Better HDD cooling by contact with case or open to air?

[lonra]

I want to cool my one of my hard drives but without using a fan.

(A) Is it better to have the smooth metal side of the HDD resting on the
metal of the PC case.

OR

(B) Is it better to have the drive mounted (using the side screws) with
air above and below it. The airflow is minimal.

 

[Rod Speed]

I want to cool my one of my hard drives but without using a fan.

(A) Is it better to have the smooth metal side
of the HDD resting on the metal of the PC case.

No, most of the heat doesnt leave the drive that way.

OR

(B) Is it better to have the drive mounted (using the side screws)
with air above and below it. The airflow is minimal.

You still get significant convection from the drive that way with air above and below and
you get significant heat conducted from the drive body to the metal drive bay stack too.

 

[Jon Danniken]

I want to cool my one of my hard drives but without using a fan.

(A) Is it better to have the smooth metal side of the HDD resting on
the metal of the PC case.

OR

(B) Is it better to have the drive mounted (using the side screws)
with air above and below it. The airflow is minimal.

Minimal airflow is fine, so long as there is actually airflow. It doesn't
take much of a breeze to keep a drive cool.

As for not wanting to use a fan, if it is noise you are concerned about, you
could alway run a 12v fan off of 7v by hooking the fan (+) to 12v and the
fan (-) to 5v. It will run slower and hence, a lot more quietly.

Jon

 

[Arno]

I want to cool my one of my hard drives but without using a fan.

(A) Is it better to have the smooth metal side of the HDD resting on the
metal of the PC case.

(B) Is it better to have the drive mounted (using the side screws) with
air above and below it. The airflow is minimal.

For contact on the sides. They are parts of the Aluminum body.
The top cover does not have good thermal contact with the rest
of the drive.

Arno

 

[GMAN]

I want to cool my one of my hard drives but without using a fan.

(A) Is it better to have the smooth metal side of the HDD resting on the
metal of the PC case.

OR

(B) Is it better to have the drive mounted (using the side screws) with
air above and below it. The airflow is minimal.

(B)

The computer case acts as one large heatsink to dissipate heat. It does help
to have a fan in front of the inside of the case drawing cool air across from
front to back.

 

[Grinder]

I want to cool my one of my hard drives but without using a fan.

(A) Is it better to have the smooth metal side of the HDD resting on the
metal of the PC case.

OR

(B) Is it better to have the drive mounted (using the side screws) with
air above and below it. The airflow is minimal.

Products like these might help:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118215
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835199008

I'm not vouching, mind you, it just looks like it addresses your
constraints.

 

[JR Weiss]

Products like these might help:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118215

I'm not vouching, mind you, it just looks like it addresses your
constraints.

It appears the Zalman product may help somewhat, making use of what airflow
there is. Depending on actual configuration, that may allow you to mount the
HD to the metal case as well.

 

[Paul]

Whilst cooler is obviously better, drives survive with passive
cooling in the hottest of tropical climates, those of us
in temperate climates have few problems due to drive
temperature. With poor cooling other system components
are likely to fail first.

Find an OEM specification and use the graph in the specification,
to see what drives are rated for.

http://www.hitachigst.com/tech/techlib.nsf/products/Ultrastar_A7K1000

Ultrastar A7K1000 OEM Specification PDF 07/12/07

http://www.hitachigst.com/tech/tech...724342C808625731600763765/$file/7k1000_sp.pdf

Open the document in Acrobat, and look for

"Table 15: Limits of temperature and humidity"

HTH,
Paul

 

[Paul]

Didn't find Table 15, but operating temp 5 to 60 degrees C seems
to support my post that those in temperate climates have little to
worry about.
As does the spec quote
The system is responsible for providing sufficient ventilation to maintain
a surface temperature below 65°C at the center of the top cover of the
drive.

Well, keep looking then. PDF page 38, paper page 28.

Paul

 

[~misfit~]

Didn't find Table 15, but operating temp 5 to 60 degrees C seems
to support my post that those in temperate climates have little to
worry about.
As does the spec quote
The system is responsible for providing sufficient ventilation to
maintain a surface temperature below 65°C at the center of the top
cover of the drive.

I use Seagate HDDs almost exclusively and they're rated to 60°C operating
temp also. I live in New Zealand, not hot by world standards but it's easy
for a HDD to hit 60°C in a case that doesn't specifically address HDD
cooling. Sure, the drive might run fine at or slightly above 60°C but the
highest temp recorded is retained by the drive's SMART data and good luck
with any warranty claim on a drive that has exceeded it's specced operating
temperature.

I bought a Samsung Spinrite 80GB drive once and fitted it into a poorly
ventilated case. The owner further cut down the chances or air movement
around the drive when they fitted a second drive right next to it. It died
of heat failure in the middle of summer in a small, sunny sleep-out when
about 6 months old. Since then I make sure all desktop HDDs are actively
cooled and I haven't bought another Samsung. Must say their new drives look
good on paper though...

 

[Rod Speed]

I use Seagate HDDs almost exclusively and they're rated to 60°C
operating temp also. I live in New Zealand, not hot by world
standards but it's easy for a HDD to hit 60°C in a case that doesn't
specifically address HDD cooling. Sure, the drive might run fine at
or slightly above 60°C but the highest temp recorded is retained by
the drive's SMART data and good luck with any warranty claim on a
drive that has exceeded it's specced operating temperature.

It isnt hard to kill it so they cant see the SMART data.

I bought a Samsung Spinrite 80GB drive once and fitted it into a
poorly ventilated case. The owner further cut down the chances or air
movement around the drive when they fitted a second drive right next
to it. It died of heat failure in the middle of summer in a small,
sunny sleep-out when about 6 months old. Since then I make sure all
desktop HDDs are actively cooled and I haven't bought another Samsung.

More fool you. They run quite a bit cooler than Seagates.

Must say their new drives look good on paper though...

And in the flesh too.

 

[Rod Speed]

On Sun, 19 Jul 2009 18:10:06 GMT,

The case does not act like a large heatsink.
Wrong.

You can see this easily enough by measuring the large
difference between the hard drive frame and the metal
wall of the drive cage to which it is attached.

What matters is that the drive cage metal is warmer
than the rest of the case. It always is, and that means
that its acting as a heatsink for the drive.

Since that drive cage is quite thin metal relative to
the case, if anything the temperature differential
would be even less than with normal heatsinks...

Meaningless crap.

but it is not because to effectively transfer the heat you
must have two mostly flush surfaces that conduct well.

Have fun explaining why its at a higher temperature than the rest of the case.

The drive has is fairly flat but the side of the drive isn't
even close, typically only the screw hole area is machined
flat which is a very tiny % of the drive sides.

In practice the cage is pulled up against the body
of the drive when the screws are tightened.

A normal / average computer case does not act
as a significant heatsink for any part in the system.

Wrong, as always.

 

[Rod Speed]

Timothy Daniels wrote

Rod Speed wrote

I've only inspected Maxtor hard drives closely, but all
the Maxtor drives that I've seen have raised bosses
around the screw holes. They are so low that one has
feel them with a finger nail to be sure they're there, but
they *are* there, and they make a small air gap between
the body of the drive and the HD cage. That means
that by metal-to-metal conduction, the bosses and the
mounting screws transfer more heat to the cage than the
sides of the HD.

They still use the cage as a heatsink, otherwise
the cage wouldnt feel warm to the touch.

 

[John Doe]

Timothy Daniels wrote


They still use the cage as a heatsink, otherwise
the cage wouldnt feel warm to the touch.

My hard drive rack screws have rubber grommets to help reduce
vibration. The only heat conduction from the hard drive to the hard
drive rack is through the four small screws. The intake fan blowing
over the hard drives cools them.

 

[John Doe]

@

 

[Rod Speed]

kony wrote

It doesn't feel warm to the touch unless there's another
problem like already grossly (still doing so) overheating
drive or whole system at high interior temp due to
inadequate airflow (and case side panels left on until
right before comparing cage temp to hold in heated
air rather than the heat being 'sunk from the drive).

Wrong, as always. It feel warm to the touch in any system
that doesnt have a fan that specifically moves air over the
drives and feels warm to the touch even if there is a fan
that specifically moves air over the drives too.

Funny thing is, since I had a running system open in front of
me I reached over and touched the rack. Guess how it felt...?

It felt cold,

How odd that mine dont.

touching the metal 'sunk a little heat away from my finger
because unlike a hard drive my finger conforms to the
metal and has a slight (fingerprint level) of moisture to
aid as a thermal interface grease). So not only did the
rack not feel hot, it felt colder than ambient room air.

You're lying now. It cant possibly be at a lower temperature
than the ambient room air. VERY basic physics.

 

[Rod Speed]

kony wrote

For it to effectively heatsink it has to have a large area of conductance,

Wrong, as always. For some heat to be removed from the drive that way,
ALL it needs is a path for the heat to flow from the drive to the cage.

And it doesnt even need that when the drive can radiate to the cage as well.

<reams of your mindless pig ignorant raving flushed where it belongs>

 

[Rod Speed]

My hard drive rack screws have rubber grommets to help reduce
vibration. The only heat conduction from the hard drive to the hard
drive rack is through the four small screws. The intake fan blowing
over the hard drives cools them.

Thats wrong too. The drive also radiates to the cage.

 

[Rod Speed]

Timothy Daniels wrote

Rod Speed wrote

Kony said that the rack *felt* colder than the ambient room air.

Even more mindlessly silly.

That means that his finger got cold faster from touching the HD rack than touching the room air - totally explainable
by the better heat conduction afforded by metal than by gases.

Still just plain wrong.

That's why fingers aren't good measurers of temperature -

They are when checking whether the cage is warmer than the rest of the case.

most of the nerves are embedded
within the finger and not at its surface,

Utterly mangled all over again. They are in fact mostly on
the surface, because thats what we use to feel stuff with.

so the nerves measure the temperature of the interior of the finger.

Gets sillier by the minute.

Of more significance would be whether the rack felt colder than the case

Which is what I said in the bit you carefully deleted from the quoting.

(probably not).

Certainly not, because the cage does indeed act as a heatsink for the drives.

 

[Rod Speed]

Timothy Daniels wrote

Rod Speed wrote

IR radiation at temperatures of 1 to 2 hundred degrees Fahrenheit is very small.

He's just claimed that the cage is MUCH cooler than the drive, fool.

And since black bodies transfer radiant heat better than white and shiny bodies, most heat radiated by the black body
of the HD to the case will be reflected by the case (assuming a shiny case interior), not absorbed by the case.

Wrong again.

When you think about how variable the mounting methods are for HDs, one can only deduce that the designers assumed
that most cooling was to be done by conduction to moving air.

Irrelevant to what actually happens when there isnt any moving air.