Hard Drive Temps

gazometer96 · 2 Apr 2006 at 15:41

I currently have 3 WD hard drives in my pc case:

HD0: 74gb Raptor
HD1: 200gb Caviar SE
HD1: 250gb Caviar SE16

Both the Raptor and the 200gb SE are running quite cool, the 250 on the other hands is running over 20 degrees hotter.

It was sitting at 55 before I moved one of the 4 case fans I have to the front directly blowing on the hard drives. The temp has went down by a measly 4 degrees.

Do these 16mb drives always run as hot as this?

fatty1 · 2 Apr 2006 at 17:12

I am unsure but I do know excess heat will stop your hdd working

benjo · 2 Apr 2006 at 17:24

All of my HDD's run sub 20c :confused:

And my pc isnt the coolest...

Dutch Guy · 4 Apr 2006 at 12:13

I ahve two Maxtor drives, temp is usually in the 40's

But the temperature sensor is on the PCB and isn't really the operating temperature and depends a lot on ambient airtemp so if your harddisks have very little airflow over them the temp will be higher.

Maybe the 74gb and 200gb in your case are in the airflow and the 250gb isn't?

gazometer96 · 4 Apr 2006 at 15:53

Dutch Guy said:
I ahve two Maxtor drives, temp is usually in the 40's

But the temperature sensor is on the PCB and isn't really the operating temperature and depends a lot on ambient airtemp so if your harddisks have very little airflow over them the temp will be higher.

Maybe the 74gb and 200gb in your case are in the airflow and the 250gb isn't?

The 250gb drive is nearest the bottom of the case, I do have a fan blowing directly onto it.

Would another fan make any difference?

Dutch Guy · 4 Apr 2006 at 16:01

gazometer96 said:
The 250gb drive is nearest the bottom of the case, I do have a fan blowing directly onto it.

Would another fan make any difference?

Strange that the difference in temp between the 250gb one and the others is so big :confused:

gazometer96 · 4 Apr 2006 at 17:07

Dutch Guy said:
Strange that the difference in temp between the 250gb one and the others is so big

The raptor and 200gb drive are both 8mb buffer, the 250gb is 16mb, do the 16mb buffer drives run hotter? Its the first one ive owned.

Ive seen the 250gb drive as hot as 57 degrees :eek:

With the fan blowing on it the temp now sits between 49/51 degrees.

Maybe if I were to swap the 200gb drive around with the 250gb I may find out if its the positioning of the drive thats causing the hot temps.

Nathan · 5 Apr 2006 at 13:02

I had an old 80 gig western digital drive around 2 years ago I decided it was too loud and wrapped it in foam and aluminium (bodged hard drive silencer). Worked a treat and sat at 65 degrees for 2 years, on mostly all day every day, was the OS drive so always in use. Died 2 weeks ago. I have since received a replacment drive from WD under warrenty and its gone back into the foam lol

To conclude, hard drives are tough. It even had mad burn marks on the underside haha

gazometer96 · 5 Apr 2006 at 15:32

Decided to move the drives about then noticed a nice big space were the floppy drive should be. I put the raptor drive were the floppy space is and moved the 200gb drive up a slot. I also moved the 250gb drive up one slot and the temps are a lot lower, it sitting at 44 degrees just now

smids · 5 Apr 2006 at 15:38

Usually a drive with say 2 platters will run about 30-32C (warmish ambient). A drive with 4 platters about 36C. Raptors usually about 33C. I have fans blowing over all mine or they hit about 40C - they currently run about 31C in a warm room like mine, but when it is cold about 25C. I really wouldn't worry too much about temps unless you are hitting high 40's early 50's when you should really think about cooling them as it can reduce lifespan.

djjuk · 6 Apr 2006 at 19:58

I have 2 of the WD 2500KS 16...Had to RMA both of them for the same reason re excessive reported temps..

Both were showing as operating between 55c & 60c under normal conditions. However, they were not hot to touch, which led me to suspect faulty sensors.

Spoke to WD & they suggested the RMA, painless process & the replacements are fine sitting at around 30c. There are quite a few reports of these drives reporting excessive temps floating around the net.

As I said the actual temp when touched was not a problem, just the reported one. Did not want to risk it myself though.

gazometer96 · 7 Apr 2006 at 00:19

djjuk said:
I have 2 of the WD 2500KS 16...Had to RMA both of them for the same reason re excessive reported temps..

Both were showing as operating between 55c & 60c under normal conditions. However, they were not hot to touch, which led me to suspect faulty sensors.

Spoke to WD & they suggested the RMA, painless process & the replacements are fine sitting at around 30c. There are quite a few reports of these drives reporting excessive temps floating around the net.

As I said the actual temp when touched was not a problem, just the reported one. Did not want to risk it myself though.

I hope its a lot cheaper to RMA a WD drive if it comes to that. Ive already RMA'd a ***** Maxtor drive and it cost me 40 quid to send it!