How to keep system cool with 2 x 3.5" drives

[nycalex]

For those of you with 2 x 3.5" drives and a high end system, how do you keep the hard drives cool?

tried a few setups and my drives keep on being at 50~55 degrees, starting to get alarming.

here's current setup:


quick specs 8700k + 1080ti hybrid.

i'm trying my darnest to keep the gpu AIO as i really really do not feel like taking this apart again.

 

[MultiDoc]

SSD prices have really plummeted the last year, so unless you need huge amounts of storage, the easy so,Union is to switch to SSD I guess

 

[nycalex]

SSD prices have really plummeted the last year, so unless you need huge amounts of storage, the easy so,Union is to switch to SSD I guess

already have a 500gb nvme as well as 2tb nvme. no matter how cheap ssds are, is nowhere near what these 2 8tb drives cost me.

 

[MultiDoc]

I understand. So how about trying to cool them by adding a couple 40mm fans above them (if they fit) and maybe using thermal pads or similar to divert some of their hear towards the side panel and use it as a big passive heat sink ? I did that with my second NVMe that is on the back of my motherboard (using thermal pads so it’s in contact with the side panel when it’s closed) and it dropped it’s temps by almost 15C

 

[nycalex]

I understand. So how about trying to cool them by adding a couple 40mm fans above them (if they fit) and maybe using thermal pads or similar to divert some of their hear towards the side panel and use it as a big passive heat sink ? I did that with my second NVMe that is on the back of my motherboard (using thermal pads so it’s in contact with the side panel when it’s closed) and it dropped it’s temps by almost 15C

do you have 2 x 3.5 hdds in a ncase? just asking to see how everyone else is dealing in cooling a system with 2 3.5 drives

 

[Necere]

First thing I'd try is to flip the fans on the rad and CPU cooler so they're exhausting out the side. Leave the side dust filter off.

Second thing you could do is remove the shroud on the GPU to get more cool air up into the case.

 

[nycalex]

First thing I'd try is to flip the fans on the rad and CPU cooler so they're exhausting out the side. Leave the side dust filter off.

Second thing you could do is remove the shroud on the GPU to get more cool air up into the case.

i'll give this a try.

so far i tried flipping the bottom 2 fans as exhaust instead of intake. This seems to help a little bit with the cpu, but hard drives still hitting over 50 degrees.

 

[GuySmily]

I was able to stick a 92mm fan behind my drive (a WD EMAZ like yours). If I had a second drive I'd duplicate the setup with another drive bracket, but I don't know what to do about that gpu rad... I switched to a founders edition card for now for possible custom loop later.

 

[nycalex]

I was able to stick a 92mm fan behind my drive (a WD EMAZ like yours). If I had a second drive I'd duplicate the setup with another drive bracket, but I don't know what to do about that gpu rad... I switched to a founders edition card for now for possible custom loop later.

That is a brillant idea for single 3.5" drive!!!

i made a couple of adjustments:

unfortunatelly, i had to give up the gpu AIO. it was generating an ungodly amount of heat. It was either the cpu too hot or gpu too hot depending on the fan orientation.
So i removed GPU aio and went with a arctic accelero 3 with bottom fans as exhaust.
instead of a AIO rad in the side bracket, i have a 120mm fan exhausting.
Basically i ended up with a negative pressure system.
Only the Rear 92mm fan is intake. everything else is exhaust. this keeps my cpu and gpu under 70 at full load and maintains hard drives at well under 45 at full load.


i've ordered some 3d printed parts:

NCase M1 3.5in hard drive mounts by gordeh

I bought a Ncase M1 for running as a plex server. I wanted to fit more than the standard number of hard drives in. For this reason I designed these brackets to allow fitment of 4 x 3.5in hard drives. How it works is that 2 of the hard drives go in the bottom of the case stacked ontop of each...

www.thingiverse.com

NCASE M1 3.5" Dual HDD Bracket - TG Window by rsheldiii

If you want to have the stock tempered glass window while also still having space for 3 3.5" hard drives in your NCASE M1, I've got the print for you! Utilizing the extra C screws with rubberized insert (D) that are supposed to be used for hard drives anyways, you can sacrifice the inward-facing...

www.thingiverse.com

i'm trying to move the 3.5" drives further to the front, going to install with the 3dprinted bracket. My goal is to fit a Dark rock TF alongwith the 2 x 3.5" drives.
The noctua nh-l12S is doing a formidable job considering, but it's just not good enough to push my chip to 5.0. i have to keep it at 4.8 with 1.275v. my chip can do 5.2ghz @ 1.425v, which i think the dark rock TF can handle.