I am wondering how hot a SATA 2 HDD can get before it gets damaging? In particular, an Western Digital 1TB WD1001FALS . Right now mine is running at 43 degrees C, but as the hotter days come it will get slightly hotter. I am wondering if this is too hot for it?

I also have a backup drive, a Seagate 7200.11 750GB. I keep this in my PC but unplugged aside from when backing up my data. I doubt it gets that hot when it is not connected, but would it be a better idea to just physically remove it from the PC during the hotter months?

My three internal drives are running from 31C to 34C. That is kind of high. Do you have airflow over it?

No fans over it. One of the reasons I want to upgrade to a faster and shorter video card. It blocks the 120mm fan mount that goes over the HDD. My only issue is the video cards are too expensive for me at the moment. If I can get a shorter card, I can place my spare 120mm over the HDDs.

Flogger - The sweet spot that many companies use in non air conditioned rooms is about 33 deg C. Get some type of fan blowing over it when you can.

S!

You might instead look for a better case...mine has a 200mm fan blowing over all of the drive bays and plenty of room to boot. I plan on using it for a while, so if you do the same it can be a good investment. You shouldn't need to buy a whole new video card when that setup will work perfectly in most "enthusiast" type cases.

Anyhoo, back OT...My WD drive runs pretty hot too. Mine usually hovers around the low 30's but I have seen it get into the low 40's under stress and a hot room. Some models of WD drives are known to run hot; however I don't know the thresholds. Maybe check WD www site for specs?

in Non A/C My 4 Drive stack idles at 32-35-34-31, and under load at 35-38-38-33 (bottom, bottom middle, top middle, top). Bottom drive gets heat from the GPU blown on it, and the airflow from the 120mm 100CFM Fan only blows across the top, the other 3 drives get airflow on the top and bottom.

in A/C they all stay in the 20s

Does seem like mine is running a bit hot. I'd like to get a new case but I can't afford that. All I would be able to afford is a new video card and possibly a PSU for it. Unfortunately I was told my case (Antec Sonata 3 500) was sufficient for a GTX 260 and would be able to fit in with a 120mm fan over the hard drives. Clearly that is not true! Clearly the case is a poor choice for a gaming PC. But I have to live with it for the next 3 or so years.

For what it is worth, it has gone through two summers already at temps of 45-50 C. Over 2 1/2 years old of every day use. I am just unsure if it is really causing a lot of wear on it. I'll check the WD website for more info, but can't seem to find much useful info.

Well to be fair, the GTX 560's are quite a bit shorter (not sure about the 570/580); so you're still in luck. I just didn't know if it was some bargain-buy case or something .

I searched around too and couldn't find much...mainly that they tend to run "hotter than average" which I'm guessing from my other HDD's is ~30c;and the caviars tend to be in the lower 40's. Maybe you can buy a cheap fan enclosure for your HDD? Something like this? (just showing it as an example...I don't have experience with it hehe)

I'm looking at this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...9-063-_-Product

I have one Evercool 92mm fan that mounts onto the back of my PC and it seems to bring my video card temps down 2 degree C or so. No issues with it, so I would hope this is built as good.

I would prefer something that doesn't mount onto the drive itself though. Something like this, but for 3.5" bays (92mm or 80mm?):

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835119010

I had some heat related problems with my old computer that was running a P4 2.4C OC to 3.1Ghz. That old Antec case was small and cramped and just flat had poor airflow. I only had two DVD burners and one hard drive so I bought a bay similar to this one and it really did lower the hard drive temp.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...3-031-_-Product

I think you're just fine. Can always be cooler, but that doesn't mean there's a problem.

Hi,

The WD 1001FALS data sheet is available here in PDF format:

http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/library/?id=120&type=8

It lists the maximum operating temperature as 60c.

Best regards,

- Bob

The StickWorks
http://www.stickworks.com

Samsung also specifies a mximum of 60°C, but that doesn't mean such a high temperature is desirable at all.

As a rule of thumb, everything above 45°C should be cooled down.

My personal rule is, if an HDD goes above 40°C I take measures to get better cooling.

Keep in mind, too cold is also not good. Anything about 30°C is perfectly fine.

Hi Purolator,

Cooler is always better of course. I'd point out that the rating in the data sheet is "environmental", not the drive temperature itself. It's specified to operate in 60c air and they're saying it will operate at whatever device temperature that results in. The drive dissipates 10 watts or so according to the sheet, so it will operate safely somewhere above that, it's heating itself. When it's the device itself they're spec'ing, CPUs for example, it's not an "environmental" spec. It will be "Case Temperature" or something like that.

As for rules of thumb, back when I was designing hardware and not just sloughing off typing software, the "rule of thumb" was that, on average, the life of the component approximately doubled for every 10 degrees C reduction in device temperature, so as long as you didn't reach a temperature that was actually destructive, it was really a tradeoff between how long you needed it to work and how much you were willing to spend to cool it down.

Anyway, if your drive temperature is down in the 40s or even low 50s, I doubt you're really doing anything that's likely to cause it any harm.

Best regards,

- Bob

The StickWorks
http://www.stickworks.com

Thanks for the replies. I guess it is fine for now, or should be until I can mount my 120mm/replace the GTX 260.