Mac Pro Hot Swap Drives Cooling

[heifetz77]

Hi there,
I'm considering a Mac Pro Case mod but am concerned about HD cooling and temperatures with the factory drive sleds vs a third party drive cage. I've got 4 drives so I need to use all slots.

Anyone have any temps to report?
It seems like not a lot of hot air can escape those factory trays unless there is some air being blow across them.

 

[shokka9]

Hi, I have the Mac Pro case, and am using all 4 drive bays to house 2 x 2TB HDD, and 2 x 120GB SSD.

Temps are at 30 degrees celcius.

If you look at my thread in my signature, you can see that I have an additional fan mounted on top of the procesor cage.

Hope that helps.

 

[neilhart]

When I did my Mac Pro, I added a fan on the level about the CPU tunnel. Three of the 4 drives get a little air from it; the target was to feed a little more air to the GPU. Anyway, the drives run about 25 to 30 C under normal conditions. Take a look at http://www.tonymacx86.com/case-mods/28892-neilharts-mac-pro-hack.html

neil

 

[heifetz77]

Thanks guys, really nice builds, and those fans look like a good option.

This might be a difficult follow up question... but since I am considering moving components from my Antec 1200 (great cooling ability) to a Mac Pro case, what to expect in terms of cooling for the Mac Pro have me worried. I've got a high overclock I wanna keep too.

Have you had any experience testing CPU temps with and without the Mac Pro "wind tunnel" housing?

Or can you comment on Mac Pro case cooling vs other pc cases?

 

[shokka9]

My last case was an NZXT Lexa S, it's still in use. It used Fractal fans in the case, and I have an Arctic Freezer on the CPU, which was overclocked.

However, the CPU was an old Intel P4 Cedar Mill, but it was stable at 4GHz, and as we know (or not), older CPUs run hotter than newer ones due to technological advancements.

However, the ambient temp was the same, as my Mac Pro case now sits where my old one did. The Mac Pro seems to be a lot cooler, as I think the design of Mac Pro cases encourages good cooling.

Even without the CPU Processor cage, making a Wind Tunnel, if you put a decent cooler on the CPU, and have fans installed, temps will not be a concern for you.

The Noctua that I have cooling my CPU, will always keep CPU temps down, regardless of the wind tunnel effect. So, not sure if my info helps at all.