Hard Drive Cooler w/2 Fans & 4-Pin Connector (Black) - Attach to a 3.5" Hard Disk Drive!

Comments about VIO Hard Drive Cooler w/2 Fans & 4-Pin Connector (Black) - Attach to a 3.5'' Hard Disk Drive!:

-Use is personal and business.
-Loud as a con is the only performance con and has only occured once.
-The mounting issue is common for any fan assembly of this type, and was not a concern in any of my real world use scenerios.

With multiple units purchased and many in use on regular basis - I have found one time, one of the two fans was slightly higher in vibrational noise then most, but various unrecomended fixes have worked.

(Tapping the case, pressing on the fan and turning it so the bearings are forced to spin past any incongruancies, dust or sand etc, stopped the noise on a semi-permanent basis. Sometimes the vibrational noise on that one fan of the two in that one assembly that has done it before, begins again. I just rinse and repeat the above - ie the fix that works for almost any loud and cheap electrical motor - and its gone again, usually for a few months)

None of the fans have ever actually 'Failed'. (@2 years of 'always on' for the oldest fans so far)

The draw on the power supply is so minimal (1 w) that a harddrive easily puts more work on the power supply then these two little fans do, in fact even with 3-4 of these on the same supply, there has not been any noticable draw on 250w-1600w power supplies. (Ie, none of the other internal fans in the case nor external fans on the same power strip nor lights on same breakers have ever slowed or dimmed noticably from this fan assembly powering on; even though a single additional hard drive powering up on the same circuit will cause a noticable however slight fluxuation.)

The normal magnetic flux associated with any electric motor has not affected the drive or surrounding chips, and has not caused any noticable line feedback even when on the same power line as the drive.

The vibration from the 2 fans mounted on the drive (even the loud one) has also never caused a single data error. I have yet to find any delay in read/write/seek times due to additional vibration on the drive either. I have tested the write/read/seek timing with fans (vibration) on and off, for days at a time. And, since installation, none of the drives that had these fans mounted on them have had a single error or any noticable delay in read/write/seek times(which is odd in itself as general computing experiences go).

And finally, the drives that failed on a normal basis without these fans, have not failed even one time since the installation even when the ambiant temp has gone over 80 F.

These fans have been put on many of mine and clients drives. They operate in above normal temperature environments (70F-90F). And most the drives they were placed on have previously failed on a normal basis when the room temp got over 68 F (due to the board/chip area being substantially higher in temp than the rest of the drive both when first starting up and when the ambiant temp went over this mark). None of the drives have failed nor have seek/write/read times delayed from heat issues since the fans were put on them in these environments.

The mounting issue is standard for any hard drive cooling system that mounts on the drive. - These types of assemblies add an additional 2-3 millimeters or so to the drives height right where it needs to mount or slide into a bay. So, close quartered drive alignment tabs in some bays might need to be shimmied and forced slightly, but so far they have all fit, with the fans mounted, on everything I have used. Additional space below the drive for the assembly itself (1/2 in,12-13mm or so) is still required (and is actually slimmer then expected), but I still always leave every other drive bay empty to allow space for the cooling assembly.

Unmounted/externally uncovered drives sitting on a surface with this assembly do not have a fan spin issue either. The fans themselves are NOT flush with the outside of the mounting assembly and spin freely even with the drive's weight resting on the assembly on top of a flat surface (which is very desirable in many situations).

The above issues were very important in my decision on which cooling system to use and which product I purchased. And, there is almost never a way to know when you purchase something this low in price how valuable the product will actually be. Especially when factoring in concerns such as: drive spindel vibration algorythms, line feedback, power supply draw and mechanical mounting; unless you purchase the product and test the performance in real world scenarios across different environments. So ... having done the testing and research on this item myself more then most probably ever will ... I thought, 'Maybe a lengthy detailed review will help some buyers make a more confident decision then I could without this added information, especially concerning purchase quantity'.

Comments about VIO Hard Drive Cooler w/2 Fans & 4-Pin Connector (Black) - Attach to a 3.5'' Hard Disk Drive!:

I purchased four of these fans. All perform exactly as hoped for. I had hard drives that ran good while cool, at start-up, but would click repeatedly and quit a short time afterward. These fans kick tail! My tempermental hard drives have not failed once since attaching a fan to the underside of the drives. I am VERY satisfied. And they run quiet! I've even been able to reinstall the CPU sides and still do not have anymore overheat problems. The chassis fans I have inside weren't sufficient to disipate the heat build up, but all is well now! I'm going to purchase a few more of these fans to keep around as spares. Heck, at this price, you can't go wrong! Other vendors sell similar fans for three times this price, or more, and they don't work any better. Been there, done that. These fans ROCK!