After my Hitachi crashed, I bought a 500 GB SATA2 Seagate hard drive.
When I first installed it, it ran quite cool, at about 30ºC (86ºF). But today's been a pretty hot day and, after flying IL-2 1946 for a while these are the temperature readings:
CPU: 60ºC (140ºF)
GPU: 65ºC (150ºF)
Hard Drive: 37ºC (98ºF)
Motherboard: 44ºC (110ºF) (I don't know if this reading is an average of the temperature inside the case or close to a MB component, like the South Bridge or something like it)
As you can see, everything is heating up.
I keep the CPU's safe temperature below 65ºC. Between 65º and 75º I try to put less stress on it so it cools down. If it goes above 75º I shut down the computer inmediately. The meltdown point is somewhere between 85º and 90º (the CPU core itself may not be damaged, but the board will).
I've read somewhere that the GPU can withstand temperatures up to 110ºC, but I prefer to keep it below 80º, since it would heat up everything else inside the case.
The hard drive is what worries me most. They're very sensitive to high temperatures, and about five summers ago I lost two hard drives during a heat wave. The drive's datasheet says that it can withstand temperatures up to 70ºC, but again I use a safe temperature limit below 55ºC.
My case is well ventilated, but the fans will do little work if the air outside the case is already hot...
