Safe HDD Temps

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kaiweiler

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 19, 2007
Messages
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Hey, what do you all consider to be safe operating temperatures for hard disk drives?
Mine currently are running at 46C and 49C after suspending them in the 5.25" bays
They used to be ~38C before when they were down in the 3.5" bays but they were louder so I'd rather keep them in suspended if 50C is healthy for a disk drive...
 
You could get a Scythe bay cooler. I'm pretty sure they're quiet; or you could always swap out the fan.
 
Give air a route to rise away from them.
If you arent going to use a fan and need to natural convection to take over, a hole in the top of your case will be needed.
No air movement = retained heat.

If you have a fan blowing air out of the back of your PC, an air hole on the front of the PC near the drives should allow cooler air to be drawn into the hard drive area.
This will also induce air flow past the hard drives so the hot air does get moved on.
 
I understand.
So 48-50C is too warm for a HDD to operate efficiently?
That was the original question.
 
Max operating temps tend to be around 55C.
As hard drives are one of the few essential mechanical components of a PC and heat does degrade them in many ways including weaker magnetic fields, its better to keep them cooler.

Mine are currently 28 and 30C fyi
 
One of my Maxtor drives couldn't get below 40*C if it was under water. As long as it stayed under ~46*C, I let it be. Keeping it under 50*C is probably for the best.
 
I have a Deskstar 7K1000 which is the only drive in the lower compartment of a P182, with the lower fan on low; that puts it at about 40C, which I thought was probably acceptable (though not ideal, admittedly).
 
Put it back where its belong and use rubber grommets to slience the noises. You got high temp at 5.25" bay because no intake air flow there. If you still want to keep it there then add on a good quality/slient fan.

I'm glad to have a little bit noise than a dead HDD in few months.
 
I have an old 40gb Maxtor and it's always over 40c. It's an old drive though and I don't use it much so I don't worry about it. You could find a nice 120mm fan that is quiet to place over it to keep it cool if you're worried about it. I've had this drive since new and it's been running like this and has never given me any problems. Under 55c like stated above should be fine.
 
we´ll those temps are alright, i might think that temperature is a determine factor for hard disk reliability, apparently that is not the case, check this paper out Failure Trends in a Large Disk Drive Population.

That paper was published by google engineers, and well they use a LOT of hard drives

so to answer your original question,

yes
 
Having been experienced in datacenters, I know its usually large temperature variations than high temperatures that kill drives.
 
Google is your friend. Seagate posts its operating limit as 60C (55C for some models), so you are getting pretty close to those temps. I'd consider some cooling for them. I'm sure if you check the website for the hard drive manufacturer, you can find the operating temp limit for your particular drive as well.
 
Well I relocated them back to the 3.5" bays and the temps are back to 36C and 37C
May not be quite as silent, but peace of mind is worth the trade off I suppose...
 
heat is what really kills HDD's the hotter they run the faster they die
to me im ok with tons of fan noise as long as everything is cool. i have yet to have an HDD die on me. my HDD's are always around 22-24C, i have a minimum of 1x 120mm 80CFM fan on it.
 
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