HDD Orientation Question

fallenangle · 16 Jul 2014 at 17:44

Does it matter which way up you mount a HDD?

The information I've found against mounting them upside down ie. label towards the bottom is that the heat produced, as it naturally rises up, will tend to heat the circuit board more and this may, long term, affect the life of the HDD.

True or false?

I ask because in my current build I later decide to add a SSD. If I use it in the purpose designed 2.5" rack in my Corsair Carbide 200R case the SATA connectors are at 90 degrees to the HDDs in the 3.5" rack underneath it.

The PSU I'm using comes with with one 2 x SATA and one 4 x SATA power lines. I have to use the 2 x SATA for the optical drives so the 4 x SATA is all there is for both the HDD and SSD.

The problem is the orientation and the distance between the SATA plugs on the cable. Because of the forced routing path it makes it virtually impossible to attach everything without severe strain being put on the drive connectors, plugs and cable. I think it is asking for future trouble.

Solution (1): buy a 3.5" caddy for the SSD.

Solution (2): buy SATA M/F power extension cable(s) of suitable length.

Solution (3): it occurred to me that if I physically turned the HHDs and SSD upside down the cable distance required between the HDD rack and SSD rack would be significantly reduced. But also because of the reversed plug orientation I could plug the lower HDD in using plug (4), the top HHD using plug (3) and the SSD with the end of cable plug (1) with far less strain on everything.

Comments appreciated.

Sasahara · 16 Jul 2014 at 23:48

If the heat difference does make a difference the PCB is either faulty or your HDD is getting too hot anyway.

Have a think how many laptop HDDs are face up when you open them up?
So upside down when in use.

fallenangle · 17 Jul 2014 at 11:48

Thanks.

TBH I've never taken a HDD out of a laptop so I wouldn't know what way up they're usually installed.

In a laptop, being sandwiched in a small space, I'd imagine the heat issue would be nigh on irrelevant to the orientation. But in a desktop where you do have a choice it did sound like a plausible reason for caution. Remember the claim wasn't that it would cause HDD failure directly but that over time the extra heat would reduce its life expectancy.

Electronic components' longevity is affected by heat, that is a fact. The question is whether there is significantly more heating of the HDD's circuit board when upside down to make orientating them this way a bad idea?

Thinking about it there is also the question to be considered about what part of the HDD actually produces more heat: the mechanics or the circuit board? If it is the circuit board then it may even be that fitting them upside down is a preferable option.

As it is, for cable neatness sake more than anything, I've actually decided to go for the 3.5" bay adapter bracket solution for the SDD.

Akagi · 17 Jul 2014 at 11:57

I think they can run any way up, they should only be able to fit in one way in a laptop anyway because of the way the connectors are.

I did once turn an old Seagate Barracuda upside down while it was in use, having famously said "hard drives like being upside down!" ... and then the PC bluescreened.

Ploppy2k3 · 17 Jul 2014 at 13:59

hard drives can be mounted at any angle you like. as long as they are not moved while spinning it really doesn't matter at all. Desktop HDD's usually don't park the drive head at the edge of the platters when idle like laptop ones do so that's why you can move a laptop about.

different OEM's mount the drives in all sorts of angles based around the chassis design as well so go for it.

Sasahara · 17 Jul 2014 at 14:08

fallenangle said:
Thanks.

TBH I've never taken a HDD out of a laptop so I wouldn't know what way up they're usually installed.

In a laptop, being sandwiched in a small space, I'd imagine the heat issue would be nigh on irrelevant to the orientation. But in a desktop where you do have a choice it did sound like a plausible reason for caution. Remember the claim wasn't that it would cause HDD failure directly but that over time the extra heat would reduce its life expectancy.

Electronic components' longevity is affected by heat, that is a fact. The question is whether there is significantly more heating of the HDD's circuit board when upside down to make orientating them this way a bad idea?

Thinking about it there is also the question to be considered about what part of the HDD actually produces more heat: the mechanics or the circuit board? If it is the circuit board then it may even be that fitting them upside down is a preferable option.

As it is, for cable neatness sake more than anything, I've actually decided to go for the 3.5" bay adapter bracket solution for the SDD.

I'm not convinced there would be any difference. Heat alone doesn't rise. Hot air rises only cause it's less dense than colder air. So I would expect the same amount of heat to be generated more or less uniformly from the solid metal casing it's only once the heat transfers into the air will it start to rise. Once it's got to that stage it's moving away from the HDD.

As you said the top is probably the cooler part as the heat in the air will escape faster.
And yes PCB & components will degrade faster under high temps, but excuding a faulty product, HDDs are not going to get anywere near hot enough to do this within it's normal life span.

fallenangle · 17 Jul 2014 at 14:58

Thanks for all the responses, interesting and useful comments as usual here.

fallenangle · 22 Jul 2014 at 14:11

Relevant secondary issue now I have the SDD and Akasa 3.5" adapter bracket.:-

Which way is up for a SSD?

I know that it doesn't really matter but I'm interested in the fact that with the Crucial MX100 when orientated with the Crucial sticker upwards the SSD's connector pins are exposed upwards and, of course, the SATA power connection side is to the right. That is how it is shown on its own box cover so with no accompanying instructions I'd argue that you'd be lead to think that is its norrmal orientation. Isn't that logical?

This is the reverse of any HDD or OD I use/used where, with 'normal' upwards orientation, the SATA power connector is to the left with the actual connection pins hidden from sight underneath.

It is of little import when you're using SSDs in their own 2.5" bays but with an adapter in the 3.5" HDD bays if you mounted it upwards the connections would be on a different side to the HDDs.

The Akasa mounting bracket clearly shows the SATA PSU connector on the left indicating the SSD is meant to be mounted, what must be considered, upside down ie. with the Crucial logo facing the bottom of the case. No problem and any intelligent person would understand this. But it annoys me that if you followed what you'd think was the logical, intended orientation, indicated by the logo facing up, you'd be into a world of pain trying to get it all to connect.

Additionally, probably more due to the particular case and PSU cable design, I found that the Akasa 3.5" bracket was better mounted back to front. The reason for doing this is that it sets the SDD back underneath the line the HDDs and allows the end SATA power cable plug to reach it without having to be ridiculously bent and twisted. The bracket is still very well secured by two screws and the drive bay's tool-less mounting system.

Another thing that annoys me is, yet again, the use of imperial and metric screws, with the Akasa bracket. The SSD is mounted using short (4mm?) M3 flathead screws but the bracket, like most 3.5" HDDs, uses 3/8" 6-32 ones.