Most hard drives have a S.M.A.R.T threshold of 55 °C (maximal operating temperature), but it is generally advised to keep temperatures below 40 °C.
Now I have a Seagate SkyHawk 8TB (ST8000VX0022) which gets consistently around 5 °C hotter than my Seagate Desktop 4TB (ST4000DM000). Swapping position in the case doesn't make a difference, so it's not the airflow. But the threshhold for the Skyhawk is also increased to 60 °C while for the Desktop it's the usual 55 °C.
Does it mean anything that Seagate Technology increased the threshhold for the Skyhawk? Does it handle higher temperatures better (around 45 °C) in the sense that a reduced lifetime does not occur?
Because even with the front fan disabled, the Desktop was always under 40 °C. I have to live with the noise if I want to keep the Skyhawk below 40 °C.