Are HDD Coolers worth it?

[DigitalMonkey]

I'm not sure if this been asked and answered yet.

But I have been doing some research on hdd coolers and the one that stood out the most, performance wise, was the Thermaltake AquaBay M4 (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Thermaltake/M4).


So, my concerns are:
Is there a need for hdd cooler(s)?

Even though the hdd cooler pipe line is only 3/8" (restrictive), is it still good for w/c systems with 1/2"?

Thanks

[super2007]

well i wouldn't use them, dont think there is need for it, by temps yes it would lower temps which would be good in hdd health, but i dont think its worth the efforts, just put up a fan front of them to kool it

[mepis]

The hottest part of the hard drive is the motor. Ive always just positioned a fan near it with some space in between drives and some ram sinks on the motors and it seemed to work great for me.

[=ACID RAIN=]

The hottest part may be the motor, but the first to go is often the controller board underneath. Just blow air over the drive. Even near-passive flow is enough.

[Perseus]

It's worth it if YOU decide to do it, to put it simply. My HD's are mounted on exhausting 120 fans and that works fine.

[billb]

There have been some studies that show that cooler HDDs fail sooner.

[DigitalMonkey]

There have been some studies that show that cooler HDDs fail sooner.

Can you show some proof of that? Because I really don't know how, AquaBay M4 will fail. So, if you can show me some info on that, that would be nice.


Anyway, I really do appreciate everyone's input on this small matter dealing with the hdd coolers.

[Sarsbaby]

I use coolers on my Raptors, anything below 10k RPM just gets some good fans.

[DigitalMonkey]

I use coolers on my Raptors, anything below 10k RPM just gets some good fans.

Thanks


This is a little off the subject. What can i use to measure temps from my w/c setup?

[Froggy]

Can you show some proof of that? Because I really don't know how, AquaBay M4 will fail. So, if you can show me some info on that, that would be nice.


Anyway, I really do appreciate everyone's input on this small matter dealing with the hdd coolers.

Google did a fairly large study on the life expectancy of it's thousands of HDD's. They found overly hot & overly cool drives consistently failed more often. I think HDD's below 20C & above 50C were more failure prone. IIRC HDD's in the 35C-45C range lived longest.

[Sndm3mny]

i think there just pointless.....a hard drive is made to run if its being active cooled or not...
its not going to run faster or last longer if you cool it...im not saying to put it on top of a oven and use it but in room temps it should be fine

and that WC HD thing...its just bull for people to buy so they make money

[DigitalMonkey]

This is a little off the subject. What can i use to measure temps from my w/c setup?

Does anyone know any good products that measure temps?

[samuknow]

Anything with a temp probe will work. I have repaired many computers that the drive failed in due to lack of air flow. Usually dirt will impede the air flow and the electronics will fail. As long as there is decent airflow, it should be ok.

[=ACID RAIN=]

Does anyone know any good products that measure temps?

Programs like MBM5 will read the drive temp directly. In my game rig the 320GB is 32C and the raptor is 31C. In the fileserver the drives run about 35C. The drives rarely fail except by mechanical failures now, but before I figured this stuff out I would get some controller board failures.

[darkcow]

Temps don't mean much of anything... Just put it where you normally would... Preferably behind a 120mm fan. Even that is a bit overkill.


Google did a study across thousands of normal drives you or me would buy.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/18/massive-google-hard-drive-survey-turns-up-very-interesting-thing/

and there is less correlation between drive temperature and failure rates than might have been expected, and drives that are cooled excessively actually fail more often than those running a little hot.

[DigitalMonkey]

I asked about measuring temps for water cooling systems.

[SkiBum1207]

would this be of any assistance?
either put it into a bay if u use one or use a G1/4th T line
Temp sensor (http://http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=239&products_id=20435)

[SkiBum1207]

woops messed up the link my bad here it is
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=239&products_id=20435