Recommended Hard Drive Temperatures

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kwaggawerner

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Ok, so I was swapping drives out, when I noticed my drives feel like I could cook an egg on them, I queried a program, and consulted with a friend of mine.

I would like to get some opinions on what is the safe maximum temps for drives.

 
Well, mine don't go over 35 if that helps. Not too sure what the safety threshold is, but I would think 50 is slightly high, but not too dangerous.
 
The_Librarian said:
yoiks!

between 25 to 45 degrees is a safe range.

is there adequate ventilation?
Click to expand...

There is, in my opinion, three fans, most of them directed at the cpu, (CPU and GPU have their own on-board fans), and the drives are spaced 1 bay apart. It is only a midi tower though....

CPU temp is well within designed limits, the only other really hot thing in my PC is the MCH on my Intel Mobo, which sits at around 80 celcius, but Google says that is average...
 
Try and put a fan in blowing air across the drive. I had something similar when I bought my first SATA drive. Those use to run hot, but my machine locked up after a few minutes of running. I near burnt myself on the drive casing. This was in a case with no side cover on it either. Hot-glued a fan in front of it and drive went good for a few years. Still have it somewhere.
 
Mine hardly never go above 40C. I've got 3 Seagate 1TB drives. (7200.12, not the buggy 7200.11 ). The case I've got has a 120mm fan that blows cool air directly over the drives. Adding another intake fan blowing over the drives is probably your best bet.
 
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TheRift said:
Try and put a fan in blowing air across the drive. I had something similar when I bought my first SATA drive. Those use to run hot, but my machine locked up after a few minutes of running. I near burnt myself on the drive casing. This was in a case with no side cover on it either. Hot-glued a fan in front of it and drive went good for a few years. Still have it somewhere.
Click to expand...

That is too high - it can burn a HDD out.


Also, most people tend to sandwich their HDD's close together - this is not optimal as this does not allow for proper cooling.
 
I would definitely get a bigger case to ensure the longevity of your drives (and other components!) - I suggest looking at a bigger case that has the HDD cage behind a 120mm front intake fan, such as the Cooler Master CM690.

The Cooler Master Elite cheapie cases even allow for front 120mm intake fans.
 
Not necessarily bigger case, but one that offers decent drive spacing if there's no intention of actively cooling them.

For example, both my CMStacker and CMStacker830 are massive cases, but they use a 4-in-3 drive cage that puts the drives maybe 2-3mm apart from each other.

However, they have a 12cm fan on the cage and my drives have been running for several years without issue.
 
pity the program doesnt pick up drives connected to SATA add on cards, but on the plus side its telling me my drives temperatures are too low. didnt know that was possible
 
i would say try and keep it below 40degrees, even in the heat of summer.
 
Seagate HDDs are listed as having a maximum temp of 60 degrees, so anything above that could cause a failure.

The best temp range for an HDD is 35-45 degrees; anything above, or below, and your chance of failure increases. A MAX of 55 is only 5 degrees below manufactures max rating and is definitely a problem....
 
man!

my HDD's are stacked ontop of each other, no space in between and they don't get that hot iirc...

I do have a case with a built-in hdd bay fan though...
 
Mine are normally 18 to 25 depending on the ambient temps in the room.

4into3 drive cage with 1500RPM 120mm Vizo fan blowing over the drive.
 
ponder said:
Don't worry about it. Heat does not kill hard drives, google did a study on this with their drives which run hot and the conclusion was that higher temps are not a hd killer.

http://labs.google.com/papers/disk_failures.pdf
http://storagemojo.com/2007/02/19/googles-disk-failure-experience/
http://www.vibrant.com/blog/googles-hard-drive-study-on-sata-disks/
http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/18/massive-google-hard-drive-survey-turns-up-very-interesting-thing/
Click to expand...

Perhaps you should go back and re-read the google study. It found that:

1) Lower temperatures (<30) have a higher failure rate than moderate (35-45) temperatures, thus indicating that lower the temperature of your drive too low is as bad as having a temp that is too high.

2) In the moderate temperatures there was little difference in failure rate. If you overheat a disk it will fail.

The conclusion is therefore that you should aim to keep disks within the range of 35-45 degrees to prolong the HDD lifespan.
 
JUGGY said:
Mine are normally 18 to 25 depending on the ambient temps in the room.

4into3 drive cage with 1500RPM 120mm Vizo fan blowing over the drive.
Click to expand...

According to the google study, there is a higher chance of your disks failing than the OP ;)
 
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