Hard disk coolers

  • Thread starter Thread starter MoP
  • Start date Start date
Anyone who can comment on those products?

http://www.pc-store.gr/product_details.php?category_id=40&item_id=117
Click to expand...

Red fans, a medium to loud, short-lifespan product. If you
had some very extreme (desert operation?) cooling problem,
taking a frame like this then pulling out the 60x10mm fans
and swapping in 60 x 25 mm fans onto the bottom instead of
inside wall of this, might help enough to make it
worthwhile, except that in such an extreme situation you'd
still need a far higher case airflow rate, and that higher
rate would still sufficiently cool the hard drives without
this cooler, just drawing that air intake through the hard
drive rack.

http://www.pc-store.gr/product_details.php?category_id=40&item_id=118
Click to expand...

Not red, otherwise similar enough to above except 50mm dia.
fans instead of 60mm. Either size, in cheap 10mm thickness
fans, is a low cooling:noise ratio and will have poor
lifespan below that expected of the rest of (an otherwise
good) system..

http://www.pc-store.gr/product_details.php?category_id=40&item_id=119
Click to expand...

Overkill, as-in, the small intake area and LCD plus buttons
work against the purpose to intake a lot of air with low
impedance. Not a well thought out product, you could just
take the case's original blank faceplate and drill a bunch
of holes in it and achieve about the same effect with no
cost and a better noise:airflow ratio by merely selecting a
little higher rear exhaust fan rate (higher RPM and/or
thicker rear fan).

Hard drives aren't very hard to cool, you could buy one of
those products and it would do the job, but at a high noise
level to cooling ratio and all are expected to have fairly
short lifespans (the fans) relative to a more ideal
configuration with the HDDs cooled by a more passive setup
or in worst cases, a front intake fan blowing through the
HDD rack. If you have a lot of HDDs, you might want a case
with a front intake fan or to add your own (cutting out a
hole when necessary if the case didn't have a large fan
opening there yet).

None of these is as good as the passive intake plus good
exhaust or front intake fan. All of them are more
expensive, louder, shorter lived, take up more space.

In a normal environment, hard drives are engineered to run
in typical OEM systems. Such systems don't use supplimental
HDD cooling. Even in extreme conditions the best solution
is a front intake fan which is boxed in by the HDD rack such
that the entirety of it's airflow into the rest of the
system has to flow through the HDD rack instead of some air
being diverted around it.

The simplest example,
http://69.36.166.207/usr_1034/gw_case/HDD_bay_fan.jpg
has a fan that is inaudible from 3 feet away and an expected
lifespan of well over 10 years. This config also does a
reasonably good job of keeping a video card cooler,
especially if the rear case slot under the video card is
left without the cover on it.
Tiny little HDD specific coolers just don't have large
enough fans to be a good choice, IMO, though rarely you
might find some with very thick (20 or 25mm) lower RPM fans
that have a reasonable enough lifespan to consider less of a
continual maintenance issue.
 
When you refer to a shorter lifespan, how much would that mean? For
example, 4-5 years?

Speaking of temperatures, I was also thinking of this as an external
enclosure due to its fan:

http://www.pc-store.gr/product_details.php?category_id=53&item_id=321


My takamichi case is very similar to the one you posted, with an added 12cm
fan infront. However, since I installed a second hard disk, both hard disks
run at 46C and the average box temperature has gone to 42+.
 
When you refer to a shorter lifespan, how much would that mean? For
example, 4-5 years?
Click to expand...

I wouldn't expect them to last more than 2 before getting
noisey, probably not 4 in total, BUT, I don't know how many
hours/day you run the system so this can vary.
Speaking of temperatures, I was also thinking of this as an external
enclosure due to its fan:

http://www.pc-store.gr/product_details.php?category_id=53&item_id=321
Click to expand...

It will definitely keep a drive cooler than a passive
enclosure would, but it too has a junky fan.

My takamichi case is very similar to the one you posted, with an added 12cm
fan infront. However, since I installed a second hard disk, both hard disks
run at 46C and the average box temperature has gone to 42+.
Click to expand...

What about the intake around that fan? It's not just having
the fan but that the fan has a clear large hole(s).
Further it needs the front bezel to have large opening(s) as
well. Unless your room temps are very high, this should be
enough. A single 80x25mm intake fan can cool two hard
drives fine, providing that is all the intake the other
parts of the system need. The intake rate also depends on
exhaust rate, if your exhaust is not also good, the intake
airflow is impeded.

Also, it is impossible to have a 12cm fan similar to what I
posted, because I posted a fan entirely enclosed in the HDD
bay area. The HDD bay is narrower than 12cm, it can't keep
ALL the fan airflow in the bay if it's a larger than 92mm
fan. That doesn't necessarily mean a 12cm can't do well
enough, but I was talking about a specific configuration
instead of just having a fan in front of a rack.
 
Now that I think of it, maybe the two 12cm case fans need substituting with something more modern, like this?
Click to expand...

Why would they need something "more modern"? There's
nothing revolutionary in fan technology recently, your
present fans should be fine if they're not overly loud or
wearing out (rattling or seized up), since the follow fan
you linked is a low RPM, and if you were trying to improve
cooling going from one fan to a different one, the new one
would need be at least a little higher RPM if all else is
equal.

I think it is likely you need more intake and exhaust area,
not different fans. Some cases are just made terribly when
it comes to allowing fan to operate at good efficiency.
Ideally the entire fan opening is just one giant hole
(adding a tubular fan guard/grill if there is a safety
factor), and the front case bezel also has a lot of
performations.

With this kind of setup and two low RPM 12cm fans, you
should have no trouble at all keeping 2 hard drives cool in
any but the most severe of conditions (extremely high room
temps).

http://www.plaisio.gr/product.aspx?catalog=1&category=9098887&product=853275&tab=specs
Click to expand...

This fan looks reasonable, except that the call it silent
but how a picture of a 0.35A rating on it's label (which is
for a faster, non-silent fan. Either their product
description or their picture is wrong. Probably the picture
is wrong, but I can't be sure.

or this one?

http://www.pc-store.gr/product_details.php?category_id=16&item_id=357
Click to expand...

That looks like a low quality toy.
 
(message (Hello 'MoP)
(you :wrote :on '(Tue, 28 Aug 2007 00:59:12 +0200 (CEST)))
(

M> Anyone who can comment on those products?

better get a 80mm fan on your case front to cool HDDs.

M> http://www.pc-store.gr/product_details.php?category_id=40&item_id=117
M> http://www.pc-store.gr/product_details.php?category_id=40&item_id=118

such contruction of fans adds dust and vibration to hdd, so i think it's
better not to use it.

)
(With-best-regards '(Alex Mizrahi) :aka 'killer_storm)
"choose no life")
 
(message (Hello 'MoP)
(you :wrote :on '(Tue, 28 Aug 2007 04:27:53 +0200 (CEST)))
(

M> Now that I think of it, maybe the two 12cm case fans need substituting
M> with something more modern, like this?

M>
http://www.plaisio.gr/product.aspx?catalog=1&category=9098887&product=853275&tab=specs

zalman is fine, i have 80mm fan, even in normal mode is not noisy.
especially comparing with shit that came with ASUS chasis (new!) -- it was
noisy even when i've made it "silent" mode with impedance from zalman thing.

)
(With-best-regards '(Alex Mizrahi) :aka 'killer_storm)
"choose no life")
 
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