A disk drive base plate (150) that incorporates a plurality of cooling ribs (170) on its bottom (154) is disclosed. In the illustrated embodiment, all of these cooling ribs (170) are disposed in parallel relation, and are oriented parallel to an airflow past the disk drive base plate (150). An exposed primary surface (184) of a printed circuit board (182) is coplanar with base sections (178) associated with the cooling ribs (170).