Hitachi Travelstar 5K250 in HP dv4t Overheating - solutions??

I got a HP dv4t and its about 3 weeks old. Its fine, the temps (except HD) are a tad high and it gets warm, but what I'm worrying about is the HD temps.

When I just boot up the computer HwMonitor displays a temp of:
35 C

After about 4 hours of average use (messenger firefox word etc ) it creeps its way up to:
55 C MAX
(AVG 51 C)

When I was transferring some gigabyte files (movies and ISOS) to it, from a WD Passport it reached a scorching:
61 C

I know I'm slowly killing it as, when I check the tech specs for the Hitachi it says:
Ambient Temp
5C - 55C

I don't want it to die out of the blue on me... as I have very important data on it.

When I was checking out the bottom of the laptop (to see how I could reduce temps), I saw that back panel on top of the hard drive has some holes BUT then it had the black tape on the hard drive so, it was like the holes serve no purpose. And also, on removing the hard drive's back cover, I saw plastic below the HD, and to my knowledge plastic, is an insulator which keeps in heat!

Is this poor design by HP!, I see ?

BTW all of temps are recorded with the laptop on a TABLE (flat surface) not a bed.

Can I remove that black tape on top of the HD to reduce temps? O ris it put there for a reason.

What notebook cooler is compatible with the DV4t?

What other things do you guys suggest I do, to prevent the slow but imminent death of my HD?

Thanks.

 

Hi.

I think the temperature must reading is off by quite a bit, if you get 35c after just booting the notebook, it should only be slightly higher than room temperature.

Regards

John.

 

I got the antec notebook cooler for $10. It certainly lowers the temperature of the system, the keyboard, the armrest, memory, and maybe hard drive.

It doesn't lower the temperature of the CPU or GPU.

 

You can try changing the AAM value with HDTune pro. It can reduce temperature.

 

Hi.

It`s winter here in the UK, I have just got up and the temp in my room is 10c according to my digital wall thermometer.

I started my Notebook and as soon as the Desktop loaded i ran Hdtune and it said my HD temp was 10c also, So i can be reasonably certain that my hdd is giving the correct temperate readings.

If you do as i did, you should be able to tell if your hdd`s temp readings are accurate, but your notebook needs to be turned of for an hour or two, so it`s at room temprature.

Regards

John.

 

Where can I get the antec cooler for $10?
I see it on amazon and on newegg for $25 and $30

 

The Hitachi 5K320 is a very cool running drive.
I have never seen temperatures above 125F with that drive in my Lenovo T61.

I am guessing your harddrive temperatures are high because of one of two things:
1) the harddrive may be located near the cpu which is naturally conducting heat, making your harddrive un hotter,
or
2) their are processes running in the background using your harddrive, making it run hot.
To shut down background processes, go to the start menu, than go to the run command. Type in MSCONFIG, and shut off any processes, applications and services which are running in the background which you do not use.
That will free up harddrive use, making the system run cooler.

K-TRON

 

Right now as I'm typing the temp is 51C. I think it is how the laptop was designed. Poorly. Probably the hard drive is located near the CPU .

I've attached some pics showing the black tape on the bottom of my hard drive. I have a feeling it was put there to absorb the heat, so that the plastic cover covering the HD does not get scorching hot.But, I think it may be one of the things that makes the Hitachi's temps so high.
Its just a theory correct me if I'm wrong.

Is that (black tape) on all HP laptops hardrives?
Is it important?
Will it cause any harm if it is removed?

 

Tinderbox made a good point though. If your drive is 35 C at start up it's a sign that the measurements are inaccurate. Unless the ambient temperature is 35C.

And I think you should remove the black tape.

 

there is a black cover like that on my Sony laptop too.
I think it just acts as a protective cover, and it would be harmless if you remove it.
Even with the cover taped to my hard drive, my 7200rpm hdd average a temperature of 35degree Fahrenheit
So I don't really think it's the tape's problem..

 

Just so you know, it's not healty for your HDD to be around 10C (or under 30C for that matter), just because it's mechanical and have fast moving parts init. It's more harmful than a drive overheating actually.

But a drive shouldn't be 10C if the surrounding temps are 10C, as the HDD has to work to get the OS loaded (making the temps reach up a bit).
Or are you talking about an external HDD that's close to a window?

 

Hi.

It`s an internal drive , but 10c is only the start-up temperature and it rises to 30c+ within 10-15mins

The manufacturer states operating temp of 0c to 60c

Regards

John.

 

Dang, you must have some liquid nitrogen cooled laptop!

I think you mean celcius!

 

Fist of all sorry if I did not mention this earlier.. but I do live in the tropics the room temp is about 28C.

I have 3 hardrives in my desktop. When the computer just boots the temps are:

49C Seagate 320GB (This is in an internal 5.25" enclosure and has the most platters (old tech) thats why I think its that hot.)

40C Seagate 750GB

44C WD 500GB

Most of the time those temps are static.

My brother's XPS 1530 HD temp start at like 35C and don't go over 42C. So I use his laptop as the benchmark for the temps.

 

I wouldnt remove that cover
Those black plastic liners are used because plastic is non-conductive.
A lot of plastic panels of laptops have a metal liner in them, so removing that plastic sheet could cause the harddrive to short on the cover.

Since you live in the tropics, the ambient temperature is higher, so maybe it would be a good idea to buy a laptop cooler. I cant find any reason to change harddrives, so getting a cheap $20-30 cooler may be the ticket you need.

K-TRON