Dim 4700 heat & noise
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From: EJ on 8 Mar 2005 20:48 Specs: Dell Dimension 4700 with P4 530 and 160 GB SATA disk. The noise from the disk when moving the heads is much louder than I would like. I did change the BIOS setting to quiet mode, which barely helps. To make matters worse, the disk seems to seek when idle as a "feature" to help cool the Seagate disk (reports itself as ST3160023AS). This feature means that every minute or two there's a steady 30 seconds of buzzing. This happens even when in BIOS setup mode (no OS running) so it's not a software issue. I hate to admit it, but I'm a noise freak and this is spoiling my enjoyment of the new system. According to SMART utilities, the disk runs at about 45-50c degrees, which seems very hot to me. I checked the Seagate specs, and this is within spec. I couldn't believe how hot to the touch it was when I opened the case. I can also feel the heat radiating from the lower front of the case. The fact that these P4s make so much heat isn't helping. As it is, I can't believe how much heat blows out the back of this machine. I have a hunch that if the exhaust fan ran faster, the disk might run cooler, and thus the noise would go away. But I don't know how to control the exhaust fan speed. Silence is more important to me than speed. Any advice? I would also like to know how common this is. I suspect the hardware is all within spec and sending it back would only yield another that behaves the same, and I would have lost a week of restoring everything. Thanks for any advice. EJ
From: delboy on 9 Mar 2005 00:08 "EJ" <EJEJ(a)EJ.EJ> wrote in message news:oBsXd.6068$CW2.5781(a)newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net... > Specs: Dell Dimension 4700 with P4 530 and 160 GB SATA disk. > > The noise from the disk when moving the heads is much louder than I would > like. I did change the BIOS setting to quiet mode, which barely helps. To > make matters worse, the disk seems to seek when idle as a "feature" to > help cool the Seagate disk (reports itself as ST3160023AS). This feature > means that every minute or two there's a steady 30 seconds of buzzing. > This happens even when in BIOS setup mode (no OS running) so it's not a > software issue. > > I hate to admit it, but I'm a noise freak and this is spoiling my > enjoyment of the new system. According to SMART utilities, the disk runs > at about 45-50c degrees, which seems very hot to me. I checked the > Seagate specs, and this is within spec. I couldn't believe how hot to the > touch it was when I opened the case. I can also feel the heat radiating > from the lower front of the case. > > The fact that these P4s make so much heat isn't helping. As it is, I > can't believe how much heat blows out the back of this machine. I have a > hunch that if the exhaust fan ran faster, the disk might run cooler, and > thus the noise would go away. But I don't know how to control the exhaust > fan speed. > > Silence is more important to me than speed. Any advice? > > I would also like to know how common this is. I suspect the hardware is > all within spec and sending it back would only yield another that behaves > the same, and I would have lost a week of restoring everything. > > Thanks for any advice. > > EJ Hi Ej mine is the same , but i have the WD 250 sata drive and this does the same. I thought about putting a fan on the drive, but havent got round to doings so. Just put a x600 pro grahics card in and that is louder than the cpu exhaust/ power supply fans just on normal, so i will have to find a solution to that now(video card) Dave
From: Mark Hittinger on 9 Mar 2005 00:09 EJ <EJEJ(a)EJ.EJ> writes: >I would also like to know how common this is. I suspect the hardware is >all within spec and sending it back would only yield another that >behaves the same, and I would have lost a week of restoring everything. I don't have a big noise problem but I do see a significant difference between the temperature of the PATA drives in other systems and the SATA drives. The SATA drives all seem to run 10-15 F degrees hotter. I have twenty of them so it does seem to be the typical situation. I bought an extra case fan for a few of the systems to see if it would reduce the hard drive temperature - it doesn't make as much difference as I'd hoped - so increasing the cpu fan speed is probably not going to help either. Check the hood around the CPU - if its loose it might be causing some of the noise. I also found a couple of our 4700's had a loose side case panel that was vibrating and generating a buzzing sound. When the panel is tightened up the noise was reduced. The 4700 has two drive bays in the front but you can no longer buy a dual disk 4700 from Dell's site last time I checked. My guess is they have some evidence that putting two SATA drives together like that is a bad thing to do - shake and bake! So I'm thinking I've either got to get some kind of mondo heat sink for these SATA drives or give up on them soon. Fortunately the drives have a 5 year warranty. Back up your data. To make matters worse a series of 4600's nearby run faster, cooler, and make less noise. Arg!! Later Mark Hittinger bugs(a)pu.net
From: User N on 9 Mar 2005 00:13 "EJ" <EJEJ(a)EJ.EJ> wrote in message news:oBsXd.6068$CW2.5781(a)newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net... > I hate to admit it, but I'm a noise freak and this is spoiling my > enjoyment of the new system. According to SMART utilities, the disk > runs at about 45-50c degrees, which seems very hot to me. I checked the > Seagate specs, and this is within spec. I couldn't believe how hot to > the touch it was when I opened the case. I can also feel the heat > radiating from the lower front of the case. First of all, make sure the CPU and PS fans are moving air in the right direction. Hold a small piece of paper up to the back of the case and make sure it is not sucked toward either fan. I recently checked out a 4700 (with one Maxtor 80GB SATA drive) and got higher HD temps than those (when running HD benchmarks)... http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.sys.pc-clone.dell/browse_frm/thread/d0e9bcd5ca2e80c4/7b397b784846f58e#7b397b784846f58e As I mentioned in that thread, the 4700's HD arrangement doesn't allow for good airflow over/around the drives. I rigged the setup so I could put a digital thermometer in contact with the top of the HD case, and although I was getting SMART readings slightly above the 55C limit, the top of the case readings were < 43C. A call to Maxtor seemed to confirm that the later temp remaining below 55C was the most important, but they were to get back to me wrt the point at which the SMART temp is considered too hot. So far no reply. > The fact that these P4s make so much heat isn't helping. As it is, I > can't believe how much heat blows out the back of this machine. I have > a hunch that if the exhaust fan ran faster, the disk might run cooler, > and thus the noise would go away. But I don't know how to control the > exhaust fan speed. > > Silence is more important to me than speed. Any advice? If you put the HD in the forward most slot, the top of its case would probably be cooled a little better. But if the temp sensor is on the PCB on the bottom/back of the drive, you may see no reduction in SMART temp readings. I didn't bother to experiment with that. There is just enough room in the case to rotate the HD so that it is perpendicular to the front intake vents and parallel to the incoming air. If you are adventurous, you could make a custom mounting bracket and see what that buys you.
From: S.Lewis on 9 Mar 2005 06:51
As has also been mentioned in previous threads, the Dim4700 cpu fans are setup to INTAKE air rather than exhaust the hot air out the rear of the tower (Note that the fan label is facing inward rather than outward. Generally the label side is the exhaust side on Dell's fans.) So, in effect, the fan is *pushing* cool air IN over these warm Prescott chips, and it is then exiting at the most convenient spot whereever that may be (perhaps the side cover vents over the expansion cards?). This is perhaps the 2nd or 3rd thread in this group involving concerns over HDD temps, though I've not seen any threads regarding actually failure. Stew "User N" <usern(a)invalid.invalid> wrote in message news:Z-KdnXgfpaVrGLPfRVn-sA(a)comcast.com... > > "EJ" <EJEJ(a)EJ.EJ> wrote in message > news:oBsXd.6068$CW2.5781(a)newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net... > >> I hate to admit it, but I'm a noise freak and this is spoiling my >> enjoyment of the new system. According to SMART utilities, the disk runs >> at about 45-50c degrees, which seems very hot to me. I checked the >> Seagate specs, and this is within spec. I couldn't believe how hot to >> the touch it was when I opened the case. I can also feel the heat >> radiating from the lower front of the case. > > First of all, make sure the CPU and PS fans are moving air in the right > direction. Hold a small piece of paper up to the back of the case and > make sure it is not sucked toward either fan. > > I recently checked out a 4700 (with one Maxtor 80GB SATA drive) > and got higher HD temps than those (when running HD benchmarks)... > > http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.sys.pc-clone.dell/browse_frm/thread/d0e9bcd5ca2e80c4/7b397b784846f58e#7b397b784846f58e > > As I mentioned in that thread, the 4700's HD arrangement doesn't allow > for good airflow over/around the drives. I rigged the setup so I could > put a digital thermometer in contact with the top of the HD case, and > although I was getting SMART readings slightly above the 55C limit, > the top of the case readings were < 43C. A call to Maxtor seemed > to confirm that the later temp remaining below 55C was the most > important, but they were to get back to me wrt the point at which the > SMART temp is considered too hot. So far no reply. > >> The fact that these P4s make so much heat isn't helping. As it is, I >> can't believe how much heat blows out the back of this machine. I have a >> hunch that if the exhaust fan ran faster, the disk might run cooler, and >> thus the noise would go away. But I don't know how to control the >> exhaust fan speed. >> >> Silence is more important to me than speed. Any advice? > > If you put the HD in the forward most slot, the top of its case would > probably be cooled a little better. But if the temp sensor is on the PCB > on the bottom/back of the drive, you may see no reduction in SMART > temp readings. I didn't bother to experiment with that. > > There is just enough room in the case to rotate the HD so that it is > perpendicular to the front intake vents and parallel to the incoming air. > If you are adventurous, you could make a custom mounting bracket > and see what that buys you. |