G'day John,
my suggestion the the drive may be on its way out is based on the temps and startup problems you mentioned more than the load and performance issues.

However, if the SMART reports are clean this casts some doubt on the diagnosis - not that SMART hasn't failed to report problems in the past.

So, before you spend possible unnecessary money, just what startup problems are you experiencing? IE do you get partway into the Windows startup or do you not get past the POST?

OR, if you would like more capacity then a new drive is the answer anyhow...


--=-- My credo: If it's worth doing, it's worth overdoing - just ask my missus, she'll tell ya laugh --=--
You're only paranoid if you're wrong!