Western Digital Vs. Maxtor DM+9

Mr_Smartepants · Post by **Mr_Smartepants** » Mon May 12, 2003 9:22 am

I finally got my Maxtor DiamondMax Plus9 120GB 7200RPM drive to replace my Western Digital 120GB 7200RPM drive. It only took two months to arrive (US. Mail lost it, then found it) but it was worth it. I also have a Seagate 120GB 7200RPM drive on the way that I found for $98 (white label, unknown model number)

Good God that WD is LOUD when compared to the Maxtor!!

I knew it was loud but I had no idea it was THAT loud.

I took a spare 250W PSU and went into a quiet room for testing. The PSU makes almost no noise under no load (fan is temp controlled).
I held both drives in my hand and placed them on a hardwood table.

Western Digital:
When holding in my hand, the WD makes an awful high pitched whine at startup that only gets louder when it reaches full speed. After reaching full speed, the heads make a soft ratchet sound as it performs a quick seek test.
When placed on the table, the whine becomes greatly amplified and becomes a soft roar. It also appeared that the drive was moving across the table by vibrations alone!

Maxtor:
When holding in my hand, the Maxtor makes a subdued high pitched whine at startup that quickly disappears into the background when it reaches full speed. After reaching full speed, the heads make a harsh click sound as it performs a quick seek test. While at full speed, I had to hold the drive up to my ear to hear any whine at all. Sweet!
When placed on the table, what little whine was there was barely amplified by the table. The amplification was perceived as a soft hum.

I plan to install the drive in my PC tomorrow and clone the WD to the Maxtor and perform read/write tests and see how loud the heads are. I can tolerate noisy seeks but that WD whine has got to go.
I'll perform more testing once the Seagate shows up but I can't imagine it being quieter than this Maxtor. Wow.

edcrane · Post by **edcrane** » Mon May 12, 2003 10:10 am

once you actually use them, you'll find that while the WD consistently whines, the maxtor clacks very loudly when you write subsantial amounts of imformation. I guess it's a toss up. I hate both noises, so I built enclosures.

ez2remember · Post by **ez2remember** » Mon May 12, 2003 10:51 am

I got the DM+9 HD as well, I think it is not quiet but reasonable, compared to other HD. (Note the DM+9 uses FDB rather than BB)

But according to MikeC review of the HD, he would not even include DM+9 in his review because it is not quiet enuff. I have to agree I have listened to the 'Cuda IV and it is about the quietest HDD you can get.

JimK · Post by **JimK** » Mon May 12, 2003 11:00 am

You may want to get to the Maxtor website and download their AM utility while it is still there (patent lawsuit and all that). The DM+9 may need it after you live with the Seagate for a while. I am using a DM+8 40GB now and it seems very quiet. Was looking for a 'Cuda IV but got this for $14.99 at Office Depot so I jumped. Also have a new, unused +9 120 like yours for the unbuilt Digital Darkroom, glad you like it, makes me feel better.

pingu666 · Post by **pingu666** » Mon May 12, 2003 11:30 am

im thinking of buying a couple, simply cant get a sata 7200.7 80 with 8meg cache in the uk, if u know different, poke melots

Td_nw · Post by **Td_nw** » Mon May 12, 2003 4:59 pm

Jimk,

Maxtor states that setacm.exe only is for the following drives:

DiamondMax Plus 40 UDMA/100
-DiamondMax 60 UDMA/100
-DiamondMax VL 30 UDMA/100
-D540X
-D740X

Does anyone know / have experience with it working on the DiamondMax Plus 9?

AndrewC · Post by **AndrewC** » Mon May 12, 2003 5:14 pm

I have a DiamondMax Plus 9 and it made a notable difference. Have to use a floppy though so it can take a little while to do.

Mr_Smartepants · Post by **Mr_Smartepants** » Tue May 13, 2003 2:36 am

Td_nw wrote:Maxtor states that setacm.exe only is for the following drives:

DiamondMax Plus 40 UDMA/100
-DiamondMax 60 UDMA/100
-DiamondMax VL 30 UDMA/100
-D540X
-D740X

Does anyone know / have experience with it working on the DiamondMax Plus 9?

Well I can tell you that with my drive, model 6Y120P0, the setacm Maxtor utility worked like a champ.

With the drive set to "performance" mode, the seek noise was horible (clack, clack). After running the utility from a boot floppy and using the '/quiet' flag, the drive is now almost silent. I'm really looking forward to testing this Maxtor against the Seagate. I honestly can't see how it will be quieter but we'll see.
Incidently, the model number on the box is 6Y120L0 (2-meg cache) but the drive itself is 6Y120P0 (8-meg cache). Bonus!

Jan Kivar · Post by **Jan Kivar** » Tue May 13, 2003 6:24 am

Mr_Smartepants wrote:I finally got my Maxtor DiamondMax Plus9 120GB 7200RPM drive to replace my Western Digital 120GB 7200RPM drive.

How long have You used the WD drive?

Jan

Mr_Smartepants · Post by **Mr_Smartepants** » Tue May 13, 2003 7:23 am

Jan Kivar wrote:How long have You used the WD drive?
Jan

I've had the WD drive for about 8 months. There's nothing wrong with it (apart from the whine) and it's been a really reliable fast drive. I'm building a PC for a buddy of mine who's not concerned with silence (more power!!!) so he's happy with it.

Jan Kivar · Post by **Jan Kivar** » Tue May 13, 2003 10:37 am

Mr_Smartepants wrote:
Jan Kivar wrote:How long have You used the WD drive?
Jan
I've had the WD drive for about 8 months. There's nothing wrong with it (apart from the whine) and it's been a really reliable fast drive. I'm building a PC for a buddy of mine who's not concerned with silence (more power!!!) so he's happy with it.

I've heard that the whine gets worse over time (I don't know how much). The drive might have been a bit more quiet when You got it.

Jan

TechAde · Post by **TechAde** » Tue May 13, 2003 10:53 am

pingu666 wrote:im thinking of buying a couple, simply cant get a sata 7200.7 80 with 8meg cache in the uk, if u know different, poke melots

Just had a quick check on www.ebuyer.com, and they have these:

Seagate ST380023AS 80GB 7200rpm Serial ATA Barracuda - OEM

for £84.99+VAT

Quickfind code 46856. Is that the drive you're after?

JimK · Post by **JimK** » Tue May 13, 2003 12:06 pm

Td_nw,

I read that list on the Maxtor site and figured that it was not up to date. Downloaded the file, extracted it and put it on a floppy. Made a nice change in my DM+8 40GB, the old drive was a 4GB Seagate that had gotten to the "nails in a tin can" stage. Put the Maxtor in a 5.25 adaptor on foam in the bottom of the case while I copied the Seagate, never moved it.

That started me down a path familiar to many on this site.

The 300MHz P II with a horrid fan was swapped for a passive cooled 333 (Ebay). The really bad noise is gone but the old PSU sounds louder and will go this week or next.

pingu666 · Post by **pingu666** » Tue May 13, 2003 12:17 pm

thats a V
hm maxtor is tempting m8 maybe selling his old ones so i could get those cheap

. get him to bung some junk on too

Western Digital Vs. Maxtor DM+9

Western Digital Vs. Maxtor DM+9

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Re: Western Digital Vs. Maxtor DM+9

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80Mb Barracuda V SATA 8Mb cache in UK