HDD at ~52C when playing GPU intensive games. Are those temps dangerous?

[defred34]

Just wondering. Idle at around 42C, and when my GPU is under maximum load/temps for prolonged periods of time, the HDD temps reach 52C.

Is that still acceptable or is it dangerous?

 

[cdawall]

It's fine.

 

[EarthDog]

You will want to keep that lower... I believe somewhere around 50-60C is the max depending on the drive. Since you haven't created your system specs yet, we have no idea what HDD you have to see its max temps. You can look it up at the companies' website.

Cooler is generally better!

What case? Ambient temps? How are the fans setup inside the case? Etc.......

 

[FordGT90Concept]

The closer to 30C the better. Yes, I wouldn't be comfortable with 50C+ on a HDD.

The system likely needs better ventilation or the drive needs to be moved so it isn't exposed to video card exhaust.

The higher the operating temperature of a hard drive, the more likely it is to fail.

 

[cdawall]

If the max it is reaching is 52C that's about normal for a standard case. "Optimal" is typically considered 36-47C

 

[EarthDog]

The higher the operating temperature of a hard drive, the more likely it is to fail.

https://www.backblaze.com/blog/hard-drive-temperature-does-it-matter/

 

[FordGT90Concept]

https://www.backblaze.com/blog/hard-drive-temperature-does-it-matter/

Their *hottest* drive averaged 30.54C. Temps below about 35C, temperature usually has no impact (though they did find one low power Seagate that did). They were all below that threshold so no surprise that no correlation was found.

 

[peche]

computers run for 6 days, reboot on 6th day and then the loop continues, this is my work rig.

Regards,

 

[defred34]

If the max it is reaching is 52C that's about normal for a standard case. "Optimal" is typically considered 36-47C

Yeah ~52C is max, which corresponds to when my GPU is at 80C.

At idle, it is at 42-43C.

It scales to between 42C and 52C depending on my GPUs temperature which itself idles at around 35C.

This is my PC's insides. It's a generic Dell. http://i.stack.imgur.com/2FFrh.jpg

 

[FordGT90Concept]

No way to mount a fan on the front of the case? If you can't, I'd buy a new case. 42 idle is too hot.

Edit: If you don't want to spend money right now, I'd move the HDD down as far as it can go in the case. The GPU exhaust is definitely hitting it where it is.

 

[peche]

Yeah ~52C is max, which corresponds to when my GPU is at 80C.

At idle, it is at 42-43C.

It scales to between 42C and 52C depending on my GPUs temperature which itself idles at around 35C.

This is my PC's insides. It's a generic Dell. http://i.stack.imgur.com/2FFrh.jpg

fill this... as much ass possible...

 

[Steevo]

http://static.googleusercontent.com/media/research.google.com/en//archive/disk_failures.pdf

"
Contrary to previously reported results, we found
very little correlation between failure rates and ei-
ther elevated temperature or activity levels."


Cooler than 30C is just as "deadly" to drives as above 45C, and the relationship between these temperatures is less than 1% deviation, so in reality, there is no correlation able to be drawn on over a hundred thousand data size sample.

Below 30C and you start seeing a inverse relationship to death as the temperature decreases. See graphs on page 6.

 

[defred34]

No way to mount a fan on the front of the case? If you can't, I'd buy a new case. 42 idle is too hot.

Edit: If you don't want to spend money right now, I'd move the HDD down as far as it can go in the case. The GPU exhaust is definitely hitting it where it is.

I don't think idle can be improved much. My ambient room temps are above 30C. In fact, 35C during the day.

Yes the HDD can be moved one slot lower, but will it make much difference? It will still get the exhaust air, no?

 

[FordGT90Concept]

http://static.googleusercontent.com/media/research.google.com/en//archive/disk_failures.pdf

"
Contrary to previously reported results, we found
very little correlation between failure rates and ei-
ther elevated temperature or activity levels."

Let me quote the full block:

We first look at the correlation between average temperature during the observation period and failure. Figure 4 shows the distribution of drives with average temperature in increments of one degree and the corresponding annualized failure rates. The figure shows that failures do not increase when the average temperature increases. In fact, there is a clear trend showing that lower temperatures are associated with higher failure rates. Only at very high temperatures is there a slight reversal of this trend.

Low is <25C and high is >45C. We're dealing with a drive that is operating in the high range. 30-40C is ideal. That said, the Back Blaze study found a Seagate 1.5 TB low power drive that had a statistically significant rate of failure in this range too but it is an outlier.

Yes the HDD can be moved one slot lower, but will it make much difference? It will still get the exhaust air, no?

Hot air rises. The fan on the GPU blows against the PCB and that heated exhaust carries over to the HDD where it rises and hits it. It should lower the temp by a few degrees methinks, especially when the GPU is under load.

 

[defred34]

Let me quote the full block:

Low is <25C and high is >45C. We're dealing with a drive that is operating in the high range. 30-40C is ideal. That said, the Back Blaze study found a Seagate 1.5 TB low power drive that had a statistically significant rate of failure in this range too but it is an outlier.


Hot air rises. The fan on the GPU blows against the PCB and that heated exhaust carries over to the HDD where it rises and hits it. It should lower the temp by a few degrees methinks, especially when the GPU is under load.

Ok, that sounds interesting enough. I evidently do not know much about how these things work.

Anyway, it may sound dumb to you, but what would I need to do to move the HDD one slot lower? Just unscrew and remove the the wires attached to it, put it in the new slots and re-screw/re-attach the wires? Would I need to reset my HDD settings or anything of that sort? I have only ever changed the GPU and PSU by myself, never touched the HDD, so just want to make sure of the risks of doing this.

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I think if you unscrew those two black screws that you see in the picture right next to the drive, that should free it. I think I would move it down to the other slot that is screwed in with two silver screws. I can't tell from the picture if there are more below it.

You shouldn't have to unplug them but if you do, just plug them back in as they were. The blue cable is data, the other is power.

 

[droopyRO]

www.wdc.com/wdproducts/library/other/2579-001134.pdf

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

You can get fans that sit directly on or beneath a hdd....google "hdd fans".
They attach via molex and are cheap and effective.

this is the one i use

editted to add the pic

 

[EarthDog]

If the same cables are used , no need of BIOS changes ( data cables )

I believe you meant if there are no port changes your system wouldn't know the difference (same port and same drive).

You can switch cables all you want, so long as the drive at the end and port at the other don't change, the system won't have a clue.

 

[little cat]

The SATA port stays the same

But perhaps he might keep the cables connected throughout the procedure .

 

[defred34]

Ok, I think maybe I just got paranoid and shouldn't have bothered with the temps at all. But in a worst case scenario, how are the following temps?

- 80C GPU
- 72C CPU
- 52C HDD
- 50C unknown motherboard temperature reading (I assume this is for "air flow"?)
- 65C unknown motherboard temperature reading (no idea what this is for...is there anything else important on the motherboard that has a temp reading?)

 

[defred34]

I believe you meant if there are no port changes your system wouldn't know the difference (same port and same drive).

You can switch cables all you want, so long as the drive at the end and port at the other don't change, the system won't have a clue.

Ok but to reconfirm, for my case just unscrew and unplug wires, and then fix them back together at the lower slot right? I'm just afraid the HDD requires some other additional treatment that I am not aware of.

 

[Steevo]

www.wdc.com/wdproducts/library/other/2579-001134.pdf

Most manufacturers use the same MTTF (Mean Time To Failure) testing methodology, but it is VERY important to note that they use a small dataset, and expose them to extremely high temperatures to mimic what a moderate temperature MAY or MAY NOT do over the course of a drives life. In the shown study, 1,000 drives for 1,000 hours = 1,000,000 supposed operational hours. Every time they have to account for variables the study sample size decreases, and each run is mostly to confirm that a series of drives meets certain criteria, and it may not reflect manufacturing tolerance buildup.

They call their algorithm an "acceleration factor" and state clearly that it is only a prediction.
Its a marketing piece, not an actual case study.
Its written by the same company that is trying to sell the drives.
Its sample size is 100 times smaller than Google's, and between 25-45 times smaller than other companies.
Their statement is that even at 55C the MTTF is still over 5 years for less than 1% for the specified series of drives.

 

[defred34]

the model of the parts !

GTX 960 SC
i5 3330
Seagate 1TB regular HDD
Dell 0Xr1GT motherboard

 

[CAPSLOCKSTUCK]

I'm just afraid the HDD requires some other additional treatment that I am not aware of.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00HPK95N6/?tag=tec053-21


£ 2.36 delivered