Do 2.5 inch drives run cooler than 3.5 drives?

mindwalker · Post by **mindwalker** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 4:05 pm

I have a HTPC (Silverstone LC-10 case) that has poor airflow and thus runs hot which causes the PSU (400 watt Super Tornado) fan to speed up and become noisy. I was wondering if replacing the two 3.5 drives (60 and 200 gb Maxtor PATA drives) with a 80 gb Seagate Momentus 5400.3 drive and a 120 gb Western Digital Scorpion drive would be worth it? I once had three 3.5 inch drives in this case and the PSU fan ramped up immediately. On the advice of others I removed the 3rd drive and the PSU fan stays quieter longer and when it does ramp up it doesnt get so loud. I'm not so much concerned about noise as I am about heat. Adding more fans or ones with greater airflow (Noise) usnt an option.

LBadvance · Post by **LBadvance** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 4:23 pm

Yes, they run cooler. However i can't gurantee that it might be cool enough to not cause the PSU fan to rev up.

andyb · Post by **andyb** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 5:56 pm

You would reduce the heat output by 25~W 30W at the most (this is very inflated and also counts the PSU's wastage), 30W is unlikely to stop your PSU from ramping up, unless its already on th threshold of the next speedstep.

You will find that your problem is not your HDD's but your general airflow situation within the case, or the PSU itself.

A fuller explanation of your system would help a lot as well.

Andy

PS: Bah Humbug

mindwalker · Post by **mindwalker** » Sun Dec 24, 2006 6:14 pm

My HTPC has a Intel PERL 865 motherboard with 3.2 ghz Northwood CPU, Zalman AlCu 7000 heat sink and fan and 1 gig of dual channel PC3200 Ram. I have three Hauppauge PVR-250 capture cards, MadDog Entertainer sound card, BenQ DW1620 DVD burner and (normally) a 128 meg ATI 9800 Pro video card equipped with a VGA Silencer. Right now I'm using a fanless 9600 Pro video card as the 9800 Pro is broken. I'm using the 60 gb Maxtor as a system drive and the 200 gig Maxtor to store TV shows recorded with the PVR-250s. I'm using the Rev A3 of the Super Tornado PSU. The LC-10 case has a 92 mm Nexus Real Silent intake fan and 2 SilenX 18 cfm 60 mm exhaust fans.