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    Hard drive question

    Discussion in 'Gaming (Software and Graphics Cards)' started by KGann, May 7, 2008.

  1. KGann

    KGann NBR Themesong Writer

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    Whenever I play any game, no matter if it needs a CD to run or not, my HDD light is flipping out. Sometimes while it's doing this, I see some performance hits. (TF2 will run great till the HDD light starts blinking rapidly, then it goes down to around 35FPS)

    Does anyone know why it's doing this? I can't seem to figure it out.
     
    KGann, May 7, 2008
    #1
  2. ScifiMike12

    ScifiMike12 Drinking the good stuff

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    Looks like your memory is getting low, thus causing your HDD to swap files (not good).
     
    ScifiMike12, May 7, 2008
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  3. KGann

    KGann NBR Themesong Writer

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    Yeah cause right now, it's hot, and the light is solid. It's not running slow, but it's just staying lit up. And while gaming, it gets EXTREMELY hot.

    What can I use to check my HDD temps?
     
    KGann, May 7, 2008
    #3
  4. ScifiMike12

    ScifiMike12 Drinking the good stuff

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    HDTune - benchmarking program but has a integrated thermometer.

    HWMonitor - monitors other things such as fan speeds, CPU/GPU temps, etc.

    SpeedFan

    HDDlife
     
    ScifiMike12, May 7, 2008
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  5. KGann

    KGann NBR Themesong Writer

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    Thank you SciFiMike! This is very helpful! +1 Rep!

    *Edit* Looks like it won't let me rep you today. Will as soon as possible, though.

    What is the average temperature of an HDD? Mine is sitting at 36C right now. CPU is resting around 50C.
     
    KGann, May 7, 2008
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  6. flipfire

    flipfire Moderately Boss

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    Make sure nothing in the background is using up resources

    Also if your using Vista to reduce disk thrashing you can disable drive indexing and Windows Search service
     
    flipfire, May 7, 2008
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  7. ScifiMike12

    ScifiMike12 Drinking the good stuff

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    Hey no problem. Just got back from school (yeah I know, long day).

    36C is perfectly fine at idle. You might want to run an application that thrashes your hard drive like mad (or HDTune). See what the temp rises after.

    I'm really starting to think it's either your RAM running low or the indexing service that flipfire mentioned. Try checking both.
     
    ScifiMike12, May 7, 2008
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  8. flipfire

    flipfire Moderately Boss

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    Usual operating temps for HDD is 35-55c . Yours is in good temps, which is good for longetivity

    I have a cooler on my HD mine and it idles around 33. My old hitachi drive idled at a like 50c :eek: . It will give you a warning once you HDD reaches higher than 55c or so
     
    flipfire, May 7, 2008
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  9. KGann

    KGann NBR Themesong Writer

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    On average idle, Windows says I'm using 45% of my RAM. (Outta 2gb, that's quite a bit!)

    My CPU is still riding around 50C. Indexing is already turned off, and I don't know how to turn off Windows Search. (Man I feel like an idiot)

    Thanks for all the help guys! I will try and run it all under load while monitoring temps. I have never had the system crash, even after CoD4 for hours... just seems where my right palm sits it's getting pretty hot!
     
    KGann, May 7, 2008
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  10. N00d13s

    N00d13s is too legit to quit!

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    i thought the HDD light blinks when it is reading/writing
     
    N00d13s, May 7, 2008
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  11. flipfire

    flipfire Moderately Boss

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    45% Ram usage is quite abit.

    To disable windows search (its useless anyway). Type in Msconfig on the startbar > Go to the services tab > look for Windows Search and untick it > click apply and restart
     
    flipfire, May 7, 2008
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  12. KGann

    KGann NBR Themesong Writer

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    Very cool. So, found out it's not my HDD temp. It only gets to 33C during load, but my CPU's get around 60C each! Isn't that a little too high? I have it on a cooling pad...
     
    KGann, May 7, 2008
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  13. flipfire

    flipfire Moderately Boss

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    60c on idle or load?

    idle should be around 35-45c

    full load should be 60-80c
     
    flipfire, May 8, 2008
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  14. eleron911

    eleron911 HighSpeedFreak

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    eleron911, May 8, 2008
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