Second HDD, possible heat issue

[Nowhere]

I'll be putting second HDD in my main system soon, a second Seagate Barracuda 80GB 7200.7 (which, I've hard, are quite hot). And I have typical Enlight case, photos of very similar are below.
As you can see there are 3 available mounting points for 3,5' devices, in the cage that can be deatached from the rest of the case. Right now I have in there FDD drive and HDD, separated by space in which 3rd device could go...but I have doubts that stacking two HDDs one on top of another would be good for their longevity. Simplest alternative would be to put FDD between harddrives, however I'm not sure if it would do any good in practice...
But...I have also place for four 5,1/4' devices, of which I use only 2, so I could place HDD in the lowest bay, using 3,5' -> 5,1/4' conversion kit (pictured below). Which brings its own doubts...as you see 5,1/4 devices are attached via rails, and the conversion kit is not one piece of metal, so...do you think some mechanical fathigue to hard drive is possible?
Probably not...I think I'll do it, just 2€ anyway and much better solution than neighbouring hard drives...
What do you think about the idea?

[UtwigMU]

I bought that kit in order to sometime p1mp out my 386 (DX40, 4MB, Trident TVGA 8900, 120MB Maxtor, I Have ISA 3COM NIC, SB 64 AWE gold and 200MB WD drive). Based on my experience that kit can be a bit flimsy, so I'd go with Floppy between drives idea.

The drives cool by transfering heat over metal, screws and onto the case, so if you have good airflow, it should be OK, try this, then monitor temperatures with MBM.

[Nowhere]

Yeah, I know how in large part they cool themselves...that's why I don't consider the second available here conversion kit, even though it's one part - but plastic.

Hmm...any SMART moniotring tool will give info about HDD temp, right? What increse from the configuration with one drive (don't know what it is) would be absolutelly acceptable?

[UtwigMU]

Well my WD 1200 JB sitting alone in upper drive cage behind 80mm Zalman F1 fan is at 27°C now, case temp being about 29° (further to the back - CPU0 55°C CPU1 51°C VRM1 29°C VRM2 49°C AGP 39°C DDR 39°C HDD 27°C room temp being ~20°C). Bro's Seagate 160GB 7200.7 series is @ 35-40° in similar case as you have shown (3-drive cage, Floppy above, drive bottom, middle empty, the WD was also at 35-40°C in that case).

Otherwise, for about 20-30 Euros you can get a new case which has drive mounts for the entire height of front part of the case and place for case fans infront of drives.

In your case there will probably some space between drives, even if cage is fully filled.

I think you will not notice much increase between 1 drive and 2 drives with floppy in between configuration.

[Nowhere]

Hmm...in the not-so-good as the one on the pictures case (actually...quite awfull), such HDD (the one which will be put in my machine) works at 35-36°C apparently. I wonder how the drive in Enlight case performs, and how will be after addition of this one...

So the question remains: what is absolutelly safe temp for a HDD? Especially since, AFAIK, SMART measures temperature of electronics only... But OTOH I'm not obsessed with lowest possible temps. I just want to be safe...

And Utwig, uhmm...I don't know from what you can choose in your shops, but here case for 20-30€ is rather pathetic . I definetelly like mine...easy to handle with everything, safe...and somehow panzer.

[rylan]

I have one of those Enlight cases in an older system. I wasn't particularly fond of the HD 'sandwich', as they do get quite hot. I don't know what the thermal limit of those HDs are, but sandwiching two together is going to make the middle area get quite toasty.

[Technoid]

I'd go with the conversion kit and a 90mm fan (on 5v instead of 12) hanging undermeath it.

I have a 200gb maxtor mounted like that in my work pc, works perfectly

[Nowhere]

AFAIK fans underneath HDD only give nice impression...because they cool primary electronics, and that's where the heat sensor is (AFAIK).

Anyway, update: when the HDDs are sandwiched, and I'll force rebuilding of index of Google Desktop Search on both of them, they both shw max temp of about 48/49°C (in comparison, when the old drive was alone, at the bottom, it topped at 40°C, the new one, which wasn't even attached to anything, just lying on some metal parts of the case: 45°C). And during "normal operation" (which in my case means - not much work for HDDs), after few hours, they stabilize at about 43°C the one at bottom, and 44/45°C the one in the middle. What to do, what to do...

A little "funny" when hard drives are hotter than CPU...

[Nowhere]

Same max temps while defragmenting (especially on FAT32...defragmenting seems demanding and time consuming than on NTFS).

Are those temps dangeroulsy high or not...I just don't want hard disk/data loss, that's all...

[dZeus]

why don't you check the specifications for the drives?

[UtwigMU]

How big are the hard drives?

I'd either consolidate with one larger hard drive (used 120 gigger under warranty or new 160-300 gigger) or buy a bigger case in the mid term. For now you should be fine.

[Nowhere]

Two Seagate Barracudas's 7200.7 80GB...basically have one for free (other...somewhat), so that's the reason why not one bigger drive.
Checking specs...I'll look into that...

[Nowhere]

OK, Seagate says:

What is the normal operating temperature for Seagate disc drives?



The drive should never exceed the temperature ranges below. If the drives ever exceed these temperature ranges then the drive is considered "overheated" or is not getting adequate air flow from your current case environment.

With our newer model drives the maximum temperature is now at 60 degrees Celsius.

The operating temperature range for most Seagate hard drives is 5 to 50 degrees Celsius. A normal PC case should provide adequate cooling.

However, if your enclosure is unable to maintain this range, we suggest that you contact your system manufacturer for information on cooling and ventilation hardware that is compatible with your specific configuration.

The answer to this question depends on your case environment. If you have adequate cooling, it is probably not necessary. If you feel that you need additional cooling, please consult the resources below.

Well...it is below it. Even more so if Barracuda 7200.7 (ST380011A) is considered by Seagate "newer model" (too bad they don't specify)
So I should be safe...

[UtwigMU]

Provided you back up irreplaceable data, yes.

[Liquid Snake]

The 7200.7 is a "newer model". 50C and below should be fine, 40C or below is ideal. As Utwig said, you should backup important data, but that should go without saying.