Hello... This is my first post.
I've been reading The Tech Report for a while but decided to make an account
So I have a question because people here seem very knowledgeable, I recently built an HTPC using a Silverstone ML05B, but the location of the 3.5" drive puts it directly over the CPU cooler. After my build, I set Prime95 going to see how hot the machine would get (since it's going in a telly cabinet downstairs) and the CPU (Pentium G3440) was happy in the high seventies, which is OK for me, since its intended users won't put that much load on it. However, I was concerned by the HDD temperature which seems to be getting the warm air from the CPU. It is a Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB, and reported temperatures up to 51C, but mainly around 48-50C during operation.
I know WD specify up to 60C, but I have heard that HDD failure rates are higher beyond 45C. So here is my question, is 51C an OK temperature for an HDD for 24/7? Can I expect to get 3+ years of this drive at these temperatures?
Thanks!
Wren