New HD installation problem—original C drive is too close to the new HD!

Hi all,

I just bought a new 80-G Seagate HD and I’m trying to install it onto my computer. However, when I put the HD next to my original C drive, I see that they’re positioned exactly next to each other.

So I worry that if the new HD is installed and when I run the computer, would the temperature rise and the 2 drives both become too hot and cause damage to each other? Could this be a problem? Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks beforehand.

 

Hi,
If you can place them so there is space between them, that is ideal to allow air-flow, which is what you are saying. If you can only situate them side by side that will reduce the air circulation and reduce the cooling effect, but if that is the only place you can put them, that is where they will have to go (unless you want to put the new drive in an external case and run it through USB connection).

The new Seagate will have a temperature monitor built in. Your old drive probably has one too. You can check the drives' temperature from the SMART readout. Everest in my signature has a SMART readout.

I would probably not be very concerned unless the temperatures got to around 50*C.

Check the computer's case for places to add additional case fans. Add one if you are concerned.

With an extra drive and more fans, check the power consumption against the rating of the Power Supply Unit (PSU) here:
http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/
and note that they are for peak power consumption.

If you are not using software that depends on a lot harddrive access, you should not have much to worry about.

Matt

 

Thank you, Matt. But what is "USB connection" and how can I run the hard drive through it? Do I have to buy the "external case" or it came with the computer? Where can I find it?

 

Another possibility. If you have a 5.25" drive bay spare, you could get a 3.5" to 5.25" drive bay adapter. They only cost a few dollars.

External drive enclosures:
http://au.search.anzwers.yahoo.com/...d+drive+enclosure&search.x=28&search.y=12&y=y
You should easily find them at specialised computer retail stores.
You would need to be running Win XP and I would say that it would not run as fast as being connected as an IDE connection (also assuming your system is USB 2.0, USB 1 would be very slow).
A USB drive would be most suited to data storage or backups.

If the new drive is a lot larger than the old, you can use the Seagate utilities to copy everything from the old ( C: ) drive to new one, then format the old drive and use that for data storage and backups in the USB enclosure.

I have not had an external USB drive before. There are people on this forum that do run them, I hope they can help you further (or correct my errors )

Matt