Vantec hard drive cooler chills your data

AS HARD DRIVES grow in capacity they also get faster which creates more heat. Hard drive coolers have been on the scene for a few years now but they are becoming more popular with the launch of new products from large companies such as Cooler Master and Vantec.

The Vantec Vortex Hard Drive Cooling System helps to reduce hard disk temperature to prevent read errors, reduced life cycles and loss of data. Some hard drive coolers basically screw onto the bottom of your hard disk drive which I suppose is a good cooling solution but there are better solutions available. Hard Drive Coolers such as the Cooler Master Cool Drive 3 and the Vantec Vortex HDCS are 5¼ inch devices which are positioned in a drive bay and act as a large heatsink for your hard disk drive.

In theory any heat generated by the 3½ inch hard disk is transferred to the larger aluminium surround. The heat is spread over a larger area and can be cooled more effectively. The Cool Drive 3 has a 40mm fan positioned at the front of the hard drive cooler. All Shuttle XPC owners know that 40mm fans are generally very noisy, since the fan has to spin at such a high RPM to create any decent airflow, as seen in the Shuttle PSUs. The Vantec Vortex uses a unique cooling system.

The Vortex is basically a large aluminium heatsink with a crossflow blower located at the front of the cooler. The crossflow blower is a unique design of cooling fan that is located horizontally across the device. A large grill on the front of the hard drive cooler allows the cool air to enter the case, cooling the hard drive. Since this grill is the full width of the 5¼ inch drive bay it means the crossflow blower can efficiently blow air equally across the hard drive instead of having dead spots like other hard drive cooling systems.

The Cooler Master Cool Drive 4 has a 40mm fan located to the left hand side of the 5¼ inch drive bay which means the right hand side of the hard drive isn't receiving any active cooling from the intake fan. Vantec also provides 3 filters which helps keep dirt and dust out of your computer case. These are easily replaced by pulling down the flap on the front of the device.

Installation The installation manual is very brief, but this is not always a bad thing. It has diagrams, Step by step sequences, short comments, and safety guidelines that all add to a very good manual. By following the installation manual I installed the Vantec Vortex cooler in a generous 5 minutes.

To install a hard drive into the Vantec Vortex cooler you have to use the thermal tape supplied and attach the thermal sensor to the bottom of the hard drive. The thermal sensor cable isn't very long so you have to be careful when positioning the hard drive onto the 4 rubber mounts; otherwise it is very easy to pull the sensor off the hard drive. If the sensor isn't attached to the bottom of the hard drive correctly the temperature results will be displayed incorrectly on the LCD screen. The hard drive is sat on 4 rubber mounts which help eliminate vibrations and reduce hard drive noise. With the screws provided the hard drive is then secured in place on the rubber mounts. The tray holding the hard drive is then inserted into the 5¼ inch heatsink and secured by 4 screws. The hard drive and cooling system is then ready to be installed into a 5¼ inch drive bay. The cross blower and LCD screen are powered via a molex connector. The molex cable has a passthrough cable meaning it's possible to power the hard drive and the Vantec Vortex by only 1 molex connection from your PSU.

Once the Vantec Vortex is installed into your system you can then start to tweak around with the cross blower speeds. On the front of the device is a LCD screen which indicates the drive temperature. Below the LCD screen is a button that can control the cross blower speed and temperature read out. The cross blower has 3 fan speeds; High, Low and Off. If you hold the button it will switch the temperature read out from Celsius to Fahrenheit and vice versa. The LCD screen is backlit with a bright yellow colour. This is very nice and readable at all angles but I'm sure a lot of people would have liked to see a different colour LCD.

Performance
Performance is a major problem for hard drive coolers. Do they really work or are they just a way for component manufacturers to make money? Well I've tested a few over the past few weeks and not all have performed particularly well. I must admit the Vantec Vortex is the best I have seen, simple and functional. I tested the Vantec Vortex using my 250GB Maxtor Serial ATA Hard drive. At 10 minute intervals I recorded the temperature of the hard drive. Here are my findings.

Our results were attained in a controlled environment. Your results may vary due to room temperature and different hardware.

Conclusion
I believe the Vantec Vortex is the best hard drive cooling solution on the market today. It does a great job and gives peace of mind that your hard drive isn't going to be overheating and reducing its lifetime. Vantec claim the Vortex can lower your hard drive temperature by up to 40%. To me this seems a little optimistic since I haven't received a massive change in hard drive temperature. An average 120GB hard disk is priced around £70 these days. To spend an extra £40 on a Vantec Vortex to protect a £70 disk seems a lot of money, but I'm sure the data on the hard disk and inconvenience of a hard disk failing on you is worth a lot more to you than £40.

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