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January 11th, 2023 12:00
Aurora R11, HDD exceeding 50°C after upgrading GPU
Alienware Aurora R11
Three years ago, I bought my Aurora R11 (entry-level model) with a Toshiba A200 2TB as the only hard drive. Later, I have migrated the OS to a Samsung 860 Evo SSD and have been using the Toshiba HDD for file backups.
Recently, I snapped an Asus Dual-Fan RTX graphics card at a discounted price. It very pleasantly improved the gaming performance from dismal 10~15 FPS to impressively smooth >60 FPS. Meanwhile, my liquid-cooled CPU's peak temperature has increased from ~55°C to ~70°C. The SSDs' peak temperature has increased from ~27°C to ~50°C. These readings are still well within the manufacturer's intended temperature range.
However, the Toshiba HDD's peak temperature has been hitting the ballpark around ~48°C to ~54°C now. Unlike SSDs and CPUs, most hard disk drives are not designed to withstand an operating temperature over 50°C. The bearings may fail.
Should I be worried? Are Dell Alienware's OEM Toshiba HDDs extra-reliable that they can withstand such elevated temperature? Or should I be precautious and replace the HDD with a proper SATA SSD to prevent data loss? I can backup my backups if it's unwise to keep data in a frequently overheating HDD.
ASUS Dual NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 V2 12GB GDDR6
ASUS Dual NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 installed in an Aurora R11
(^Top right: Toshiba A200 HDD. Top middle: R11's liquid cooled CPU (Intel). Center: Asus graphics card. Bottom: Samsung 860 Evo SSDs.)
Vanadiel
6 Professor
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7K Posts
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January 11th, 2023 13:00
I would increase airflow to lower temperatures.
JOcean
9 Legend
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12.6K Posts
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January 11th, 2023 16:00
@Vanadiel is spot on. You might also consider a SATA SSD as the speed is roughly 5x that of an HDD. They are also more reliable.
ProfessorW00d
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2.4K Posts
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January 11th, 2023 17:00
You should not admit that you have a HDD spinner in 2023 . . . that is last century's technology. Go digital, my friend.
Nice work with the graphics card upgrade.
AuroraHasManyFans
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May 3rd, 2023 23:00
So I bought a Samsung SSD to have the Toshiba HDD replaced. The HDD hasn't failed, but it did become noticeably slower with the high chassis temperature, which has been alarming to me.
I used an IcyDock mounting bracket (p/n: MB290SP-B) to fit the 2.5" SSD into the 3.5" bay. The front-facing slot on the bracket has worked perfectly to fit the cables. Windows 10 insists using a wrong driver for the newly installed SSD, so I had to go to Device Manager to manually "uninstall the device" and restart. This forces the Windows to receive the proper driver from the SSD.
The R11 also boots more quickly now. =D
vicky32
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May 4th, 2023 01:00
Hello there,
It's always a good idea to be cautious when it comes to hard drive temperatures, especially since hard drives are not designed to operate at temperatures above 50°C. While it's true that hard drives can generally handle higher temperatures than SSDs and CPUs, prolonged exposure to temperatures above the recommended range can still cause damage to the drive's bearings and other components.
Given that your Toshiba HDD is now reaching temperatures in the mid-50s, it would be wise to take some precautions to ensure that your data is safe. One option would be to replace the HDD with a SATA SSD, which would not only be more reliable at higher temperatures but also provide faster read and write speeds.
Alternatively, you could consider adding additional cooling to your system to help keep the HDD temperatures down. This could be as simple as adding a few more case fans or upgrading your CPU cooler. It's also important to ensure that your system is clean and free of dust, as this can cause heat buildup and reduce cooling efficiency.
Overall, while Dell Alienware's OEM Toshiba HDDs may be reliable, it's better to err on the side of caution when it comes to data safety. By either replacing the HDD with an SSD or adding additional cooling to your system, you can help ensure that your data remains safe and your system remains stable.
mako64
2 Intern
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676 Posts
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May 4th, 2023 08:00
Wouldn't be a bad idea to clean the dust off your fans. I use silicone spray on my fans with a q-tip it really helps keeping the dust off the fan blades. And yes as said above turn up them fans when gaming. I have a game profile with my R11 fans manually offset at 49% top and 47% front.