Hardware External-powered vs USB-powered HDD

[Raiser]

Hey guys,

This is regarding a USB HDD plugged into a softmodded Wii.

1) Are there many case heating issues with USB HDDs? Reason I ask is that when my external-powered HDD is being used for too long, the case gets pretty damn hot.

2) Do USB HDDs have some sort of standby mechanism? For example, my external-powered HDD will just go into a standby-type mode when it's on and I'm not doing anything on it, cooling it down.

3) To Wii + USB HDD users: Do you all unplug & replug your USB HDDs in when you're switching between using / not using your Wii?

Thanks in advance!

 

[DKAngel]

my usb caddy just stays plugged into the wii its allso externaly powered, but ive got one of those top loading slide your sata drive into type caddy so i can just unplug the hdd easy and it doesnt need cooling as its not enclosed

 

[Raiser]

Ahh, mine's just big and clunky as it's an actual HDD in a 3.5" enclosure.

That's why I was thinking that a USB-powered one would be easier to deal with as it only has one cable (USB) and tend to be a little smaller than what I have above, for portability.

 

[dilav]

Ahh, mine's just big and clunky as it's an actual HDD in a 3.5" enclosure.

That's why I was thinking that a USB-powered one would be easier to deal with as it only has one cable (USB) and tend to be a little smaller than what I have above, for portability.

Little smaller? lol, there a lot smaller and lighter. The Laptop ones don't heat up as much as the desktop ones do. Not sure why, maybe because it uses less electricity and most laptop drives are 5,400 RPM.

1) If your 3.5" drive runs really hot, you may want to get a enclosure with a fan. Hard drives tend to last longer when there are property cooled but not freezing cold.

2) Not sure about this one but some external HDD does have a standby mechanism if it requires windows or not i donno.

3) USB powered HDD turns off when the Wii is turned off (not the orange standby) I usually keep it plugged in even if I'm not using the HDD games. As for 3.5" drives, if the drives spin I would turn them off. Normally I unplug/turn it off when i turn off the wii.

 

[Raiser]

Ahh, mine's just big and clunky as it's an actual HDD in a 3.5" enclosure.

That's why I was thinking that a USB-powered one would be easier to deal with as it only has one cable (USB) and tend to be a little smaller than what I have above, for portability.

Little smaller? lol, there a lot smaller and lighter. The Laptop ones don't heat up as much as the desktop ones do. Not sure why, maybe because it uses less electricity and most laptop drives are 5,400 RPM.

1) If your 3.5" drive runs really hot, you may want to get a enclosure with a fan. Hard drives tend to last longer when there are property cooled but not freezing cold.

2) Not sure about this one but some external HDD does have a standby mechanism if it requires windows or not i donno.

3) USB powered HDD turns off when the Wii is turned off (not the orange standby) I usually keep it plugged in even if I'm not using the HDD games. As for 3.5" drives, if the drives spin I would turn them off. Normally I unplug/turn it off when i turn off the wii.

Sorry my bad. xD

1- I actually do want a smaller & lighter one. This one is, as I said quite big and pretty heavy.

2- As long as the HDD doesn't get boiling hot, the standby mechanism isn't really needed if it stays at a suitable temperature by itself.

3- That's right! My bad lmao, I'm so used to my external-powered one.

Gah, I just need the money to get one now. -.-
Thanks for the responses guys! If anyone else wants to share their experience with their HDDs too, feel free.

 

[Fudge]

I have a 500GB desktop one. It's external powered and does get rather hot after awhile.

 

[Raiser]

I have a 500GB desktop one. It's external powered and does get rather hot after awhile.

I don't understand why they get so hot compared to USB-powered ones..

 

[toejam316]

I have a 500GB desktop one. It's external powered and does get rather hot after awhile.

I don't understand why they get so hot compared to USB-powered ones..

To put it simply, usb powered drives have less energy usage, which reduces the heat.

 

[Raiser]

I have a 500GB desktop one. It's external powered and does get rather hot after awhile.

I don't understand why they get so hot compared to USB-powered ones..

To put it simply, usb powered drives have less energy usage, which reduces the heat.

Why do externally-powered drives require so much power?

EDIT: So much that it produces mucho heat compared to USB-powered-

 

[harveychan]

i have a 1.5 tb seagate that gets so hot after about 2 hrs pluged in it could light a match. so i only use it to store all my games .I use my 320 seagate for the games i play regulerly.truth is if i known it got so hot i would have bought like 10 320 even if it cost more..plus the dual powered hdd's are slower and sometimes need to be restarted to be read by my loader.

 

[dilav]

Why do externally-powered drives require so much power?

EDIT: So much that it produces mucho heat compared to USB-powered-

Like I said I'm guessing, normally Laptop ones are smaller, so smaller/lighter/less platters (metal disk). Requiring a smaller motor spinning lighter "disks" and normally at 5,400RPM compared to 7,200 RPM.

Another thing is I don't like Seagate hard drives... they got long warranties and quite cheap, but my 1TB crashed after 4 months of light use on my computer (I ran it through a lot of test and stress tests before using too), with the Antec 500 case, so yes it's property cooled. WD is reliable though and I got 2 of their 3.5" 2TB WD Green those run warmish hot without fans.

 

[luckwii]

I am using a 1.5TB Western Digital Elements HDD. It gets warm, but never hot.

 

[George Dawes]

I use a 3.5" hd in an external enclosure. It gets warm, but not that hot. I leave it plugged in to the wii when it is in use, it turns off when I turn the wii off. 2.5" drives are nice and small, but they are also small in storage space - not an issue if you use it exclusively for wii, but not really suitable for me.

 

[timebandit]

I use a docking station for my sata disk. The disk gets pretty warm and I didn't like that at all.
Luckily I have my computers next to the Wii so I'm using an extension cable for +12V fans and mounted a 8cm fanon the docking station. Now the disk and cool all the time.
The fan I can turn on and off with the fan controller on the PC.