Hard Drive Cooling - Without The Noise, Pictures included Options

[FLuKE11]

I started noticing lately that my Hard drive had been making some weird noises and acting weird as well. By that I mean it would make the same sound it makes when it first starts up... like a clicking on kinda thing. Then my games or whatever I had running would lock up. It's a brand new drive so I figured it's just overheating. 7200rpm and all.

So! I wanted to cool it down a little, but I really didn't want to add another fan, making my xbox even louder than it already is (I like it ultra silent).

The hard drive tray seems a little shitty in terms of design... it basically traps all the heat right right between the hard drive and the tray itself. So I decided to let that heat out, so it could get sucked out by the fan.

I don't have access to a dremel so I used my drill.

Here's the standard hard drive tray with the hard drive in it:




And my drill ready to go:


All the holes drilled:


And the end result, holes drilled + hard drive in. Now the heat can escape.



The end result was a 5C drop in temperature (from a 40C average to 35C) of my hard drive. I haven't had the original problem since.. so hopefully this did the job. It doesn't look to pretty but hey, no one will ever see it anyway.

Happy modding

[redbird]

good job man!

[deviation56]

why not just get rid of the whole bottom of the tray?

[FLuKE11]

QUOTE (deviation56 @ Jan 16 2004, 02:33 AM)

why not just get rid of the whole bottom of the tray?

Like I said all I have is a drill

I really want a dremel - when I get one I'll do somethin like that. For now this will have to do.

[deviation56]

QUOTE (FLuKE11 @ Jan 16 2004, 02:34 AM)

QUOTE (deviation56 @ Jan 16 2004, 02:33 AM) why not just get rid of the whole bottom of the tray? Like I said all I have is a drill I really want a dremel - when I get one I'll do somethin like that. For now this will have to do.

oh i didnt see that, ima drill out the whole bottom but leave some left so it has support besides the screws

[FLuKE11]

QUOTE (deviation56 @ Jan 16 2004, 02:37 AM)

QUOTE (FLuKE11 @ Jan 16 2004, 02:34 AM) QUOTE (deviation56 @ Jan 16 2004, 02:33 AM) why not just get rid of the whole bottom of the tray? Like I said all I have is a drill I really want a dremel - when I get one I'll do somethin like that. For now this will have to do. oh i didnt see that, ima drill out the whole bottom but leave some left so it has support besides the screws

Yea that's what I wanna do eventually. Post pics when you do

[deviation56]

QUOTE (FLuKE11 @ Jan 16 2004, 02:40 AM)

QUOTE (deviation56 @ Jan 16 2004, 02:37 AM) QUOTE (FLuKE11 @ Jan 16 2004, 02:34 AM) QUOTE (deviation56 @ Jan 16 2004, 02:33 AM) why not just get rid of the whole bottom of the tray? Like I said all I have is a drill I really want a dremel - when I get one I'll do somethin like that. For now this will have to do. oh i didnt see that, ima drill out the whole bottom but leave some left so it has support besides the screws Yea that's what I wanna do eventually. Post pics when you do

hrmm but wouldnt that be a little dangerous having the hd exposed since its so close to the PSU? cause the big heatsink is pretty far away from the psu and i still get massive shocks whenever i touch it

[Andy Holloway]

another idea that works well for me is to cut the back of the tray off, around where it has the "disconnect power" sticker, so the fan can suck air directly from the HDD, it also allows the fan to work with more ease (and in turn quieter) as the tray sits so close originally that the fan can not work as well as it could

[th3gh05t]

I will defintely be doing this...

[Towelie13]

i removed alot (dremel) of the bottom and where the fan fits so it could suck as much as it could and with a 12v fan mod (original fan not 80mm) my hd went from 38C-40C to now 22-24C
it helps alot...imo...

[_terror_]

Simple... Easy... Effective... I'm doing it as soon as I get my HDD prob sorted out (check the messed up hd topic)

[XP_GAMER]

nice job making a mess of this room mister...
there will be no more modding of the xbox
until you pick up your room!!!

I just got the cordless 7700 pro dremel
for $50.00, worked great... It came with 50 piece set
you can get it at home depot

[havocaose]

maybe you should just cut the front of the dvd tray off.. the reason i say this is when you do the 80mm fan mod the air also blow up to the harddrive becuase the fan is taller, if you leave the botton it will keep the air up there and it will pass along the whole harddrive and exit at the front of the case. Also remember heat rises.. the heat from the mobo and psu are just going to rise up into the harddrive..

fan~~~~====harddrive=====~~>hot air
fan~~~~====harddrive=====~~>hot air
fan ~~~ /----[hdd tray]--------------
fan ~~~ psu heatsink
fan ~~~ psu heatink

wow that was some wasted time

[FLuKE11]

QUOTE (deviation56 @ Jan 16 2004, 02:42 AM)

hrmm but wouldnt that be a little dangerous having the hd exposed since its so close to the PSU? cause the big heatsink is pretty far away from the psu and i still get massive shocks whenever i touch it

Nah.. it's still got enough clearance. The only problem would be if the two thigns came into contact with eachother, which will probably never happen anyway. I don't see how it could...

[iz3r]

well shit, i just baught a 12vfan for the hdd 40mm micro...shit!! well wut ima do is cut out everything on the bottom cept hte last 2 squairs...so will my fan now be useless?