Maxtor D740X in SmartDrive 2002 "throbbing" noise

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Keyz316
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Maxtor D740X in SmartDrive 2002 "throbbing" noise

Post by Keyz316 » Mon Apr 28, 2003 1:00 am

Hi all.... I've been gone a while, now enjoying my "kinda quiet" computer haha

Anyhow... during the last month or so I've noticed a new sound emanating from my system. I have my master drive, a 40GB Maxtor D740X 7200RPM drive as my master, and it's tucked nicely inside a SmartDrive 2002 enclosure. When I first installed it in there, it made a world of difference and cut off... well enough noise to make it worth the investment hehe. Also I kept an eagle eye on the drive temperatures and it didn't go up at all from before to after the SmartDrive was used. My slave drive is a WD1200 special edition, which I found to be quiet enough not to require extra treatment.

Anyhow as I was saying... a new noise has begun occuring. It seems to be somewhat intermittant (at least audibly). The noise is a "throbbing" or "pulsing" coming from the Maxtor that occurs about every second, but a little less, if you get my meaning. The audible noise is definately resulting from the drive vibrating hard enough to make the SmartDrive vibrate and resonate into the case (Antec SX840). I pulled the SmartDrive out while the system was running and am now certain the drive seems to literally be "throbbing". I read another post where a guy had a throbbing from his Maxtor, but I don't think that his reason fits my situation (that the 2 drives vibrating on different frequencies are causing it)... even when I'm holding the SmartDrive away from the system, it still throbs.

Well... I'm hoping you guys can offer up some of your killer suggestions hehe :D Next option on my end is to remove the drive from the SmartDrive and see what happens.. but I don't wanna LOL - it's a major task getting it in and out due to the countless microscopic screws ;)

Thanks in advance.
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Mr_Smartepants
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Post by Mr_Smartepants » Mon Apr 28, 2003 2:32 am

Maybe the increased heat buildup was enough to toast the drive bearings?

Your temp diode probably isn't anywhere near the drive motor/bearings so it wouldn't have detected the heat. Also, 'heat-soak' is my bet for being responsible.
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Oli
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Post by Oli » Mon Apr 28, 2003 1:49 pm

[deleted]
Last edited by Oli on Tue May 23, 2023 6:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Keyz316
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Post by Keyz316 » Mon Apr 28, 2003 5:11 pm

True the WD is a bit louder than I'd like.... but compared to the Maxtor, it's meek as a mouse hehe. Really I can't hear much of it when it's in a closed case, with my sliding closet door shut (the computer is in a wall closet - slight temperature increase, big sound difference). I'd say the Maxtor was 2-3x louder than the WD. Of course that may be due in part to it being the slave, so it's not writing/seeking all the time (though I do cache to it constantly in Photoshop, stream audio to it from my mixer, etc and I don't notice any more noise then either). Now with the SmartDrive they are about the same in volume. Optimally I'd like to just get rid of the Maxtor, but I can't afford to for at least a few more months (since I've had to buy a lot of other parts recently, and my freelance IT job is slimmer than usual hehe). In the end though (other than the new throbbing sound) the system is "just about" quiet enough that I can walk into the room and have to pause and listen to be sure it's turned on (I recently installed a nexus nx-3000 psu, panaflo fans, zalman flower hsf, the smartdrive, northbridge heatsink, etc).

I did notice the Maxtor seemed to make more "grumbling" noises while accessing after I last rebuilt the system (I swapped my northbride fan for a zalman northbridge heatsink, which required me to rebuild from scratch). Though once I put the Maxtor in the SmartDrive that sound completely disappeared (unless I put my head close to the system hehe). I'm not quite sure about if it throbs after a period of being idle... I'll have to "somehow" tear myself away long enough to let it idle a bit hehehe

That's an interesting point about the heat sensor maybe not being able to detect overheating in another part of the drive. I wish there was some way to tell about that kind of thing :(

Like I said - I don't think it's a set of frequencies crossing with eachother that's to blame in this case, since I held the SmartDrive in my hand, completely decoupled and away from the system, and it still was throbbing in my hand, kinda like a very slow propellor sensation or something :) It's true I can completely decouple the SmartDrive and I probably won't hear it anymore - but on the other hand I'm concerned my Maxtor is "dying" or something hehe...

Peace.
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pingu666
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Post by pingu666 » Tue Apr 29, 2003 1:59 pm

my mums maxtor is making a odd noise recently
a throbing, but not a nice v8 type of throb :twisted: high pitched, guess i know its the hd
aam poking tomoz then :)
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