Water cool the hard drive?

invisible hand · Nov 12, 2006

Hi All

Will the DangerDen Hard drive cooler kill my loop or can my pump push through all this?

I need some help deciding on whether or not to add a DangerDen hard drive block to my loop.

I currently have->MCP600, Black Ice GT Stealth 240, DD TDX, DD Maze4 and I'm using a T-line.

My Main goals:

1. Quite
2. Performance
3. Cost

Please post your opinion

nikhsub1 · Nov 12, 2006

IMO it is not needed and a waste. A fan blowing 10cfm is sufficient to cool HD's and is silent.

RIG RIDER · Nov 12, 2006

nikhsub1 said:
IMO it is not needed and a waste. A fan blowing 10cfm is sufficient to cool HD's and is silent.

Very good advice here.

nachosyumm · Nov 12, 2006

The only reason some people do it is so that they can have a fanless computer. Otherwise you can just under volt a fan, which is also a "silent" solution. With most hard drives you can run them without any cooling, but i have heard that can make them not last as long.

darkcow · Nov 12, 2006

any fan can do it very nicely. and i really don't think water cooling can perform much better than a fan can.

my 235 CFM fan at 1/2 power (around 100 cfm) keeps my hard-drives 5c above ambient... and right now with 69f in my room they're running at 25c. and if i turn the fan off and only have 1 80mm low speed fan blowing on them they run at 35c. and thats still chilly. (my hard-drives run all the time)

inkfx · Nov 12, 2006

Water on your HDDs is definately not needed. In my Lian-Li case I've got 2 80mm fans (on "low") in the front that blow right onto my HDDs. They are usually around 30c-35c last time I checked.

Springbok · Nov 12, 2006

I also use an 80mm to cool my hard drives in my watercooled rig, I'd say skip the hard drive coolers.

GreenJelly · Nov 12, 2006

HD cooling is a stupid idea...

By the time your HD dies, you will be able to either RMA it, or you can get one that is 10x larger. And nothing has been stated that WaterCooling or excessive cooling HD's will add days, months or years to your HD.

RIG RIDER · Nov 12, 2006

GreenJelly said:
HD cooling is a stupid idea...

Wow! What a helpful post from you. If that were true, then all of the folks that cool their HDD's "are stupid" in your words. :shrug:

All electronic components that produce heat WILL benefit from lower operating temps. Why do you think people are trying to always lower their core, gpu, ram, chipset, and mobo temps?
Just for fun? (actually Yes), the obvious reason is for a better OC, and to make their hardware last as long as possible. Please take the time to think before you post flame type comments.

For my HDD's, I use a low db/cfm fan and am quite happy with the temps. It really does not take much to cool them.

Super Nade · Nov 12, 2006

HD cooling is not a bad idea at all. HDD's, like other components are designed to operate at a specific temperature range. The drive does have an internal thermal recalibration mechanism to account for changes in temperatures. Most modern drives perform a minimum amount of adjustment, but then if you require HDD data on a real time basis, there is a large possiblity of errors coming up in your read/write data (not on the HDD, but say on your CD's).

The essense is to keep temperatures as constant as possible, and keeping the HDD cool won't hurt matters.

Ultimately, HDD's depend on mechanical actuators to work. Although improved active Servo systems have made temperature response more robust, cooling is useful and not a stupid idea.

Edit#
Servo=Buffer + Integrator + Low Pass Filter.

damarble · Nov 12, 2006

Waste of money to WC a HDD. A low speed fan will do a sufficient job, and will likely be quieter than your pump so you won't even hear it.

GreenJelly · Nov 13, 2006

RIG RIDER said:
Wow! What a helpful post from you. If that were true, then all of the folks that cool their HDD's "are stupid" in your words.
All electronic components that produce heat WILL benefit from lower operating temps. Why do you think people are trying to always lower their core, gpu, ram, chipset, and mobo temps?
Just for fun? (actually Yes), the obvious reason is for a better OC, and to make their hardware last as long as possible. Please take the time to think before you post flame type comments.

For my HDD's, I use a low db/cfm fan and am quite happy with the temps. It really does not take much to cool them.

Im sorry, I dont mean to flame. But water cooling HD bays is kinda a dumb idea... I thought about doing it (for about 1 minute). It would help, and if you really have allot of money in your drives (like a Seagate Cheetah) then it isnt so dum.

I use a low db fan too.

It would make things so difficult to do... Everytime you need to change a HD, or fix something you would have to drain your system... More hoses, less pressure, more water heat... etc...

Really think about it, and then you will say... Wow, water cooling HD's are a dum idea...

freakdiablo · Nov 13, 2006

all I have is one of those 5.25" bay heatsinks with 2 little 20mm fans on either side and m hdd never goes above 33c, and even my laptop hdd, which is covered in plastic, is sitting at 28c right now.

Maviryk · Nov 13, 2006

Really, stop the tit for tat FFS.

Hard drives only need a minimal amount of airflow for proper cooling of the PCB and motor. Anything more is quite possibly overkill. Users on SPCR have killed their HD's by insulating them in foam in attempts to isolate noise.

voigts · Nov 14, 2006

Super Nade said:
HD cooling is not a bad idea at all. HDD's, like other components are designed to operate at a specific temperature range. The drive does have an internal thermal recalibration mechanism to account for changes in temperatures. Most modern drives perform a minimum amount of adjustment, but then if you require HDD data on a real time basis, there is a large possiblity of errors coming up in your read/write data (not on the HDD, but say on your CD's).

The essense is to keep temperatures as constant as possible, and keeping the HDD cool won't hurt matters.

Ultimately, HDD's depend on mechanical actuators to work. Although improved active Servo systems have made temperature response more robust, cooling is useful and not a stupid idea.

Edit#
Servo=Buffer + Integrator + Low Pass Filter.

I am so glad to hear someone else have rational reasons.

I have two Seagate SataII drives on a DD AquadriveII. With just a 120mm intake fan, the HDs ran about 7-8c hotter than with the Aquadrive. With the Aquadrive, they stay about 30c (according to Everest home). The Aquadrive provides very minimal restriction given the design to say the least, and I am pleased with mine. I won't say watercooling them is necessary as long as you have airflow over them, but I prefer to keep them at a cool, more constant temp as heat is the #1 hard drive enemy. Again-not necessary, but I intend to keep mine. So

to everyone else.

invisible hand · Nov 15, 2006

Well, thanks for all your comments/suggestions.

Unfortunately, my HD is in a place where it is difficult to place a fan...currently I have been running the HD for a year with to fans at all....guess I'll have to move it.

Also, looking at the DD HD block, I noticed that the block only touches the sides of the HD....how can that design even be effective?

downer · Nov 15, 2006

Depending on how much you value your data and silence, it may not be a bad idea. I considered it, but a good waterblock is going to cost around $100.

voigts · Nov 15, 2006

invisible hand said:
Well, thanks for all your comments/suggestions.

Unfortunately, my HD is in a place where it is difficult to place a fan...currently I have been running the HD for a year with to fans at all....guess I'll have to move it.

Also, looking at the DD HD block, I noticed that the block only touches the sides of the HD....how can that design even be effective?

Most of the heat from hard drives is dissipated through the sides. For instance, Asatek makes one WB that goes onto the sides, and one that goes onto the circuit board side instead. The one that goes on the sides performs better than the one that goes on the circuit board.

Diggrr · Nov 15, 2006

Since a harddrive is made of a one piece aluminum casting, most of the heat producing components are mounted to it...think of it as a big heatsink that you're attaching a waterblock to.
Of course this doesn't cool the chips on the bottom, so don't go wrapping it in foam after the waterblocks are added.
IMHO, most of the heat is being produced by the 10,000 rpm drive motor and the magnetic seaking armature, both of which are mounted to the aluminum body.

My mini system has a heatsink for the harddrive mount, and it gets pretty warm...waterblocks would carry away that same heat, more quietly.

Alien1099 · Nov 15, 2006

Cooling them with a fan is a good idea since it's cheap, easy, and effective. Watercooling them is totally unnecessary and a waste in my opinion. I've always said that if hard drives had valid heat concerns/problems that warranted active cooling in the first place, the HD case itself would have fins like a heatsink like a car amplifier. Not only that, but those Raptors with the fancy bling windows would never have windows if cooling was so utterly important for them.

To me, running fanless is just a gimmick that sounds cool and something to stroke your ego. If that's your thing, well, it's your computer. Different strokes for different folks. Otherwise a 10-20CFM 80mm or 120mm fan should provide plenty of cooling and also be dead near silent.

It is not totally imparitive that you try and remove every last bit of heat from your case that you can. The parts are designed to work while warm. Your computer won't die if something runs a few degrees hotter than you'd prefer.

Hard drive waterblocks are just another way to seperate you from your money.

Water cool the hard drive?

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