Dell Latitude D600 Hard Drive Running Hot

[jeyges]

I recently replaced the 20GB, 4200 rpm Hitachi hard drive in my six year-old Dell Latitude D600 with a 160GB, 5400 rpm Western Digital Scorpio Blue drive. I noticed immediately that it was running much hotter than the old drive – to a point at which I couldn’t comfortably rest my palm on the system. I downloaded several utilities to read the SMART chip data, and they all returned temperatures (each utility returning the same value) of 120-125 degrees. I bought a cooling stand, which only brought it down to around 115. I contacted Western Digital tech support; they informed me this was not normal operating temperature, and sent me a recertified drive as a replacement. I installed it, and had the same result. I contacted them again, and the fellow with whom I was working then tried to backpedal – I hadn’t given him all of the info, I had to expect it to run hotter than a 4200 rpm drive, etc. I ended up returning the recertified drive to them and keeping the first one.

I then reinstalled my original 20GB drive, installed a couple of the utilities, and began getting temperature readings of 130-135 degrees! I knew by touch that it couldn’t be that hot; also, when the WD drives are installed, the variable speed cooling fan runs constantly at high speed, whereas when the 20GB Hitachi is installed, it rarely does. I have to conclude that the SMART chips are inherently inaccurate or that the Hitachi drive is simply better insulated (which I find hard to believe).

Has it been anyone’s experience that Western Digital drives run hotter than those of other manufacturers?

Is it possible that my Latitude simply wasn’t engineered to properly vent a 5400rpm drive? Would I be better off going back to a 4200rpm drive?

Thank you.

Dell Latitude D600
Windows XP Home
Pentium M 1.3GHz
1.25GB RAM
WD 160GB Scorpio Blue HD

 

[stefo]

can u get the hard disk smart log to us...

download this freeware and copy the log and post it here.

http://download.cnet.com/Aeo3-HD-Smart-Lite/3000-2086_4-10972189.html

we'll try to figure it out.

i don't think it is a serious problem.

 

[jeyges]

can u get the hard disk smart log to us...

download this freeware and copy the log and post it here.

http://download.cnet.com/Aeo3-HD-Smart-Lite/3000-2086_4-10972189.html

we'll try to figure it out.

i don't think it is a serious problem.

Thanks so much. Here is the log for the WD 160GB drive, which is currently installed. I can also reinstall the Hitachi 20GB drive, if you'd like to see a log for that as well.
________________________________________________________

Aeo3 HD Smart Lite (www.aeo3.com)

HD Smart Log Date-Time: 2009-Nov-23 11:27:04

CTRL-C to copy log to clipboard.

Hard drive SMART data may not be accessable via SCSI, FireWire and USB.
Some older hard drive do not have SMART data logging capability.
BIOS's Hard Drive SMART must be Enabled to access drive status.

* = Health Related Attribute. Refer to RawDec for value.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AVAILABLE DISKS (USB, 1394, IDE, SATA, SCSI or in RAID Configuration)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disk Index: 0
Model: WDC WD1600BEVE-00UYT0
Size: 149.05 GB (160039272960 Byte)
Partitions: 1
Type: Fixed hard disk media
Interface: IDE
Status: OK

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HARD DISK S.M.A.R.T. DATA
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disk Index 0
Model WDC WD1600BEVE-00UYT0
Serial WD-WXHY08956111
Heads 16
Size 149.05 GB
Partitions 1
Status OK
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No. AttrID AttrName RawDec Trshld Worst Value RawHex
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 001 * READ ERROR RATE.................... 0 51 200 200 000000000000
2 003 SPIN-UP TIME....................... 1000 21 186 200 0000000003E8
3 004 START STOP COUNT................... 261 0 100 100 000000000105
4 005 * REALLOCATED SECTOR COUNT........... 0 140 200 200 000000000000
5 007 SEEK ERROR RATE.................... 0 51 253 100 000000000000
6 009 POWER-ON HOURS..................... 1216 0 99 99 0000000004C0
7 010 * SPIN RETRY COUNT................... 0 51 100 100 000000000000
8 011 CALIBRATION RETRY COUNT............ 0 51 100 100 000000000000
9 012 POWER CYCLE COUNT.................. 131 0 100 100 000000000083
10 192 POWER OFF RETRACT CYCLE............ 27 0 200 200 00000000001B
11 193 LOAD UNLOAD CYCLE COUNT............ 27097 0 191 191 0000000069D9
12 194 TEMPERATURE........................ 53 0 90 94 000000000035
13 196 * REALLOCATION EVENT COUNT........... 0 0 200 200 000000000000
14 197 * CURRENT PENDING SECTOR COUNT....... 0 0 200 200 000000000000
15 198 * UNCORRECTABLE SECTOR COUNT......... 0 0 253 100 000000000000
16 199 ULTRADMA CRC ERROR RATE............ 0 0 200 200 000000000000
17 200 WRITE ERROR RATE................... 0 51 253 100 000000000000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------





----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IDE CONTROLLER
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Status Name/Description
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OK Intel(R) 82801DBM Ultra ATA Storage Controller - 24CA
OK Primary IDE Channel
OK Secondary IDE Channel
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCSI, SATA, DEDICATED CONTROLLER or RAID CONTROLLER
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Status Name/Description
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[stefo]

everything looks ok, except maybe the temp is a bit high.

TEMPERATURE........................ 53

WDC spec. 4 yr hdd.

Temperature (Metric)
Operating -0° C to 60° C
Non-operating -40° C to 65° C

if you could get us the log from the original hard disk and what os r u running? xp?

 

[jeyges]

if you could get us the log from the original hard disk and what os r u running? xp?

XP Home (I know, but that's what it came with). I'll reinstall the 20GB drive and get the log.

 

[jeyges]

Here is the log from the 20GB drive. I also have SpeedFan running; it's returning a temp of 129. It's been as high as 135, but I don't trust the SMART data. The 160GB drive has returned values of 125, yet I can tell by touch that it's hotter than the smaller drive. Also, when the larger drive is installed, the fan revs up to high speed constantly. With the smaller drive in, it rarely does.


Aeo3 HD Smart Lite (www.aeo3.com)

HD Smart Log Date-Time: 2009-Nov-26 18:36:28

CTRL-C to copy log to clipboard.

Hard drive SMART data may not be accessable via SCSI, FireWire and USB.
Some older hard drive do not have SMART data logging capability.
BIOS's Hard Drive SMART must be Enabled to access drive status.

* = Health Related Attribute. Refer to RawDec for value.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AVAILABLE DISKS (USB, 1394, IDE, SATA, SCSI or in RAID Configuration)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disk Index: 0
Model: IC25N020ATCS04-0
Size: 18.63 GB (20003880960 Byte)
Partitions: 1
Type: Fixed hard disk media
Interface: IDE
Status: OK

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HARD DISK S.M.A.R.T. DATA
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disk Index 0
Model IC25N020ATCS04-0
Serial CSH204DMDUWN7F
Heads 16
Size 18.63 GB
Partitions 1
Status OK
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No. AttrID AttrName RawDec Trshld Worst Value RawHex
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 001 * READ ERROR RATE.................... 0 62 100 100 000000000000
2 002 THROUGHPUT PERFORMANCE............. 6028 40 102 102 00000000178C
3 003 SPIN-UP TIME....................... 1 33 124 124 001000000001
4 004 START STOP COUNT................... 5008 0 97 97 000000001390
5 005 * REALLOCATED SECTOR COUNT........... 0 5 100 100 000000000000
6 007 SEEK ERROR RATE.................... 0 67 100 100 000000000000
7 008 SEEK TIME PERFORMANCE.............. 38 40 116 116 000000000026
8 009 POWER-ON HOURS..................... 9350 0 79 79 000000002486
9 010 * SPIN RETRY COUNT................... 0 60 100 100 000000000000
10 012 POWER CYCLE COUNT.................. 4951 0 97 97 000000001357
11 191 G-SENSE ERROR RATE................. 2 0 99 99 000000000002
12 192 POWER OFF RETRACT CYCLE............ 115 0 100 100 000000000073
13 193 LOAD UNLOAD CYCLE COUNT............ 32532 0 78 78 000000037F14
14 194 TEMPERATURE........................ 54 0 101 101 004400090036
15 196 * REALLOCATION EVENT COUNT........... 0 0 100 100 000000000000
16 197 * CURRENT PENDING SECTOR COUNT....... 0 0 100 100 000000000000
17 198 * UNCORRECTABLE SECTOR COUNT......... 0 0 100 100 000000000000
18 199 ULTRADMA CRC ERROR RATE............ 0 0 200 200 000000000000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------





----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IDE CONTROLLER
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Status Name/Description
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OK Intel(R) 82801DBM Ultra ATA Storage Controller - 24CA
OK Primary IDE Channel
OK Secondary IDE Channel
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SCSI, SATA, DEDICATED CONTROLLER or RAID CONTROLLER
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Status Name/Description
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[stefo]

sry for the delay. been away for thanks giving.

in my honest opinion, i think your Dell Laptop has heat dissipation problem that may probably be due to the fundamental design, or dust in airducts within the case. the real reason? who knows...

there was a period where some designers/engineers test the notebooks without consideration of future hardware or where the ambient temp can be higher.

Some drives do get hotter than others. even some desktop drives on the table in open air can get really hot.

I know of a method that is to cripple the performance to get cooler op-temp. - e.g. slower cpu. I hate this idea and don't subscribe to it.

There is a PCMCIA fan that may work for u. Check it out.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.15343

 

[jeyges]

Thanks, stefo, that's a thought, although I only have one PC Card slot and I was going to use it for a Wireless N adapter.

I don't think the air ducts are obstructed, but I mean to find the time this week to open it up and blow it out, just in case.

I agree; I just don't think it was designed to accommodate the heat output of a faster drive. I'll probably have to downgrade to a 4200rpm drive. (Someone suggested I get an infrared thermometer to check the difference in operating temps between the two drives, but I can't see spending thirty bucks for something I'm only going to use once.)

sry for the delay. been away for thanks giving.

in my honest opinion, i think your Dell Laptop has heat dissipation problem that may probably be due to the fundamental design, or dust in airducts within the case. the real reason? who knows...

there was a period where some designers/engineers test the notebooks without consideration of future hardware or where the ambient temp can be higher.

Some drives do get hotter than others. even some desktop drives on the table in open air can get really hot.

I know of a method that is to cripple the performance to get cooler op-temp. - e.g. slower cpu. I hate this idea and don't subscribe to it.

There is a PCMCIA fan that may work for u. Check it out.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.15343

 

[stefo]

i heard news from Cnet recently that Dell Latitude (?? i think) still has temp & BIOS problems. the problem is still going

take care & good luck.