NEC and Hitachi roll out water-cooled hard drives

Modders, you'd better watch your backs, because NEC and Hitachi are creeping up from the backside with some funky-fresh new hard drive cooling technology that will make you feel embarrassed and / or insignificant. The two Japanese powerhouses have developed a technology which knocks down the temperature of standard hard drives using a 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. PCs will soon be made available with the drives (at least in Japan) for around ¥20,000 more than standard models -- no word on when or if this technology is coming Stateside. [Warning: Read link requires subscription]

[Via Ars Technica]

[Mile @ Aug 6th 2007 12:34PM]

Can you just replace the HD itself if it fails or if you want to upgrade?

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Aug 6th 2007 1:21PM]

Water Cooled HDD: Totally Unnecessary.

[LS @ Aug 6th 2007 12:43PM]

How much is that in real money?

And when is the laptop version coming out ;-) (but seriously this damn alienware "laptop" keeps my entire office warm all by itself)

[Glazun @ Aug 6th 2007 12:54PM]

My NEC laptop does that too.. and its probably no where near the spec of your alienware..

[blake @ Aug 7th 2007 7:38AM]

Google "¥20,000 in usd"

[injate @ Aug 6th 2007 1:17PM]

20 000 Japanese yen = 168.04 U.S. dollars

[HineyWipe @ Aug 6th 2007 1:06PM]

Does it come with House-breaking Wee Wee Pads? You know, incase it, um, leaks? (Like the Dual G5 and the absorbent pad above the powersupply)

[AlexP @ Aug 6th 2007 1:28PM]

Google's server 'survey' has proven that overcooled hard drives are more prone to breaking.

In other words: don't buy it.

[Revrant2394 @ Aug 6th 2007 3:56PM]

Exactly what I was thinking, http://labs.google.com/papers/disk_failures.pdf which is right there, so no one in their right mind should buy these.

[humpty @ Aug 6th 2007 1:40PM]

Cant wait for those SSDs immersed in cooling oil.

[Juaquin @ Aug 6th 2007 2:17PM]

Totally unnecessary. First RAM water cooling, then PSU water cooling, and now this? Come on. What next, a water cooled USB port?

[Mile @ Aug 6th 2007 2:28PM]

Actually, I would like my mouse to be water cooled before the USB ports are water cooled. That laser light gets darn hot!

[michas_pi @ Aug 6th 2007 3:19PM]

...aaand what's wrong with fan-cooled hard drives?

[Steven @ Aug 6th 2007 5:44PM]

now if only we can find out a way to overclock hard drives... quick! somebody make an RPM hack!

[michas_pi @ Aug 6th 2007 8:04PM]

Needs more jiggawatts!

[blake @ Aug 6th 2007 7:58PM]

google "¥20,000 in usd"