Hard Drive running at 50C, is this dangerous?

Gareth · 12-11-2007, 08:53 AM

Hey all, I just noticed in my eMachines, the C:\ drive is running at 50C and D:\ is at 48C, is this safe? I rarely get a drive above 38C

There are no case fans for the front of the case, what would you recommend doing for me to cool the hard drives?

PC eye · 12-11-2007, 09:13 AM

"Ouch! I burnt my hand!" should be the expression there! Front fans are generally one thing seen in most all newer case while the old styles lacked in that area for older PII and Socket A systems. With three hard drives in the gaming case I barely break the 30C mark after leaving the system running 24/7.

Hard drive coolers by 3rd party brands have been available at various online vendors for years now. You may even find them by simply strolling into a pc repair shop that carries accessories there. But here's an old 2006 blog that makes the point about drive temps as seen at http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000748.html

[-0MEGA-] · 12-11-2007, 01:34 PM

Yes 50C is too hot, it will shorten the life span as well. 40C is the recommended max temperature, I would definitely get case fans, especially with the rig you have.

Gareth · 12-11-2007, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by [-0MEGA-]

Yes 50C is too hot, it will shorten the life span as well. 40C is the recommended max temperature, I would definitely get case fans, especially with the rig you have.

Its not on my main rig, its on my emachines rig, what would you suggest for it to cool down since a front fan is not an option and the only bays I have for the hard drive is 2x 3.5"?

imsati · 12-11-2007, 08:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Garethman!!`

Its not on my main rig, its on my emachines rig, what would you suggest for it to cool down since a front fan is not an option and the only bays I have for the hard drive is 2x 3.5"?

This may sound like a cop-out, but be creative! I have one fan that is secure, but not physically mounted - it's leaning at an angle and held in place by the power wire and a zip-tie. Is there anyway you can do a setup like that? Bear in mind however that HDDs are like CPUs in they they have varying max-temp limits, with older ones typically being a bit higher. Still, 50*C is rather warm!

PC eye · 12-11-2007, 11:32 PM

In reference to HDs being like cpu then you would need something like a hard drive cooler. For a look at a long of coolers available one vendor sees to that at http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l3/g40/...Vumg&mv_pc=640

There are also drive bay coolers made to fit various systems. http://www.calpc.com/catalog/baycoolers.html

pip1011261 · 12-11-2007, 11:44 PM

Mine is and has always run at 57 degrees C

Is this bad? I have 3 fans (front, rear and graphics card)

IBM ThinkCentre A50
2002 XP Pro
Pentium Intel(R) 4
2.8GHz 512MB RAM

Gareth · 12-12-2007, 12:51 AM

I have got the emachines in a new case, it is running a lot cooler now.

PC eye · 12-12-2007, 01:20 AM

That was the best move there. Hopefully you didn't have too much trouble transferring since some items like supplies on older prebuilt systems use different ways of mounting like different bolt patterns for supplies like seen with the older Dell models.

I ran into the same problem when going to upgrade an old Socet A case here with everything seeing higher temp on the 939 board until moving everything out into a new case with a large fan right on the front.

One thing to know about hard drives however is that they will take more heat then a more sensitive to temp item like a cpu. Just look over any old case whether Intel, AMD, or some other to see hardly any vents let alone fans in the front or side except as seen on older gaming systems.

Gareth · 12-12-2007, 03:27 AM

They tried to make it hard to get out, but a little force gets it out.

12-11-2007, 08:53 AM	#1 (permalink)
Gareth Diamond Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Cambridgeshire, England Age: 19 Posts: 1,801	Hard Drive running at 50C, is this dangerous? Hey all, I just noticed in my eMachines, the C:\ drive is running at 50C and D:\ is at 48C, is this safe? I rarely get a drive above 38C There are no case fans for the front of the case, what would you recommend doing for me to cool the hard drives? __________________ Gareth's Desktop Computer - *All parts are from Newegg in the United States!* *Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 @ 3.20GHz* 8GB DDR2 PC8500 RAM 750GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 RAID 0 Striped Powercolor Radeon HD4870 1GB Windows 7 Professional x64 Hiper 730W ATX 2.0 PSU NZXT Silence Whisper Case 22" Widescreen 1680x1050 + 19" Widescreen 1440x900

12-11-2007, 01:34 PM	#3 (permalink)
[-0MEGA-] VIP Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Goffstown, NH Age: 21 Posts: 28,943	Yes 50C is too hot, it will shorten the life span as well. 40C is the recommended max temperature, I would definitely get case fans, especially with the rig you have. __________________ Core 2 Quad Q9550 @ 4.1GHz Asus Rampage Formula X48 ATI 4870 X2 2GB GDDR5 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 960 300GB Raptor // 2x 750GB Creative SB X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty SilverStone 750W +12V@60A 3DMark06: 22605 www.photosbygeoff.com

12-12-2007, 12:51 AM	#8 (permalink)
Gareth Diamond Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Cambridgeshire, England Age: 19 Posts: 1,801	I have got the emachines in a new case, it is running a lot cooler now. __________________ Gareth's Desktop Computer - *All parts are from Newegg in the United States!* *Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 @ 3.20GHz* 8GB DDR2 PC8500 RAM 750GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 RAID 0 Striped Powercolor Radeon HD4870 1GB Windows 7 Professional x64 Hiper 730W ATX 2.0 PSU NZXT Silence Whisper Case 22" Widescreen 1680x1050 + 19" Widescreen 1440x900

12-12-2007, 03:27 AM	#10 (permalink)
Gareth Diamond Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Cambridgeshire, England Age: 19 Posts: 1,801	They tried to make it hard to get out, but a little force gets it out. __________________ Gareth's Desktop Computer - *All parts are from Newegg in the United States!* *Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 @ 3.20GHz* 8GB DDR2 PC8500 RAM 750GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 RAID 0 Striped Powercolor Radeon HD4870 1GB Windows 7 Professional x64 Hiper 730W ATX 2.0 PSU NZXT Silence Whisper Case 22" Widescreen 1680x1050 + 19" Widescreen 1440x900

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12-11-2007, 09:13 AM	#2 (permalink)
PC eye banned Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 21,091	"Ouch! I burnt my hand!" should be the expression there! Front fans are generally one thing seen in most all newer case while the old styles lacked in that area for older PII and Socket A systems. With three hard drives in the gaming case I barely break the 30C mark after leaving the system running 24/7. Hard drive coolers by 3rd party brands have been available at various online vendors for years now. You may even find them by simply strolling into a pc repair shop that carries accessories there. But here's an old 2006 blog that makes the point about drive temps as seen at http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000748.html

12-11-2007, 11:32 PM	#6 (permalink)
PC eye banned Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 21,091	In reference to HDs being like cpu then you would need something like a hard drive cooler. For a look at a long of coolers available one vendor sees to that at http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l3/g40/...Vumg&mv_pc=640 There are also drive bay coolers made to fit various systems. http://www.calpc.com/catalog/baycoolers.html

12-11-2007, 11:44 PM	#7 (permalink)
pip1011261 Gold Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Germany: Autobahn 220kph Age: 27 Posts: 308	Mine is and has always run at 57 degrees C Is this bad? I have 3 fans (front, rear and graphics card) IBM ThinkCentre A50 2002 XP Pro Pentium Intel(R) 4 2.8GHz 512MB RAM

12-12-2007, 01:20 AM	#9 (permalink)
PC eye banned Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 21,091	That was the best move there. Hopefully you didn't have too much trouble transferring since some items like supplies on older prebuilt systems use different ways of mounting like different bolt patterns for supplies like seen with the older Dell models. I ran into the same problem when going to upgrade an old Socet A case here with everything seeing higher temp on the 939 board until moving everything out into a new case with a large fan right on the front. One thing to know about hard drives however is that they will take more heat then a more sensitive to temp item like a cpu. Just look over any old case whether Intel, AMD, or some other to see hardly any vents let alone fans in the front or side except as seen on older gaming systems.

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