Hi All,

 

I was just reading the following thread: http://lime-technology.com/forum/index.php?topic=22608.0

 

Basically I was reading this as a result of some initially concerning temperatures of my HDD's inside my Unraid Tower. But then I paused and am a little confused as to why I am experiencing these.

 

I am in the middle of adding a new drive (and pre clearing it) and it is half way through pass 1. As I have just installed it I decided I would leave both sides of the case off just in case I had knocked a cable etc. The ambient temperature in the room is about 15'C (as I have the split system running) and 21'C outside. It has been a warm day though with tops of 30'C. Despite the aircon being on all day the box is in a room which has ultimate light - in that it is almost all windows and gets a fair bit of sun. Australia!

 

However, the temps have been low outside too for some 5 hours now. And Dark for 2 Hours.

 

Temps are:

 

Parity: None as it is off.

Disk 1: 39'C

Disk 2: 39'C

Disk 3: 39'C

Disk 4 39'C

Cache: 42'C

New Disk: 46'C

 

The box is currently doing the following: Streaming a HD movie from the array, Copying lots of files from an old box to the array via the ftp server (which is going to the cache drive of course) as well as the pre clear of the new drive via screen.

 

I wouldn't have expected these temperatures. They are all WD. The array disks, cache and parity are all WD Red 3TB and the new drive is WD Green 2TB. I checked the operating temps of the reds and the manufacturer says Op Temp up to 70'C. The Green a little lower.

 

I feel there is nice airflow in the room and like I said both sides of the Antec P193 case are off. Does anyone have any opinions!?

 

P.S. checked the CPU temp just to see what another components temp is and its only 31'C.

I originally ran 2TB Greens and when I moved to 3TB reds I noticed a 10 deg drop in temp with the reds! I am in Dubai so have the same heat constraints as you. The greens were running around 39-41 with the reds at 29-31 degs

Hmmm - really? Maybe it really is my setup then!

 

I have attached two photos. 1 of the bottom of the case with 4 disks in a cage. 1 of the top part of the cage near the motherboard.

 

Just in case this helps any comments ....

So long as you are getting airflow over the drive then it should sufficient. I popped an old 2TB green in mine next to a 3TB red, it's showing 39 deg for the green and 31 deg for the red. Both in the same slots with a 120mm fan pushing air across them

Could be something you would never do wrong.. But I did, so:

 

Check if you have mounted all your fans the right way.. I have struggled with temps before and it took me a while to realise I had my exhaust fan mounted the wrong way.. Keeping all that nice hot air in the case..

Could be something you would never do wrong.. But I did, so:

 

Check if you have mounted all your fans the right way.. I have struggled with temps before and it took me a while to realise I had my exhaust fan mounted the wrong way.. Keeping all that nice hot air in the case..

Exactly. Most gamer cabinets are set up to circulate the air inside the case to keep the video card and cpu cool, at the expense of airflow over the drives. All incoming fresh air should be forced over the drives, there should be no fans blowing into the case, or openings that will allow ambient air inside the case that isn't cooling the drives. Also, a correctly ventilated server will probably run hotter with the case open, as the exhaust fan circulation is no longer helping to pull fresh air over the drives.

 

You will probably have to reverse a fan or two, and tape up some extraneous vents in order to force all circulation to cool your drives.

I am a grade A+ moron! Probably one of the very few A+'s I've ever had too!

 

I know I built this rig 2 years ago but I can't believe I didn't look at cooling more. I've been building gaming rigs for years, anyway, I would appreciate some help as to what to do with the current fans and where I might mount more fans to cool my system down!

 

It only has two fans as indicated by the drawing. Both mounted to exhaust. They are both at the top .....

 

I would appreciate any suggestions the community might have!

 

P.S. I guess there is another fan, but it is exhaust too and it is on the PSU.

Here is what I think might help.

 

The case has space for 2 120mm optional fans behind the drive bays!! :-)

 

From the Antec Website:

 

There are three optional 120mm fan mounts – two front fans and a middle fan (at the rear of the upper HDD cage). These three fans should be installed so that the air is blowing into the case from the front.

Front Fans – The front fans are designed to enhance the HDD cooling.

 

I have attached a diagram mockup!

 

It appears to me that with these two 120mm fans blowing on the drives and the two 140mm exhaust fans this should be more than adequate airflow!?

You will notice a significant improvement in the temperature by adding the 2 x 120mm fans at the front.

What do people think of this solution:

 

First the new fans. I am thinking 2x Noctua 120mm fans. These seem to have switches for manual control as well as being able to be temperature controlled.

 

http://www.cplonline.com.au/noctua-120mm-nf-s12a-flx-1200rpm-fan.html

 

Now I see that my P8B75-M LE Motherboard only has 1 case fan connector. So I figure I can do the following:

 

There are currently 2 x 180mm Antec Tri Cool Case fans at the top (as indicated in earlier post). I currently have one into the motherboard case fan connector and one via a Y cable into one of the molex connectors from the PSU. This was not an issue as these fans I manually control (L,M,H) from a switch panel at the back of the case.

 

I figurer however I can buy one of these PWM 1-to-4 Splitter Cables

 

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=17923&cPath=1344

 

If I read right I can plug all 4 fans into that splitter as well as a molex from the PSU and then one connection into the Motherboard case fan connector.

 

This "I think" will let me control all 4 fans via the Motherboard Connector (Temperature Control) while still allowing a manual default (L,M,H) from the switches on the fans.

 

Am I on the right track here?

Hi guys,

 

I know it might seem like a no brainer but would appreciate some community validation (from those who have the time) of my plan before I start buying parts.

 

Thank you.

It's a bit hard to understand without seeing it in person but I think that sounds right. The top two fans are probably manual control and the front fans could be split onto a single header and controlled via software (if you felt the need) but to be honest for case fans, most of the time they just run at a constant speed which is fine.

 

I feel your pain with the Aus heat.. it's been a hot summer and we're barely in it yet. The office I'm in doesn't have aircon and with up to 3 PC's on at once and the afternoon sun on the window my drives are hovering around 40 as well..

The two additional fans have worked a treat. Bought two Antec TwoCool 120mm fans (What can I say, the case is an Antec p193 and the top fans are Antec TriCool 180mm - I like uniformity) and one of the 1 to 4 with molex splitters. Managed (with a bit of metal bending) to get the switches for fan control accessible when I open the front case and the dust guard too!

 

While I was in there I decided to do some cable management which I figured would only help the air flow. Also changed the SATA ports around while playing with cables - love that Unraid doesn't care about that too!!

 

The two 120mm fans blowing in over the drives and the two 180mm fans exhausting are working excellent. I've just engaged a Parity Check which has been running for half an hour so far.

 

Temps are sat at ~28'C. It's a 30'C day outside too. Thanks to those who have input and helped me out. Very Happy.