Tom's Guide > Forum > Overclocking > Cooler and Heatsinks > Hard Drive Waterblock help

Hard Drive Waterblock help

Forum Overclocking : Cooler and Heatsinks - Hard Drive Waterblock help

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I'm in the market for a hard drive water cooler. The ambiant temperature is 96*F (35.5*C) and the HD is too hot to touch.

That's bad, partly because it's not good for the HD's electronics, but also it's a big sizzling mass of heat inside the case. I'd rather have that heat dissipated out the radiators outside the case.

So my question is: Any recommendations for a waterblock? I see that Innovatek and Koolance make them, but they differ in design, sould I get the flat kind that fits on the top/bottom or the kind that fits on the sides.

I've determined that the entire drive is pretty much evenly heated. Althogh the sides feel hotter because there's just more metal there to hold heat.

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could you post links to the two coolers?

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Reply to LtBlue14

Ok, here's the <A HREF="http://www.highspeedpc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=HSPC&Product_Code=InnovaHDD&Category_Code=Blocks" target="_new">Innovatek model</A> and the <A HREF="http://www.inflowdirect.com/koolhardrivw.html" target="_new">Koolance Model</A>.

Reply to LCARS

I would say the Koolance one as it can cool more space.

I love my Delta 60HP 7000 RPM fan that puts out more dB then CFM :eek:

Reply to svol

I like the Koolance as well, even though it doesn't say how big the fittings are, hopefully they're 10mm instead of 8mm. Even if they're 8mm, so are the ones on the Innovatek. Plus you can keep the drives in their current bays, which if you have a midtower like me, is a good thing (only 4 5.25" bays, and some of them are taken up by the heatercore). Plus, yeah, more surface area.

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Reply to LtBlue14

Hmmm... I just realized something... My hard drive has 4 platters spinning at 7,200RPM. I bet that causes a substantial airflow inside the casing- because it's exactly like a Tesla bladeless turbine.

My theory is the platters naturally pump heat out to the sides of the drive... I'm not sure. I'm gonna borrow my friend's laser thermometer to see if the sides feel hotter becuase they're a thicker mass of aluminum, or if the sides actually ARE hotter because the platters circulate hot air along the sides.

I like this. It's starting to get all science-y. :smile:

Reply to LCARS

you should actually check out Zalmann's new hard drive passive heatsink... i've read some reviews on it and it test out pretty damn well.. just don't ask for a link, i'm lazy :wink:

<b>don't hold strong opinions about things you don't understand</b>

Reply to error_911

That's a neat cooler, I really like the fact that they have <A HREF="http://www.zalman.co.kr/english/product/zm2hc1.htm" target="_new">Flash installation instructions.</A>

Reply to LCARS

i know, i'm actually going to try to make myself one with some watercooling

<b>don't hold strong opinions about things you don't understand</b>

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Reply to error_911

I got the Innovatek waterblock. It came with candy. I Smile.

Reply to LCARS

what size are the fittings, and is there the ability to drill them out so i could use 1/2" ID tubing ?

<b>don't hold strong opinions about things you don't understand</b>

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Reply to error_911

The fittings that came with it are 8mm (approx. 5/16th). You could easily screw on a larger diameter fitting with 1/4" pipe thread.

But the center acrylic tube is 8mm (5/16" ) inner diameter. So any modifications to that are impossible unless you have a CNC machine.

But the thing works really well stock. The entire HD only gets luke warm now.

Reply to LCARS

hmmm, thats too much of a waterflow restriction for my liking... i think i'm going to end-up making my own somehow... probably grab some copper bars and go to my uncle's and use his drill press and a new bit, then i can just screw in an acrylic top to the sidings and it should be ohk... maybe if i can make a U shaped waterblock around the HD then i don't even need to worry about connecting the sides to each other (and restricting flow even more/ taking up space).. hmmm definitely a thought. But first, need to get rid of my TT Crystal Orb for a GPU waterblock, its the loudest thing in there now lol

<b>don't hold strong opinions about things you don't understand</b>

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Reply to error_911

IIRC, You need a special drill bit for drilling through a soft metal like copper.

What I'd do is fab the two bars for the sides, then install two pipe fittings at the end so you can connect the two bars with a simple piece of vinyl tubing.

That saves you the trouble of soldering or mounting screws and gaskets.

Reply to LCARS

you just need to go slow. little lubrication doesnt hurt either

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Reply to jihiggs

true.. i might just hit a metal shop and see what they can do for me on the cheap, otherwise my uncle has a drill press and i can do it there

<b>don't hold strong opinions about things you don't understand</b>

...<i><b><A HREF="http://home.graffiti.net/error_911:graffiti.net/specs.html" target="_new">system specs</A></b></i>

Reply to error_911
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