Move HDD out of case for cooling

[chokobanana]

Hello,

I have a fit-PC2 (1.6Ghz) with a WD 500GB hard-drive in it. One thing that I can't seem to let go is the heat this case creates. Speedfan indicated the hard drive being 48 degrees C and the CPU 50 degrees Celcius. This is running XP without any display output (hdmi not connected) and the computer being idle. Whenever I push the CPU a little, the CPU temperature is somewhere between 54-56C.

So, I figured I'd take the HD out of the case and place it externally. Has anyone done this? If so, please share your experience. Did the temperature go down? and how did you do it?

I'd rather not put the HD in an external USB 2.0 case since USB 2.0 speed is pretty limited. That leaves me with SATA and I believe the easiest way to solve this is to get an extension cord like this one:
http://www.abesofmaine.com/abeimg/stamcsata12ext.jpg

This however will leave my HD "naked". I'd rather put it in an external case but all cases are USB or eSATA and eSATA cables doesn't provide any power so then I'd have to add external power to my case and this I'd rather avoid. (Why add more AC adapters when I have all the power I need already) I may be able to use an external eSATA case with USB cable to power the case but this seems like a temporarily solution to me.

Any smart ideas ??

[mpatel]

theres an easier way. i used to be in the same situation because the temp is fine for the CPU but its high for a hard disk. jus find an old pc and take out the heat sink and stick it on your pfit pc. I have 2 heat sink one on top one on bottom, i havent even used any thermal paste (I have ordered the paste but it hasnt arrived yet) and its already down by liek 8-10 degress cels. my CPU with 20-30% load is 45-46deg, while my hard disk is 40-41. Im sure if u added thermal paste it may improve a tiny bit..or if u know u that heat sinks usually have fans attaches on top of them to help remove the heat from the heatsink to allow air flow since a heat sink needs air flow to be effective. those little fants u can do a rewire them to a simple USB wire and they can run of ur use port if u need it to be (this is posted everywhere on the web on how to do) just look up computer fan usb power ...and you'll see it. i plan to do this if the thermal paste doesnt do much, and mind u , these are temp reading in my room where its summer and hot as hell in canada, little air flow and i have no AC :p

[fly]

but this seems like a temporarily solution to me.

Well, most solutions fiddling a wire from the inside right to the outside seems to be temporary, so here are the options I see:

1. Put the HDD into the fitpc2 and try to get temperature down if necessary -- see mpatel.

2. Use USB or ethernet to connect a external case with HDD.

It depends if this is an option for you. I am quite happy with my USB-CF-adapter. Things runs smooth, but If you really want to use all those gigs, then USB2 is a no-go. Ethernet might be an option, but this will add yet another case and another power brick..

3. Use a smaller / more energy efficient / slower HDD or even a SSD.

This would be my preferred solution.

4. Use a bigger enclosure

Will void warranty and removes one big advantage of fitpc: the size aspect.

[chokobanana]

mpatel, fly

Thank you for your replies.
Obviously the HDD is running too hot, so I believe I'm left with the following options:
1. Try to decrease the heat generated by adding a heat-sink
2. Take the HDD out of the case

I think I will try both. I wasn't expecting to spend more money on this system but I want to make sure it doesn't overheat and destroy my HDD.
I'll get a small SDD drive that will run windows and add an external USB drive for storage. The system is mainly used as a server so I don't need the SATA speeds for the storage. (Booting Windows from an external USB drive will be extremely slow though)

I do have another question though.
Does the Wifi module generate a lot of heat? I'm not in need of Wifi and I couldn't find an option to disable it in BIOS. Will removing the Wifi module improve temperatures?

[chokobanana]

This project has to be done by the end of the month so I went and bought an Intel SSD drive (X25 value 40GB) hoping there would be less heat (I'm a little impatient at the moment) but it didn't change much at all.

Adding a heatsink seems to be the way to go. I'll update the post once I get my hands on one.

[fly]

hoping there would be less heat

There should be less heat, but depending on the former HDD it might not be noticable. However, while most HDD don't like temperatures above 50 or 60 degrees C, the Intel SSD can live with your temps without problem:

Power Specifications
— Active: 150 mW (TYP)
— Idle: 75 mW (TYP)

Temperature
— Operating: 0° C to 70° C
— Non-Operating: -55° C to 95° C

[chokobanana]

The heatsinks finally arrived!

I didn't have any grease to put in between the heatsink and the case though. Room temperature was about 28 degrees celcius when testing. I would say the heatsink lowers the CPU (used SpeedFan to check) temperature by about 5 degrees. Atleast with one heatsink on top of the case. I bought 2, one on top and one under, but I haven't tested adding both of them yet.

I tried to make a nice graph showing the results but I didn't turn out very well as you can see. Someone might find it handy though

[irads]

You do not need thermal grease. You will find delta-T between the heat-sink and case to be very low.

The system with SSD and CPU below 60C under load is very unlikely to exhibit any thermal related problems.