SATA Maxtor 500 GB Diamond Max Temp 50C

[PaulNJ]

I have a Dell Dimension 5150 Desktop running Windows Home Server with two internal SATA Maxtor 500 GB 7200 RPM Diamond Max drives.

The reported temp on the two drives is 50-55 C generally. I have an external fan blowing on the the front air inputs and all the Dell device fans are operating.

Is the temp too high? Anyone have suggestions if I need to cool it down more?

Thanks...Happy July 4th to all!!

 

[wahnula]

Those temps are about average, a little on the toasty side. As a rule of thumb, 50C is the "toasty" point, but not for everything in all cases. It's just a guideline, matey

Try improving the airflow in your case. There should be an exhaust fan (be sure it is blowing in the correct direction) in the upper rear or top of the case, as well as an intake fan (again check fan direction, I carefully use a lighter) on the bottom front of the case. Use 120mm fans if possible.

I had problems with my chipset getting really hot, I used Antec's Spot-Cool fan to take care of the problem. It is cheap and has adjustable fan speeds, so mine is totally silent.

Also, make sure there is air circulation between the drives. If you can, space them apart instead of stacking them up. Best of luck to you!

Tony

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[G0AOZ]

I've had success at reducing hard drive temperatures by mounting them in 5.25" cooler trays. You may not have space in your case for two of these, but worth checking out. They're usually made of a nice thick chunk of aluminium with heatsink fins and one or two small fans. Just Google for something like "hard drive coolers".

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[wahnula]

I use one of these in my office server for the RAID5 array. Has a small fan that keeps all three drives cool and only takes up (2) 5.25" bays. It's nice to be able to swap drives too, and it looks sharp!

Tony

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[PaulNJ]

The spot cool fan, where does it get power from? Drive pwer cable or does it connect somehow to the mobo?

 

[wahnula]

The spot cool fan, where does it get power from?

I believe it has the typical 3-pin motherboard header plug, there's a Molex adapter available. I tried to see how I hooked mine up but I'm a neat freak and all my wires are tucked away, but I think I used one of the mobo headers.

Its base connects to any screw-point on the mobo or elsewhere.

Tony

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[G0AOZ]

Tony, there's nothing "freaky" about being neat with the wiring! It's commonsense. A large bunch of wires flapping about reduces airflow, and invites fans to take a nice bite out of 'em!

I reckon you can tell a professional builder by looking at the wiring job he's done inside a computer...

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[wahnula]

I reckon you can tell a professional builder by looking at the wiring job he's done inside a computer

Well, maybe not always...my office builds are not works of art, they're workhorses. Tidy but not origami. My home PC is buttoned-down because of necessity...there's so much stuff in there I had to tuck the wires away.

I finally gave in this week (celebrating $1M in sales so for this year!) and bought myself one of these and one of these to give me some breathing room, my current case is tight. And tight is bad for air circulation, right?

That means my wife gets my old case, but she really deserves my Core 2 Duo E6600 too, so I should get me a Penryn Q9450, my mainboard supports it. I just need a new mainboard, RAM, and hard drive to round out her PC...

Tony

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[G0AOZ]

Well done on the sales figure! That case looks very efficient, and pretty neat too. Bigger case often means you can fit the bigger (120mm) fans which means you can reduce noise for the same or better airflow. Good one Tony...

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[wahnula]

Yeah, well my bubble burst when I saw that the SATA backplane was only SATA 150..I will have to call on Monday and either get another model or pass on the mobile rack. SATA 150 simply won't do!

Tony

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