Vantec HDC-701A Hard Drive Cooler Review
Introduction:
Today's hardware review will be done on the Vantec HDC-701A Hard drive cooler. It attaches to the top of a hard drive, and helps to keep the drive cool. This is good for the 7200-10,000 rpms drives.
I am reviewing the black one, though they do make a blue one as well. The hardware for this review was provided by Vantec, my thanks to them.
In The Box:
The
box is relatively plain. It includes the hard drive cooler, and a small packet
of screws. Sadly, there are no instructions, so you are on your own on
installing it. It is a
simple install though, so don't worry about that. One more thing, the box that
it comes in is kind of hard to open without a good set of scissors. It would be
nice if Vantec would switch box styles, or make the box easier to open.
The Cooler:
The
cooler itself is aluminum painted black with many fins on the cooler to
assist in the cooling. Because it is all aluminum, it should pull heat right off
the hard drive and then dissipate it with the fan.
The fan itself is a translucent 70mm
fan, that spins at ~2800 rpms, and moves 22.3 cubic feet per minute. It is
almost silent compared to the other fans in my case. It would
have been nice if it had been 80mm so that it could be upgraded, but it probably
wouldn't have fit on the drive. It has a pass-through connector for power, so a
Y-adapter isn't needed.
Installation:
Installing
the cooler was very simple. All you have to do is screw it into the four screw
holes at the top of the hard drive, plug in the fan, and re-install the hard
drive.
To the best of my knowledge, all hard drives have those 4 screw-holes on the top, though I would recommend double checking before you buy this. It would really stink to get it, and not have a place to put it.
Benchmarking:
This made a *huge* difference in my hard drive temperature. Before I installed the cooler, I placed a temperature probe on the drive, and it read 105 degrees F when I was defragging. I then installed the cooler, and checked the reading again. While defragging, it maxed out at 87 degrees F. This is an incredible reduction to a temperature. I really wasn't expecting it to make that much of a difference in the temp.
Conclusion:
This is a excellent cooler, I would recommend this to anyone who wants to keep their hard drive cool. It is quiet, keeps the drive much cooler, and looks nice in the process. It also has a simple install, which is even better.
However, I will say that the cooler isn't perfect. It has only a 70mm fan, so you can't replace it with something faster or better. It also doesn't have leds, which I think would make it look a bit better. I didn't, however, deduct points for the lack of leds. :)
Still, these are just tiny, personal issues, it is a great cooler for the money.
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| Pros | Cons |
| Works great Easy Install Fan moves lots of air for the size Cheap |
70mm not 80mm fan No Instructions |