What Is The Normal Hard Disk Temperature?

People often pay more attention to their processor (CPU) and graphic card (GPU) temperature rather than their hard disk drive (HDD) temperature, which is not the right and recommended way. This is because hard disk drive has much lower temperature threshold than CPU and GPU and the consequences of hard drive overheating can be catastrophic.

Read Also: 7 Best S.M.A.R.T. Monitoring Software Tools

An overheated HDD may cause data loss, data corruption, computer crashes, or even hard disk failure. While a malfunctioned processor or graphic card can still be replaced, hard drive failure can be more costly if there’s any important files in your storage device which are no longer recoverable.

Alright, tell me the normal HDD temperature already

The normal hard disk temperature is 25C – 45C. Having slightly higher or lower HDD temperature is still safe, but it will potentially reduce your hard drive lifespan and reliability.

Let’s discuss about the safe hard disk temperature. Safe hard disk temperature isn’t the normal or ideal hard drive temperature, it is the allowable HDD temperature range when it is operating. It varies and depends on the HDD model and manufacture year. Recent and newer hard disk models have generally wider temperature range, which is normally from 0C to 60C. Older hard disk models that are manufactured about 4 to 5 years ago normally ranges from 5C to 50C.

Will Low Hard Drive Temperature Causes Hard Disk Failure?

While 8C or maybe 10C is still within the safe temperature range, it is not a normal or optimal hard disk drive temperature. When the hard drive temperature is too low, the viscosity of fluid bearings and lubricants in a hard drive will increase, thus affecting the hard drive’s operations.

In short, you should always try to keep your hard disk temperature within the recommended range (25C – 45C), to reduce the probability of hard disk failure and maximize its lifespan.

How To Monitor Hard Disk Drive Temperature?

There are plenty of free hardware monitoring software available online, but only few of them are able to measure your hard disk temperature. CrystalDiskInfo, HWMonitor, and SpeedFan are pretty good programs to check your HDD temperature.

I would recommend you to use CrystalDiskInfo, which is extremely user-friendly and easy to use. It warns you whenever your hard disk temperature reaches the critical temperature, which is set to 50C by default.

Some other features include S.M.A.R.T information, settings to control Automatic Acoustic Management (AAM)/Advanced Power Management (APM), alert mail, etc. You probably don’t need them if you don’t know how to use them.

How To Reduce Hard Disk Drive Temperature?

For Desktop

• add or upgrade your computer case fan.
• clean the inside of your PC regularly.
• keep all cables and wires in your computer organized by strapping them together.
• place your computer case at a cooler place and well-ventilated area.
• if you have multiple hard drives on the same rack, try to maximize the space between them.
• if your PC cooling system is really bad and you don’t have the money, just leave your PC case open.
• upgrade to water cooling system.
• if the overheating issue still persists after trying all the steps mentioned above, consider buying a hard drive cooler.

For Laptop

• get a good laptop cooler if you don’t have one.
• clean the inside of your laptop regularly.
• avoid placing your laptop on soft surfaces like pillows to allow air flow.

Zalman Laptop Cooler (Image credit: Yortw)

For Both

Adjust the Advanced Power Management (APM) and Automatic Acoustic Management (AAM) of your hard drive. Check out the full tutorial here.