I'm my own worst IT nightmare!

I'm a performance hog. My computer has to make zero sound. I install an OS if I botch part of some non-core related install. Indeed, I'm my own worst IT Nightmare!

So I built a PC back in December. It's a beautilful machine, or at least I think so, with a nice video card, 2 gigs of RAM, good processor (though an Intel), etc etc. However, after I replaced my stock cooler with a 'silent' aftermarket cooler and tried to make my PC whisper quiet, I was having nothing but grief with installs and compatability warnings/issues out the ying-yang. About two weeks ago (bearing in mind this had been going on for about 2 months), I tried to flash my BIOS with a beta version of my vendor's BIOS drivers, hoping it'd fix these issues. So it did... sorta. I was able to install WinXP successfully and Linux, though I was still having issues with my wonderfully slient PC. After turning all the fans onto their maximum setting, my problems vanished. The issue? My HD was hitting 55C!

With motherboards running in that range and processors up to even 85C in laptops, one would think that Hard Drives could run that hot. The moral of the story? Sufficient ventilation is a really good thing to have. Curses!