Want my HDD outside the case for temperature concerns - Do I need an enclosure for it?

[AUS_Doug]

Hi all.
Aside from my semi-gaming machine, I've got an eMachines el1850 which I use for my Uni work.
Not the greatest machine ever, but it is quick, doesn't use much power and is quiet.

As it is such a small case, everything is crammed in pretty tight inside and this, as you can imagine, as a pretty big flaw - stuff can get hot.

Real hot.

While the CPU stays pretty cool (never seen it go above 38 Celsius), the HDD can get a bit hotter;
I turned the computer off yesterday when it got above 45.

Instead of finding room in the case for a fan, or for a heatsink on the drive, what I'd like to do is take the drive out of the case and have it sitting where a cool breeze can get to it.

I'll have it connected via a longer SATA cable that'll run through one of the conveniently place slots in the back of the machine (designed for PCI-E stuff to poke through I assume).

(Power will be a bit trickier but I believe there are Molex extension leads available?)

What I want to know is, Is it ok to have the drive sitting out in the open like that, or do I need to have it in an enclosure to protect it?

It won't be sitting directly on a dusty bench, but rather on top of some stiff mesh supported by a wooden frame (for air flow)

Although I can see the advantage to having it in an enclosure providing I can get a SATA one that uses an external power source, it seems odd that I'd take it (the drive) out of a situation where it had little breathing room, and put it into an enclosure where it had none.

So, summing up;
Do I need to have the hdd in an enclosure if it is outside the case?
Will having it in said enclosure negate any temperature benefit that may be had by getting it out of the case?
Or are there enclosures (at a reasonably price) that allow for some decent airflow?

Thanks in advance,
AUS_Doug

 

[Skeefers]

I'd suggest using something like THIS, and enabling booting from USB drives in your BIOS.

Edit: I didn't look very hard for that, but I'm sure you can find a SATA III compatible enclosure that will transfer data over USB 3.0. If your PC only supports USB 2.0 however, the one I linked should do fine.

 

[John_VanKirk]

Hello,
The direct answer to the question about a bare HDD outside a case is that there is nothing wrong with it as long as there is airflow over the drive for cooling, and of course the risk of dropping it or knocking it off its support.
One of the advantages of it's being in the case is there is airflow pulled in from the front across the HDD before being heated by other components. And 45 degrees is about average - it's not abnormally hot. The WD carviar specs show operating temp range up to 60 degrees C. Just checked my WD caviar black 2 TB drive used just for storage and backups, and it runs 42 degrees essentially idling.

 

[AUS_Doug]

Thanks for the replies guys (and sorry mine took so long)
I've decided I'll go with sticking it in an enclosure, probably this one (or this one if the other is not available)

The reason I'm looking to go with the first one is that, once the drive is no longer in the case, I'll have a spare power connector which will allow me to chuck in a USB 3.0 card.

Cheers,
AUS_Doug