IntroductionAfter the publication of the previous article, I received quite a lot of responses in the mail. :)
Basically, they contained descriptions of personal experience with IBM hard drives, and almost all of them contained the question "why did my hard drive die?". Unfortunately, I cannot answer such questions. :(
Of course, it is not in my power to make sure that such questions are not asked to me at all, but I will try to make sure that as few users as possible encounter such problems.
In the previous article, I took the liberty of giving some advice, the implementation of which should reduce the likelihood of a hard drive failure and thus extend its operation time. One of these tips was to cool the hard drive...

Why is it needed

Why do you need to cool the hard drive at all? In order to understand this - let's see what the hard drive consists of. First of all, you can "divide" the hard drive into two parts - electronics and a jar with disks and heads. The electronic circuit contains several specialized microcircuits: the DSP itself, the motor control processor, the power section and the cache memory microcircuit. For any of these elements, overheating is extremely dangerous - the DSP of the hard drive can generate "wrong" commands, changing the physical parameters of the engine control system can lead to the fact that the engine will "spur" too often ... Well, what threatens the destruction of data in the cache, I think it's clear to everyone...
Overheating is also dangerous for the mechanical part of the hard drive. Firstly, due to the thermal expansion of the metal, the load on the bearings increases. Secondly, due to heating, the profile of the plate changes and the tracks turn out to be completely in the wrong place where the heads are looking for them ... The Winchester is forced to do thermal recalibration ...
A frequent significant change in the temperature of the plate surface may well cause shedding of the magnetic layer, which can lead to the appearance of bad sectors. It is possible that glass (and the plates of the latest generations of IBM hard drives are made of glass...) is very sensitive to such local temperature gradients...
There is a fundamental article (on the topic of hard drive reliability and factors affecting it) published on the iXBT website, which should be read by everyone who is even a little interested in how the mean time between failures for hard drives is calculated. So there is a very interesting plate showing how the probability of hard drive failures increases with an increase in its temperature, some of which I will give in the form of a graph:

Those. at a hard drive temperature of 40 degrees, the probability of failure has doubled! But we don't want to shorten the service life of a hard drive with our own hands, do we? Hence the moral - the hard drive needs to be cooled!

How it's done

I know two ways to cool hard drives (not fantastic, but simple and affordable) - either you need to "press" a massive heatsink to the surface of the hard drive to remove heat, or blow the hard drive with air (it is desirable that the air temperature is lower than the temperature of the hard drive).
As for the first recipe, it is very rarely implemented in practice. Common computer cases have very thin tin and their hard drive baskets are unable to remove a large amount of heat.
The second option can be found much more often - all kinds of fans under the basket, in the basket, etc., that is, the main goal of case designers and cooling devices is to force air to move inside the case. The fans suck in cold outside air, it passes next to the heat-producing blocks of the computer, heats up and is thrown out.

What do we offer

In this review, we will consider four devices for cooling hard drives.
I present test participants:

HD3

The device is a plug in a 5" bay on the front panel of the computer, on which three fans and a set of "pants" 3.5 "-> 5" are installed.

The fans are powered from a standard 5-12V connector, there is no fan speed sensor.
Device

HD2

differs from the above only in a smaller number of fans.
But the following device is strikingly different from the previous ones:

SHDC

This kind of "overlay" is screwed to the hard drive from the side of the electronics board and cools the lower part of the hard drive and, of course, the electronics board itself. The fan is powered from a standard connector, there is no rotation speed monitoring either.
And finally, the last participant in our tests - UHDC(Ultimate Hard Drive Cooler):

This kit consists of a front panel cover with two fans, a massive heatsink and traditional 3.5" -> 5" pants. I note right away that, unlike HD2 & HD3, there is a removable air filter panel on the UHDC plug. In my opinion - a very nice little thing!
And this is what the set looks like from the back:

Fans are powered via a standard power connector, fan speed monitoring is not supported.

Test system & methodology

Since our task was to create unbearable conditions for hard drives, we also selected components for the stand "hotter". Judge for yourself:

Abit KT7A
AMD Athlon 1200MHz
GeForce 2 Pro
Creative SB Live
IBM DPTA 372050
ViewStation 701

Those. we took the stuffing of a good gaming machine and used a case that was not the best in terms of ventilation. Plus, as I predicted, summer has come to Moscow (the temperature in the room was 27 degrees) ...

So, the technique - Windows was loaded on the computer and it was left alone for an hour (in the Windows properties it was forbidden to turn off disks). An hour later, the temperature value was taken from an external sensor attached to the middle of the top cover of the hard drive.
After that, the IOMeter test with the "random read" pattern was launched on the computer. Since the calculation of the block address in this pattern is completely random, the head block actuator moved intensively. That is, we can assume that this is the maximum possible load on the hard drive.
After an hour of such work, the temperature value was taken, after which the computer was given time to cool down.
The tests were repeated three times, the results were averaged.

Test results

Frankly, I did not think that the hot Moscow air would be able to cool the three-plate DPTA, but the results pleasantly surprised me:

The HD3 and HD2 coolers showed the best results - the hard drive temperature was only 30 degrees when using them. Moreover, it was the same for the rest mode and intensive work!
The UHDC cooler managed to cool the hard drive down to 30 degrees in burn mode and up to 29 degrees in idle mode, which is the best result among the tested coolers. Most likely, a massive radiator played a role here ...
The SHDC cooler did a good job, but it's still better with it than without it...

conclusions

In total, three out of four coolers managed to "cool" the hard drive by 9 degrees in the burn mode and, theoretically, "extended the life" of the hard drive by one and a half times. If we take a look at the price list, we will see that the price of these devices is incomparable in terms of the benefits they can bring.
In conclusion, I will express my subjective opinion about the advantages and disadvantages of these coolers.

SHDC
Pros:

cheap
can be used in 3.5" basket

Minuses:

average cooling capacity

UHDC
Pros:

removable air filter

Minuses:

cumbersome
free 5" bay required
difficult to assemble
no way to control rotation speed

HD2 & HD3
Pros:

excellent cooling ability
low price

Minuses:

free 5" bay required
no way to control rotation speed

As for measuring the rotation speed, in my opinion, the manufacturer could complete these devices with a cable with a connector for installation on the motherboard + an adapter for those who do not have free power connectors on the motherboard (or none at all). This, of course, would increase the price of the device, but would add to its attractiveness. Or maybe there are such devices in this world, but I don’t know about them ...

P.S. From the first responses from readers (slightly edited by me...):

One very important point should be added to the review, until no one ran to buy a cooler in a 5 "bay - it is very difficult (and sometimes impossible) to insert them into branded cases in which devices are placed on a sled - InWin, SuperMicro due to the mounting features - they are screwed to the case with eight screws - a cap separately, a hard drive through adapters separately.
I used to have a cooler with three coolers on the plug, took the InWin508 case and... I had to give up the cooler, although there may be those who want to make the miracle of the sled themselves;) but most should keep this in mind.

Sorry, I missed this. Everything is exactly as DenKiller said. Unfortunately...

Those who work at the computer at night or just late are well aware that the computer can seem very noisy in those moments when the fuss around subsides, and the background noise of everyday life disappears. First of all, the fans are noisy, they can be replaced with quieter ones, coolers for processors and video cards are also not a problem - even passive radiators are easy to buy nowadays. And just at the moment when we calm down all the fans in the computer, the presence of the hard drive becomes very noticeable. Grinding, growling and whimpering "hard" accompany every copy, download or other access of the computer to the hard drive. This may sound funny to some, but remember, this becomes clearly audible only when the other sources of noise are defeated. In the bowels of the hard disk, a spindle with magnetic pancakes rotates at great speed, and the reading head runs intensively along all their radii, reading and writing information. During operation, the hard drive creates quite significant vibrations that are transmitted to the case of the system unit if the hard drive is classically fixed in a 3.5 "jack. Some "advanced" cases have rubber gaskets at the points of contact between the case and the hard drive, which greatly reduces the vibration transmitted to the case (for example, ASUS Ascot series cases). But the hard drive itself continues to be a source of noise, although the overall noise level becomes noticeably lower. But the hard drive also heats up significantly. Let's consider and classify methods for combating noise and separately, and then explore a couple of complex systems to solve these problems.

Methods for Dealing with Hard Drive Noise

If your case is not equipped with rubber inserts, then you can use a special rubber suspension for a 5.25" hard drive. One of these adapters was found in Russian retail under the name "Scythe Hard Disk Stabilizer 2". There are many more similar devices, but it is very difficult to find them on sale, but this one has successfully come to hand. The principle of operation is simple: four rubber columns expand the hard drive mount from 3.5 "format to 5.25". rubber suspension.

As practice has shown, the noise level after such a modification becomes noticeably lower. It is not surprising, because this approach allows you to best dampen the vibrations transmitted to the body. The second way to make a hard drive quieter is to use noise-canceling boxes under the 5.25" drive bay.

The hard drive is hidden inside this box, the task of which is to absorb vibrations and noise from the hard drive. This method is the most effective in noise suppression, but exacerbates another issue - hard disk cooling. To solve this problem, additional fans for blowing are sometimes used. But this is a separate issue.

Cooling

The hard drive also heats up, because mechanical and electronic components work almost continuously inside it, generating heat. Manufacturers of hard drives admit that the reliability of their devices when the operating temperature increases from 45 to 55 degrees drops by 2 (!) times. Under normal conditions, heat dissipates from the surface of the hard drive case and is transferred to the case walls at the points of contact. Modern cases are often equipped with fans "for blowing", located on the front wall of the case. In addition to general ventilation, they also blow hard drives. This method is considered the most efficient in terms of cooling, especially if the system has several hard drives that tightly clog the seats in the case. In cases that are not equipped with such fans, additional hard drive cooling can be provided by a variety of HDD coolers. For the most part, they are divided into three types:

Hanging fans

Hanging fans are attached to the bottom of the hard drive and blow around the case along with electronic equipment. They usually consist of one or two fans that rotate at 3000~6000 rpm. Such devices most often do not even initially have a low noise level, and over time, when the fan bearings begin to deteriorate, the noise from the fans becomes simply unbearable. Nevertheless, the cooling efficiency is at a fairly high level, active cooling of the case does its job.

Sled in 5.25" connector with blow-out fans

The name eloquently describes the device of such a cooler: with the help of a sled, the hard drive is installed in the 5.25 "socket, and a panel with fans is attached to the place of the plug on the front of the case, which draws air from outside the case and blows it over the hard drive. The advantages of the design are that the air for blowing is taken from outside the system unit, it will always be cooler than the air inside.The disadvantages are also obvious from the description of the design: fans, the number of which is usually two or three, have a size of 30 ~ 40 mm, since they are limited by the width of the panel. "even higher than in the previous case, about 5000 ~ 7000 rpm. Initially, the noise from them does not put much pressure on the ears, but the durability of the bearings at this rotation speed is much lower, and they fail faster, with corresponding consequences.

Heatsinks for HDD with installation in 5.25" connector

This is a more advanced device, a heatsink is attached to the hard drive, which increases the heat dissipation surface, thereby improving cooling. Sometimes these radiators are also blown by fans for greater efficiency. In fact, the efficiency of such a heatsink most of all depends on the organization of heat exchange between the hard drive and the heatsink. The lower the thermal resistance at the points of contact between the hard drive and heatsinks, the higher the efficiency of the cooling system. But it is very difficult. The hard drive does not have special contact surfaces for heat sinks; more or less heat can be removed only from the side walls, which have a flat surface and are equipped with mounting holes for installation. Cooling of hard drive electronics is possible only with the help of thermal pads, which are the least efficient of all heat dissipation methods. The efficiency of this type of HDD cooler is determined by the efficiency of heat removal from the hard drive and the efficiency of its dissipation from the radiator surface. Today we will look at two HDD heatsinks installed in a 5.25" slot, which are designed to reduce the noise level from the operation of the hard drive, while providing proper cooling.

background

What can the thirst for modding and lack of funds lead to. Often fantasy is limited by material possibilities, so I had to work with what I have. The only useless device I had was an old Quantum hard drive (I don't remember the model) with 200MB.

During the day the project was considered, and I made a decision: I need to cut it! First of all, I thought about the functionality of my model. As a novice modder, I realized that in the future, effective cooling is indispensable. So the idea of ​​an HDD cooler came to mind. I also wanted to dispel the doubts of numerous advisers like “impossible!” or “watch your fingers!”.

Necessary tools: drill, metal drills (2 - 5 mm), files (round, semicircular and rectangular), soldering iron, GOI paste and a felt circle for a drill.

Operations required to implement the modd

1. The cover is removed. The washer fixing the pancake (disk) is unscrewed. All mechanisms (reading head, microcircuit, magnets) are unscrewed from the inside.

2. A drawing (pattern) of the future impeller is being made (in any graphics editor, but it is better to use CORELDRAW). Then it is superimposed on a pancake and glued. In my case, I made an impeller with 6 blades (in order for the cooler not to make noise, it is better to make it with an odd number of blades - 7, 9, 11 ....).

After that, it is fixed in a vice and a blank for the future fan is cut out with a hacksaw (if you have a dremel, you don’t have to suffer here). It turns out a pancake, consisting of 6 parts. The blades, if necessary, are undermined.

3. The workpiece is put on the spindle and secured with a native washer. Then all the blades are bent at the same angle (this was done manually, because there were no necessary tools). It is not so difficult to bend them at one angle, you can navigate at any point. I just made sure that they were not higher than its inner wall and did not touch its lid.

4. The time has come for the hard drive cover itself, it is very easy to cut it - the future hole is marked and drilled along the cut line (easier, of course, with a dremel). Any burrs that form after drilling can be easily filed off, because HDD covers are most often made of soft metals, such as brass or aluminum. After all the work, the parts of the cooler are assembled together.

It should look something like the one in the photo below. As you can see, there is nothing complicated in this mod.

Also, if you want to make it stand out from the pile of "pieces of iron", you can highlight it with ultra-bright LEDs that will be attached to the inside of the lid.

The mirror surface of the pancake (disk) will give an accurate reflection, a pleasant "play of light" will turn out.

What are the advantages of this mod:

Can be installed in a standard HDD slot to cool another hard drive. Given the high spindle speed, can be very efficient.

Connects with a standard power cord (molex).

Can decorate the case of any modder.

What are the cons:

High noise level emitted by the fan. This is because you need to select hard drives with quiet engines, mostly new ones, at that time this was not at hand.

There is a danger of losing limbs poked into the spinning impeller by curious friends. In my mod, I foresaw this so as not to injure myself or others - the blades of the cooler were bent in the opposite direction.

This is how you can make a cooler in a few days that will blow out all the heat generated by hard drives. Or just put it in a case for blowing air - both beautiful and cold! I think this mod will be a worthy and functional decoration for any case. At first glance, the idea turned out to be not so difficult to implement.

P.S. For me, this mod is attractive because no one has used such an idea yet.

IvanZhdankin aka JEEP
jeeps (a) yandex.ru
7 /07.2006