How hot is too hot for a Hard Drive?

[slvrstang]

I'm not exactly sure of the temperature but my mobo was getting very warm so I popped open the case and everything seemed in order. I was poking around and I bumped the HD and it almost burned me. I then cautiously touched it again with the tip of my finger and it was indeed very very hot, but not hot enough to burn. I'd say by touch it had to be 60*C or hotter.

Case flow is good, ambient temperature is about 80*F. I'm not sure if this is a sign that my HD is about to go out or if it's just naturally that hot. Any info would be helpful.

 

[brinks]

I would say the max temperature would be around 55-60*C. Having it below 50*C should be ok, but like all parts, the cooler the better.

 

[poorman]

My rule of thumb for any hard drive operating temp is not to be above 110F. Best is 88F and desirable is in the mid 90's under normal operating conditions. Periods of long write cycles, having the temp rise into 110 and above is OK. The hard drive should be not be hot enough to burn you.
In my system I am using right now I have 2 hard drives in it. One is running at 102F and the other is running at 95F which is acceptable. Especially since the drive running at 102F is enterprise quality.