Re: SMART data, should I change my HDD?
On Mon, 28 Apr 2014 21:22:30 -0400
KS <lists04@fastmail.fm> wrote:
>
> Interesting setup Steve. The first email with SMART details were from
> a PC which has a 120mm fan (out) on the back, CPU is top mounted
> (Antec Earthwats 80mm fan) and the CPU has a stock fan (80mm). The
> case is completely open though and the case fan won't do much for the
> HDD (too far). As I said earlier, the machine was running SysRescueCD
> (in RAM), so I wondering why the HDD was hotter than my other system
> (HDD at 35C) which I use as my main PC.
>
> On another note, I'm replacing the main system's HDD (Seagate
> Barracuda, 320GB) with an Intel 530series SSD soon.
>
> Thanks for the detailed reply,
> KS
KS,
My bad for not discussing this with you a week ago. In my newly
rebuilt rsync backup server, I'm running a Mastercooler HAF912 case,
which accommodates a 200mm fan on top, two 120's in front at the hard
drive area, one 120 in the back, and one 140 on the side from which you
install daughtercards.
Check out this review:
http://archive.benchmarkreviews.com/?option=com_content&task=view&id=591&Itemid=61
The ONLY thing that bothers me in this review is something the author
glosses over: On the second page, he claims that "Since the HAF 912
does not support USB 3.0..." Huh? I thought it's the mobo's job to
support USB3.0 and send it out the back. Perhaps he meant that the
*front panel* USB is 2.0 only. If that's all he means, big deal.
He rates it down because of minimal tool-less assembly features. That's
not a priority to me: If I'm going to have to set up a workbench, I can
go get a screwdriver. What I *can* tell you about this case (which I
recommend highly, unless it somehow prevents the mobo's USB3 from
coming out the back) is that, due to its cutouts and room, it's a dead
bang easy install, with tools or without them.
If you like a cool and breezy computer, this case is excellent. 200mm
fan hole on top, 120mm fan hole in back, two 120mm fan holes in front at
the hard drive area toward the bottom, and a 140mm fan hole on the left
side as you face the front. It actually comes with two 120mm fans: You
buy the rest. If you're placing the box where there's not clearance on
the left, you just use electrical tape to cover the 140mm fan hole, so
that air gets sucked past the drives. Depending on other things, you
might want to also tape shut the front air access to the 5 1/4 drive
bays, which could theoretically short circuit air around your 3.5"
drives. If you have two fans in the drive area, I think you're getting
enough air coming in without the 5 1/4 air access, and given the 200mm
fan on top and the 120 back fan near the top, air coming in thru the
drive area is pretty much forced past the CPU.
As you look at the review of this case, note how neatly he builds and
cables it. From now on I'm going to do it like that (I'm weeks or
months from building myself a new daily driver and retiring my 2008
Pentium with 4GB). If you cable like he cables, your processor will be
right in the middle of the hurricane, and that's a good thing given
today's high wattage processors, and given the terrible CPU coolers
packaged with CPUs, and given the fact that big CPU coolers collide
with your RAM, or the case, or both. Note that if you don't use the
side fan, or if you mount it outside instead of inside, there's lots
and lots of room for a tall (but not RAM eclipsing wide) CPU cooler.
Jonathan showed a paper stating that temperature doesn't correlate too
well with drive longevity. That may be, but I start feeling spooky when
temperatures go up. I always have, even when I was an audio technician
working on amps with TO3 format power transistors. If I can't
comfortably press my finger on it for 10 seconds, I start getting
spooked. Perhaps I've looked at a few too many
temperature/current curves for transistors, and seen too much
thermal runaway. Anyway, airflow helps keep things cooler.
So does keeping dust out. Although I can't prove it, a lot of my
hardware failures occurred in boxes full of dust. With the HAF912 case,
I'd recommend that if you have a fan blowing in at the left side, you
tape some panty-hose over the hole. And on all computers kept on a
carpeted floor, I always have the computer sitting on a piece of 1/4"
plywood, with the plywood sticking out at least 1" beyond the computer
in every direction, 2" in front on those computers that suck from the
bottom front, to limit fuzz acquisition. And do as I say, not as I do:
Vacuum out the box at least once a year.
I'm very pleased with my Mastercooler HAF912 case, and plan to get more
of them.
SteveT
Steve Litt * http://www.troubleshooters.com/
Troubleshooting Training * Human Performance
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