deal has the 4 mounting holes. Sometimes manufacturers actually listen to us. ;)
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yeah, actually, i don't really care, cause my SK-7 isn't going to get replaced anytime soon, and the next time i upgrade, i'm going 64bit, so it doesn't really matter :cool:
 
Well that wuz my opinion @ the time cuz I was using Thermalright AX-7's & they use the clippy-method. But I could empathize w/ those who paid the $'s for the Swiftech's, Alpha's & fairly expensive waterblocks that they could no longer use w/ many boards. Now I've taken the plunge into water cooling, I'm glad epox had the forethought to include the holes on the 8rda+. ;)
How are those odd swiftech things with the circular pins instead of fins? I've seen them go for a lot less cash than some of the Thermalright monsters (and Zalman).
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The Swifty's are pretty damn good...my brother has one of these helical pin having beasts (the mcx462). It performs on par w/ my TRight AX-7's. The newer model (can't recall the # off hand) is supposedly a good 'sink, but I would guess that the newer Thermalrights (eg, 947, 900a) are better. The Swifty's do look cool though, I'll give 'em that much.
 
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