Seagate 7200.7 - SATA 150 - 120Gb -

[vector3]

Hi,

I have a 7200.7 - 120Gb- SATA 150 and I´m having (or think I´m having) problems with it.

It is VERY noisy when reading data, accesing files etc. Sounds like if someone were eating pop corn in my ear!
But when it´s no reading (for example now, writing this message) it´s very quiet, I can´t hear it.

I have a UATA 7200.7 80 Gb and it doesn't make that noise.

Is it normal?

Thank you very much.

<< ANSWER FROM luminous>>
[This is an extract from a private message conversation]

Hmmm....

First thing, my Seagate is PATA. Since thats just the interface, the drives should be mechanically identical. That should mean that they will produce the same amount of noise as each other.

However, your 80Gb drive is likely to be the 2 platter version of the 120Gb HDD. Therefore, you would expect a little less motor noise, but the same sort of seek noises (I think).

As your 120Gb model is a lot louder than your 80Gb HDD, then clearly something is wrong with my expectations above. One thing I have noted is that there can be a lot of variation in both noise and vibrations between 2 identical HDD's. So your 120Gb one could just be a "duff" one.

My 120Gb is clearly audible when seeking. It is a little quieter than a Western Digital / IBM drive that is not using acousitc management. However, when I engage acoustic management on my IBM/Hitatchi its seek noises are significantly quieter than the Seagates.

The main reason that Seagate's seek noises are so loud is that there is a legal dispute that is stopping Seagate from using the acoustic management software that they were able to use on all their previous models.

What should you do about your new drive? I'm not really sure. You could just RMA it to Seagate, but that could be a lot of hassle as you would be without your HDD.

Alteratively you could try and live with it - not a great option

The only other thing you can do is to buy a drive enclosure/make one yourself to put the drive inside. As the noise that is bothering you is seek noise, it will be high frequency noise. High frequency noise responds well to damping, so you should be able to significantly reduce the nosie thats bothering you.