Western Digital Scorpio Blue 500GB 5400RPM - Heat

Hi all,

First post here and I hope you guys can offer me some advice.

I fitted the above HD into my Macbook Pro unibody a fair few months ago and it generally works great, I was even more impressed at how easy it was to install as I'm by no means a computer expert!

Anyway, the one niggle I have is that my Pro is running hotter, so much so that instead of a niggle I am a little worried.

It seems to be worse when I am running programs with the Apple OS but also using Windows XP with Fusion. The heat is a worry but the noise of the fans is just plain annoying. Prior to fitting this hard drive I never heard a peep out of the stock 250GB drive, either from the fans or the drive itself (as an aside, I can hear the new drive, but its quiet and not a problem). Likewise, it never seemed to get hot.

What confuses me is that the heat doesn't come from the area where the drive is. As you look at your laptop during normal use, the hot part is to the rear left of the base (i.e. the keyboard part).

I notice that Apple have 500GB drives available as an option on Macbook Pros now, does anyone know what make these could be? Also, does anyone have any experience with these yet?

My apologies for such a long first thread, I guess I'm basically just trying to establish whether I should be worried and if so what alternatives there are as I am even considering a smaller drive again (although I really need the space!).

Anyway, many thanks in advance for any assistance any of you can provide

 

Apple is using Hitachi 5K500.b drives.

Is your MBP heating up in both OS X and Windows?

Ps. I'll move this to the Apple forum

 

It does heat up when only uisng OS X if I'm say, recording audio which I imagine is fairly demanding on the machine. But when using XP and Fusion it heats up pretty quickly. It's pretty well behaved if I'm merely checking email and using the Internet when using OS X.

Thanks for moving the thread too, I wasn't sure whether to post there or in the Accessories section. Thanks also for the info on the drives Apple are using

 

When you installed the new drive, did you clone the contents of the old drive to the new drive, or start fresh by reinstalling the OS and apps?

 

What temperatures are you getting? You can use iStats Pro on OS X to see the HD Temp, and HWMonitor on windows to see the HD temp. Anything < 50 should be perfectly stable.

 

Hey, thanks for the replies guys.

When I installed the new drive I restored from Time Machine. Of course I had to then re-partition the HD to install Windows.

Thanks for the iStats tip, I had actually just installed it after doing some searches on site. The temperature seems to hang around 60oC with minor use (internet etc) and gets up to 70oC or just over with heavier use. However, I haven't been pushing the machine as hard as a month ago as I have just finished my 1st year at university when I was using lots of applications such as Photoshop and AutoCAD in Windows, I'm sure then it was getting hotter still.

So, should I be concerned that my MacBoook Pro regularly runs at 60oC or higher? At least I can keep an eye on temperatures now with iStat.

Thanks again for the replies.

 

Are the temps mentioned regarding the processors, or the HDD? I don't have a MacBook Pro, only a lowly Toshiba with AMD processor, many of which are known to run warm. Processor temps on my lappy usually run between 55 and 60. But I've got the same HDD as you do, and my temps are usually around 45 or less, and NEVER above 50. 60 to 70, if that's your HDD temps, sounds high to me. Isn't the top end of the heat range spec for the WD5000BEVT 60 degrees?

 

Left side by the keyboard is the battery/logic board, not the HDD, so the heat location seems a bit strange.

My HDD (the exact same as 500GB WD, just has 100 disabled) also runs quite cool except on HDD intensive activities (like PShop).

What does iSTat specifically report the HDD temps as?

 

If the 60 and 70 are temperatures are for the HD THAT IS WAY TO HIGH. You either positioned the HD in a weird way or the HD is a orange.