Greetings,
I need to replace a 400GB Seagate external hard drive -- it failed after about a year of
continuous operation. I should have shut it off when I wasn't using it, but I would have hoped that just at idle, it would have been able to keep itself cool enough to last! Heat is the enemy, especially of hard drives -- and newer, bigger, and faster hard drives are hotter than the older ones.
The Seagate was passively cooled: the two metal "rails" that were screwed to the sides of the drive itself, were designed to act as heatsinks, and there was a continuous set of open slots all the way around the four narrow sides of the plastic outer case. It looked to be a good design, and again, it probably would have been fine for intermittent use, and/or for a cooler drive. The 400GB 7200.8 model that was used is a unit that runs fairly warm, however; and long term exposure to even a slightly too much heat -- is not a good thing.
So, I need to replace it, and I'm thinking of putting together something, because I think it will be better -- and it should cost a lot less, as well! Here are to two enclosures I'm considering: (click on either image to link to the NewEgg page for each)
This one has a nice big (80mm) fan, which has a much better chance of remaining quiet, while moving far more air than any tiny 30-40mm fanned enclosure. And:
This one is passive, but the metal heatsink is exposed directly to air, and the surface area of the heatsink appears to be much greater than the Seagate unit.
I'm probably going to use a Samsung hard drive, which are much cooler (and quieter) than the Seagates of a similar capacity. The fanned unit is less money, but it doesn't have Firewire; just USB. The fanned unit costs less, though, and the fan will definitely keep the drive cooler! The only downside is the possibly noisy fan...
Does anybody have experience with either of these units? TIA