How Hot is Your Hitachi 7k320?

Question

How Hot is Your Hitachi 7k320?

I'm finding my Hitachi 7k320 easily gets up to 50ºC just copying a lot of files (folder with multiple gigabytes, for like 10 minutes continuously), with no processor activity, and then hits 55ºC and rising if I also run the processors at 100% while doing this.

Is this "normal" for a drive in the mini?

Posted on Jul 11, 2009 12:21 PM

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Answer 1

Jul 11, 2009 12:31 PM in response to GenericName123

Gee,

I don't monitor my temps with any third-party software. But the 320 GB, 7200 rpm, SATA Hitachi drive that I put in my 2009 Mini seems quieter, fan-wise, than the 7200 rpm, ATA Hitachi drive that I put in my G4 Mini.

I mean, I cloned a full 32 GB to an external, bus-powered FW800 drive, and I don't think the fan kicked up much or any, at all. The speed was about 1 GB per minute.

Peace to you,
C. Livingstone

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Answer 2

Jul 11, 2009 1:07 PM in response to Christian Livingstone

My fan didn't kick in either with the drive as high as 55ºC (which is too hot) so unfortunately the fan behavior isn't a good indicator of what the drives are doing.

I'd be very interested in your actual temperatures if you want to try:

http://www.bresink.com/osx/TemperatureMonitor.html

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Answer 3

Jul 11, 2009 1:59 PM in response to GenericName123

Sure,

I'll give it a try.

Also, you must know that there are similar free FanControl software hacks than can cause the fan to start sooner or spin faster, I think.

Peace to you,
C. Livingstone

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Answer 4

Jul 11, 2009 2:07 PM in response to Christian Livingstone

OK,

Hard drive bay 1 @ 52 C.

SMART Disk Hitachi HTS72323L9A360 @ 51 C.

Etc.

This is while websurfing in a room at about 75 F.

Peace to you,
C. Livingstone

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Answer 5

Jul 11, 2009 2:44 PM in response to Christian Livingstone

So,

I guess the answer to your question is, yes!

It seems that these temps are normal for the 2009 Mini with the Hitachi drives.

I'm guessing that temps are similar for the 2009 Minis which still have the slower, single platter stock drives, too.

So, yeah, having all those sensor temps showing at around 120 F is a little surprising, but I'm guessing that those sensor areas are the hot spots, and not an average indicator.

Since this is my second Mini that I've put a 7200 rpm Hitachi in, I'm comfortable and confident that all will be well, but I like the CPU temp in the menu bar, too.

Peace to you,
C. Livingstone

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Answer 6

Jul 11, 2009 4:05 PM in response to Christian Livingstone

Well,

I did a little checking and found this helpful thread regarding Mini fan speed controllers and safe temps:

http://www.123macmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=23434

Peace to you all,
C. Livingstone

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Answer 7

Jul 11, 2009 8:16 PM in response to Christian Livingstone

Thanks Christian. Apple's temperature regulation for the mini is in general scary. They're thinking "quiet" and "light lifestyle computing". Intel rates its P7350 processor at 90ºC — but my mini lets the processors get up to 97ºC before the fan kicks in and brings the temperature down to like 90/91º and leaves it there. Just using Apple's bundled GarageBand heavily, on a hot day, can achieve these burn-out temperatures for hours on end. All about Lobotomo if you're doing any heavy work on a mini.

If you have time could you try this experiment:

— Do this without a fan control utility on.

— Find a folder with like 20GB of whatever in it. You'll be drag-copying this to the Desktop.

— Open Terminal (in Applications/Utilities) and type:

yes > /dev/null [hit Enter key]

— Then open a second Terminal window (CMD-N) and do the same in that window. This will force both processors to run at 100%.

— Now copy your gigantic folder, and keep an eye on Temperature Monitor. Note that you have to close the popup in the Desktop menubar and re-open it to see updated temperature.

How hot does your Hitachi get before the fans start going faster? (Listen in a quiet room if you don't have a fan-measurement app.)

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Answer 8

Jul 11, 2009 9:09 PM in response to GenericName123

No,

I'm not going to obsess over hard drive temps.

Like I said, I already have about 5 years of a good experience with a G4 Mini that I put a 7200 rpm Hitachi drive into.

Peace to you all,
C. Livingstone

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Answer 9

Jul 11, 2009 10:46 PM in response to Christian Livingstone

Not very scientific there Christian : )

Is everyone getting these temperatures over 50ºC even with the stock drives?

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Answer 10

Aug 24, 2009 8:40 AM in response to GenericName123

Hey Mr. Generic Name,

Apple's temperature regulation for the mini is in general scary. They're thinking "quiet" and "light lifestyle computing".
Is everyone getting these temperatures over 50ºC even with the stock drives?

IMO, you are right on.
I started to conduct the test you suggest on a bone stock Basic Mini. I stopped the test when temps hit 80ºC and rising and Apple's default fan control config was not ramping up fan speed (at least not enough anyway).

Having found this thread & others like:
http://forums.macrumors.com/archive/index.php/t-682706.html
Decided to try FanControl. Happy I did. Works well for me on my 2009 Ed. Mac Mini both w/stock 120GB 5400rpm drive & newly installed Hitachi 7k320. With fan ramp set to 55ºC & 80ºC in FanControl my temps never break 70ºC or so (fan beginning ramp up earlier). Rather have slightly more fan noise when needed then a Mini that quietly bakes (under heavy loads) to 80ºC+ unnecessarily.

Thinking at the very least Apple could consider putting a prefpane tool w/a slider for Quietness vs Longevity & let the user decide:)

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Answer 11

Aug 24, 2009 4:15 PM in response to Christian Forster

Wow 97c !

I'm sorry but that's far to close to the 100c that Intel say is the max temp for these CPU's I would strongly advise to use a 3rd party fan control system if you want to keep your mini alive and well !!!

custom mini

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