Really cool, man!

Over the last few years, modifying your PC has become an art form. With some amazing customized cases (one in the shape of the Millennium Falcon!) and the extensive use of lights and water cooling to keep them working at peak performance this trend amongst hard-core gamers has increased. To be perfectly honest, I believe that many of these people use water cooling just to make a statement rather than an actual need. The latest developments from NEC and Hitachi seem to be more of the same. The two Japanese companies have developed a technology which brings down the temperature of standard hard drives using water-cooled plating, and also reduces noise levels of the storage devices to five decibels quieter than a whisper. The new technique employs noise absorbing, heat conducting plates which surround the drive, and a low-speed radiator fan to keep air moving. The companies say that the material used for the housing is the most efficient ever for conduction of heat, and that the drives are cooled more quickly and with less power. All very well and good but, it is really needed. How have we been getting along for all these years without these wonderful developments? I am running three hard drives in my PC and have no need for any further cooling that I have noticed. Even the advent of much larger drives in the marketplace doesn’t seem to need this amount of cooling to operate correctly. But I suppose it will look good in a transparent PC case and raise your ‘coolness factor’ (pun intended).

Comments

[mykodachrome]

I agree the cooling is a bit over the top, but noise reduction sounds good (no pun intended). My computer is relatively quiet, but even so it is annoying - try turining off your PC and listen to the silence - it can be refreshing!