I've had this WD Elements external HDD for a while now, and it's been running really slow lately—especially when transferring data. It feels pretty warm to the touch, and I'm starting to wonder if that's part of the issue. Is this just a sign of its age, or could it be throttling because of the heat? I even joked about putting an ice pack on it, but would that actually help? Also, how can I properly keep it cool?
1 Answer
Yeah, those SMR drives can really drag when their cache fills up, especially with lots of small files. 54 degrees is on the warmer side but shouldn't be the main issue with speed. You might want to look into getting a cooling pad or a stand to improve airflow around it instead of just sticking it on ice.
I actually tried that ice pack idea for fun—put it on for a bit and noticed a speed increase! Got the temp down to 35 degrees, and it helped with the data transfer speeds for a while. Pretty wild experiment!