[Gooserider]

This may be a bit off topic, though it does deal with waterblocks. I have noticed a significant lack of good info on watercooling hard drives, or hardware to do it with. I know there is some level of debate about whether it is better to cool a drive by putting a plate on the top or bottom of the drive vs. putting blocks on the sides of the drive housing. However there seems to be little doubt that cooling is needed on the new 10 and 15K RPM drives, especially when one tries to quiet their noise by putting sound insulation around them.

I have become convinced that the optimal approach to drive cooling is to put a cooling plate on either the top or the bottom of the drive, ideally both.

In evaluating the demands for cooling a drive, I found that there isn't a huge amount of heat involved, so there isn't the need for the level of intensity and perfection that a CPU demands, so it should be possible to use simpler construction methods than for a CPU waterblock.

I am perfecting a design consisting of one or two peices of 1/8" copper plate, with a cooling loop made of 3/8" OD, 1/4" ID, copper tubing soldered to it. I put a plate on both sides of the copper loop when making a cooler for two drives, or put a plate on one side only if I'm making a cooler for just one drive.(I could also use smaller tubing.)

I plan to be doing an article which I'll be posting on how I make these, and certainly wouldn't have a problem with someone making their own. However I am well aware that not everyone is either mechanically inclined or as much of a tool freak as I am; so at least some folks might prefer to buy a block rather than make their own.

I could stand to pick up some spare money making blocks, but if I was going to do very many, would want to make some fancier jig fixturing to make building them easier.

So I need to get a feel for the market - How many of you would be interested in purchasing drive blocks if I was to make them, and how much would you be willing to pay? I figure that to be worth while, I'd need to get at least $35 for the single drive type and $50 for the double drive type.

PLEASE NOTE: I AM NOT SELLING THESE AT THIS TIME, JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IF I SHOULD!

Gooserider