Cooler Master CoolDrive 4

Author's product rating:   

Reliability	Excellent
Performance	Good
Compatibility	Diverse
Ease of Installation	Very Easy
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Looks really nice, cools the hard drive by few degrees, easy to use
Disadvantages:	None really

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

In the world of pc modding and enthusiasts, there is a lot of choice and variety out there for people wishing to have the most powerful, stylish and unique computers. The market seems bigger then ever for PC modifications and such, with the gaining popularity of overclocking* (adjusting the processor* chip for example, so that it runs faster then recommended) meaning there is an increase in demand for better fans and cooling-accessories.

The Cool Drive 4 is an enclosure for hard-drives, with a fan fitted inside it to keep cool the drive, and to reduce noise vibrations which the hard-drive would usually emit. It also has a feature of being able to monitor various over system temperatures, the processor*, graphics card*, PC case, and of course the hard drive. It does this thanks to 4 temperature probes, which you can place around the PC as you wish.
The Cool Drive claims to offer an airflow of 9.21CFM, which isn't great but it is only a small fan which is being used to cool the hard-drive. Upon putting my hand up to the grill protecting the fan it's really hard to feel the air being drawn in, such is the power of the fan. Yet it does still manage to reduce the hard-drive temperature, which is what it's meant to be doing anyway. It also claims to be no louder then 29dBA, which is hard to judge, but it is really really quiet in operation so it's probably about right.

This particular model - the Cool Drive 4, produced by well known manufacturers Cooler Master, is a combination of two previous models which they had released. One had the ability to store a hard drive and cool it down, with the small internal fan provided - the CoolDrive. The other - Aerogate II was a panel designed to fit into the front of any CD drive, with an interface on the front which allowed the PC's most important components temperatures to be monitored. The Aerogate II looks very similar to the Cool Drive 4, and uses the same theme used throughout.
I actually purchased mine for about £50 around a year ago, from an online shop which specialises in overclocking. Though it is available in most computer shops, there are newer models that are currently available. Having a quick look, I managed to find this same drive going at about £40 on EBay, with the buy it now option. I feel this is an excellent price, especially considering what you get - a drive which cools the hard drive, monitors other components temperatures, sounds a warning alarm when things get too hot, and comes equipped with probes and screws and excellent instructions.

The Cool Drive 4 is a really sexy-looking piece of kit, being made out of aluminium and with a smart blue LCD screen reading out the temperatures and other settings. The screen is about 2 inches wide by an inch high, and is well lit up. The screen reads the temperature or the component selected (by using the appropriate buttons) and the current RPM of the hard drive.

There are 7 buttons located on the Cool Drive's main panel - Colour, HDD, Case, C/F, CPU*, VGA*, and an unmarked round button in the center of these.
The colour button allows a choice of one of 8 colours to be used on the round light which surrounds the buttons. See the picture at the bottom of the article for more detail.
When pressed the HDD button allows the hard drive to be selected for temperature monitoring purposes, if it isn't already selected. This is the same for the Case, CPU* and VGA buttons. The C/F button allows the temperate to be shown in degrees C or Fahrenheit which is a nice touch.
The large round button situated in the middle of all the other buttons is used to switch off the alarm - which comes on when the CPU* temperature raises to a certain amount - say about 80 degrees. This is an excellent feature because many people choose to overclock* their CPU's*, and if they aren't adequately cooled they will overheat. If they overheat they are likely to become damaged, thus lowering their life-expectancy. However if over-clocked* too much and not cooled enough, the CPU* may become cooked, thus meaning it will need replacing - and this isn't cheap. Therefore this is a really handy feature that the Cool Drive 4 incorporates, and could save you a lot of money and hassle. One of the annoying things about this though is that I haven't actually bothered attaching a probe to the CPU*, and so every time I switch my PC on, the alarm goes off. Though there could well be a solution to this problem without attaching the probe, I just haven't bothered checking!

The grill and dust-cover is noticeable on the front of the Cool Drive, and this is where the fan is located which cools the hard drive. Though it is only a small fan, and doesn't actually run that fast, it still manages to reduce hard drive temperature by 1 or 2 degrees, which is a lot when it comes to component-cooling.
The sides of the Cool Drive and the top are nicely decorated with the company's logo, and there are nice patterns and effects on the aluminium to help improve its looks. This is a really nice feature, as I have a Perspex PC case and you can see all the extra details which have been included on the top and sides of the Cool Drive, which wouldn't have been noticed if installed in a normal bog-standard PC case.

It sits itself in any CD-drive slot in a PC case, if you have any spare ones that is, and it also frees up an internal hard drive slot which is handy. Actually installing the Cool Drive to the PC case is really simple, simply letting it slide in, and screwing it in with the screws provided. It is quite surprising how heavy it is, especially when you attach the hard-drive. Even without this inside it weighs 663g, but luckily the screws supplied are strong enough and have long enough threads to support the Cool Drive securely.

Installing the hard drive first of all is a little more complicated but still easy enough after reading the installation instructions. First you have to unscrew all the screws that are attaching the base of the Cool Drive, and then slide the aluminium base out. Then you can place your hard drive onto the Cool drive, and attach the temperature probe to the hard drive. Looking at the picture in the bottom of the article, you can see that the probe itself is quite a long piece of cable, with the metal probe protected at the end by an orange plastic. You take this piece, and attach it by using the glue compound, wherever you need to record the temperature. On my hard drive there is a special spot for this, and the instruction booklet gives detailed instructions and pictures on doing this with your processor and VGA. For the processor you attach the probe between the pins on its underside, which I wasn't too keen on doing in case the pins wouldn't make good enough contact with the socket on the motherboard. I found the probe quite loose on my hard drive, so I used some of my own thermal-tape (resistant to heat) and taped the wire down to give extra strength. Next you can plug in all the other components-probes to the connectors provided, which are at the front of the Cool Drive, on the inside. This can prove a little annoying, as every time you wish to change the probes (if you ever do) you would have to remove the base, then hard drive to be able to get at it.

After this you can simply screw the base back on to secure the hard drive, which also helps minimise noise vibrations. Then you slide the Cool Drive into any CD-drive slot which you have free in your PC case, if you have any spare ones that is. This frees up an internal hard drive slot, where it would have originally gone which is handy. This is all a really simple process, which is followed up by screwing it in with the 4 screws provided. Then you plug in the power adapter to a spare 4-pin power lead (12v) - and you're away.

The Cool Drive is really easy to use, the buttons and controls are all very simple and self-explanatory, as is installation. Though I only really use this drive to help cool down my hard drive, and reduce noise from it - which it succeeds in doing, I could easily attach the probes to the other component parts and monitor these too. Overall I am really happy with the Cool Drive, its attractive looks really improve the general appearance of my PC, and helps quieten and cool the hard drive, which is a nice bonus! I would rate this to any PC enthusiasts wishing to be able to monitor their whole PC at a touch of a button, or simply to improve the computers looks and temperature.

*Glossary
Processor/CPU - The brain of the computer - a microprocessor chip which determines the overall speed of the computer, where most of the data-processing is done.
Overclocking - When someone adjusts a component so that it performs faster then it usually would, by adjusting the factory setting. This can be very dangerous as it invalids warranty and can cause over-heating.

Graphics card/VGA - Video Graphics Adapter - A card that plugs into the AGP or
PCI slot on a motherboard, which processes the graphics for a computer, and sends it to the PCs monitor.

Hard drive - A non removable disk which stores all the computers data, even when power is turned off.

RPM - Revolutions per minute, often used to describe how fast the spindles inside a hard drive turn. RPM values range from about 5,400RPM to 12,000RPM and above.

Motherboard - The main 'hub' of the computer, the piece which connects all the components together, on a large circuit board.