How to cool HDDs in an internal drive bay?

[Jim Caldwell]

I have three WD 7200 RPM drives in a 3.5 in HDD internal bay (its max
capacity). They had to go there, as the four external bays are all taken up
with other devices. I can't get a hard drive cooler on any of the HDDs, so
each one has airflow going directly over it. Is there nothing to do but get
a massive amount of air flowing past the entire internal HDD bay? There is
the usual 40 mm fan sucking in air from the bottom front of the case and
exhausting at the bottom of the HDD cage, but I think it is doing little for
cooling---especially the one that is at the top of the cage, which is
running at 50deg. C.
There is a little bit of a gap between the drives, is there maybe some
very thin peltier device that could be sandwiched between them?

 

[Toshi1873]

I have three WD 7200 RPM drives in a 3.5 in HDD internal bay (its max
capacity). They had to go there, as the four external bays are all taken up
with other devices. I can't get a hard drive cooler on any of the HDDs, so
each one has airflow going directly over it. Is there nothing to do but get
a massive amount of air flowing past the entire internal HDD bay? There is
the usual 40 mm fan sucking in air from the bottom front of the case and
exhausting at the bottom of the HDD cage, but I think it is doing little for
cooling---especially the one that is at the top of the cage, which is
running at 50deg. C.
There is a little bit of a gap between the drives, is there maybe some
very thin peltier device that could be sandwiched between them?

Invest in a better case. (And make sure you have a good
power-supply while you're at it.) Stacking 7200+rpm
3.5" HDs like sardines is a good way to kill drives and
lose data. 5400rpm drives you can get away with it if
they run cool to the touch.

Check out the Antec p160 which has (4) internal 3.5"
hard drive bays with a spot to put a 120mm fan to draw
air directly over the drives. Also has a pair of built-
in temp probes to monitor temps.

(Plus, it has (4) external 5.25" bays for the devices
that you mentioned.)

 

[Matt]

I have three WD 7200 RPM drives in a 3.5 in HDD internal bay (its max
capacity). They had to go there, as the four external bays are all taken up
with other devices. I can't get a hard drive cooler on any of the HDDs, so
each one has airflow going directly over it. Is there nothing to do but get
a massive amount of air flowing past the entire internal HDD bay? There is
the usual 40 mm fan sucking in air from the bottom front of the case and
exhausting at the bottom of the HDD cage, but I think it is doing little for
cooling---especially the one that is at the top of the cage, which is
running at 50deg. C.
There is a little bit of a gap between the drives, is there maybe some
very thin peltier device that could be sandwiched between them?

I didn't know 40mm bottom-front fans were 'usual'.

The Antec SLK3700 case has great ventilation for the hard drives and
comes with a 120mm fan you can put in front of them blowing right on
them. The fan is pretty loud at 12V, but I run mine at 5V, and it is
quiet and the cooling is adequate for my two drives. The included 350W
supply is great but might be too small for you, but you could sell it on
ebay. The case is kind of big though ... you might want to look at the
SLK2700 and the LanBoy, although I've never seen either ... see the
pictures at newegg.com. Check prices at accupc.com.