Hard Drive Cooler?????

hi folks
I compulsively read reviews of hardware and software : newegg, amazon, cnet, here... wherever. i look for consistency and high numbers of reviews.
so I thereby bought a nice WD Caviar 640GB 7200rpm SATA drive: twin platters. Its worked fine, but though the thing is touted as a cool-running drive, it ain't!!! that sucker can cook waffles. I'm using a HP DC7600 SFF so the drive is in a precarious spot where it only gets minimal cooling, aggravated by the powersupply placement: the drive is under the power supply and they are effectively in contact [which is a threat to bits on magnetic media, the more I think about it].

So, any suggestions on how to cool things off a bit?:cool
z

 

Perhaps something like this?:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010110577 1379726265&name=Sleeve

 

well, i get the idea. i have no space for such. I can barely get a piece of paper between them and still close the case, which is necessary in order for the fans to route flow properly. I learned some hard lessons about airflow while in the server/storage game - what seems reasonable to the average person turns out to not reflect fluid physics reality!!
we paid a few bright engineers very handsome salaries to do nothing but work on those envelope models.

 

That's your problem - Small Form Factor computers come in Small Form Factor cases. I recommend you buy a new case that meets your needs - to include room for expansion and proper cooling.

 

I have never understood hot HDDs, I have 5 in my tower and they don't even get warm but if you talk about hot GPU now i am there, i have burnt out some really expensive cards (GTX295/GTX260) i have currently 2 X GTX470s in there and all reports say they are hot running cards but even under heavy load mine never get above 90c and they are rated safe up to 105c.

 

They are pretty rugged but if there is no or restricted front to back air flow, a common problem in cramped places (and not normally a problem with towers), and the drive is active, it can get hot.

 

Re: Hard Drive Cooler????? SPEEDFAN

anyone know how to properly use 'Speedfan' ??
download and check it out.

my system has several thermal sensors and three variable-speed fans.
I note in passing that the seagate barracuda 250GB single platter runs WAY cooler to the touch than does the bigger Caviar dual-platter 640g. the latter is way faster if such things actually translate.

using the smaller seagate drive there is some margin so air flows between the face/top of the drive and the bottom of the P/S... no touch. but it would be interesting for a real engineer to tell me whether this matters - the whole dc7600 is metal every which way - built like a compact tank. so the whole chassis and covers top and bottom are heat sinks. The system BIOS is alleged to vary the fan speeds depending on the use at any given time. mine is deafeningly quiet now - most of the time. the geforce card has its own sink & fan, a quiet one thankfully. the p/s is not taxed at this time.

so i hung the bigger hotter drive on a dongle and just turn it off much of the time. its just a place to back things up and store the huge video files I play with to learn that technology [a hill to climb].

speedfan is cool, literally, if I can just figger out how to use it properly. i get the options checked properly but can't tell if its actually assuming control of the rig. if anyone knows, chime in

 

Here's my canned speech that talks about Speedfan and similar "Hardware Monitor" programs:

I would keep an eye on your temperatures, particularly, the CPU temps. Your motherboard utilities disk should have a monitoring program (or check for a more recent version on your motherboard or PC maker's website). If none, I recommend CoreTemp for newer Intel and AMD64 CPUs, or RealTemp for Intels. SpeedFan is a great and popular alternative, or you can try Motherboard Monitor. Unfortunately, I have found that these programs often have problems properly identifying and labeling the sensor they are reading. The temperatures shown are as accurate as the inexpensive, low-tech sensors will allow, but it may say System Fan instead of CPU Fan. Fortunately, the programs do allow you to edit the labels, so I use Everest to verify the temperatures (as it is able to put sensor to label correctly), then edit the label in the monitoring program. In Everest, look under Computer > Sensor, then wait a couple seconds for the readings to appear. Unfortunately, Everest does not minimize to the system tray to show real-time temperatures, otherwise, you could use Everest instead of the others.​

 

super, diger.
i had totally forgotten about Everest.

do you know how I can verify that Speedfan is actually adjusting the fanspeed, as opposed to the bios. ?? or for that matter Windows 7 ... you would THINK that Win7 would have a grip on this, as it is a big deal in terms of power consumption, but if so, it is well-hidden. So, at the bottom of stack, the BIOS is supposedly taking a stab at it, then at OS level you have an opportunity and i am guessing it is at that later that Speedfan enters?

 

well, that was a quick bust. realtemp "processor not supported". Everest end-of-lifed.

 

64bit Windows 7 - my motherboard Re: Hard Drive Cooler?????

so, one thing leads to another. I asked the good folks at hp if there was a bios that they RECOMMEND for win7 64-bit on this particular machine. the short answer is "Huh?".

with that help, I dug out the motherboard that is in this beast: Hewlett-Packard 09F8h. didn't identify any sub-revs....

is this an Intel-manufactured board?

anyway, so found the right svc ref for it. this sounds promising if nothing defeats it; but I note no mention of thermal sensor at the hard drive. Do modern drives themselves track their own heat/temp?

"4.5.4 Thermal Sensing and Cooling
All systems feature a variable-speed fan mounted as part of the processor heatsink assembly. All
systems also provide or support an auxiliary chassis fan. All fans are controlled through
temperature sensing logic on the system board and/or in the power supply. There are some
electrical differences between form factors and between some models, although the overall
functionally is the same. Typical cooling conditions include the following:
1. Normal—Low fan speed.
2. Hot processor—ASIC directs Speed Control logic to increase speed of fan(s).
3. Hot power supply—Power supply increases speed of fan(s).
4. Sleep state—Fan(s) turned off. Hot processor or power supply will result in starting fan(s).
The RPM (speed) of all fans is the result of the temperature of the CPU as sensed by speed
control circuitry. The fans are controlled to run at the slowest (quietest) speed that will maintain
proper cooling.
✎Units using chassis and CPU fans must have both fans connected to their corresponding headers
to ensure proper cooling of the system. "

 

No I wouldn't - not for a second. Windows is an operating system, not a hardware monitor! There are literally 1000s of different motherboards out there and Windows must already support millions of combinations of boards, CPUs, RAM, graphics cards, etc. It is the hardware makers that should be building in accurate and consistent sensors and provide a method for monitoring them. Fortunately, most motherboard makers provide a HW monitor on their utilities disk.

Only for the free version which is why I provided a link to the last free version.

And that would be the expected response. Windows has NOTHING to do with the BIOS!

 

sheesh... you need to relax a little. its just monday. :-D

so, how can I verify that speedfan is reading the tea leaves correctly? it all looks right, but then I don't know what a Fail looks like on SF.
i guess i could stick a couple of meat thermometers here and there and check the accuracy of the temp sensor readings.... if they are WAY off, i call it a fail.

if it weren't for my sense of aesthetic I would attach my external 640gb brick to a huge sheet of light-duty aluminum foil and let it flap in the breeze :major

i thought win talks to the hardware abstraction layer, which talks to the hardware. somebody gotta be talking to hardware or we don't boot.
no wonder those device drivers run amok !

 

Don't know who that's addressed at, but I just go with the facts - it is a technical forum, after all.

Well, that was the whole point of Everest.

 

ok, i'll retry everest if it will dl and install...