Harmonics between HDDs
Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2013 5:22 am
I've got a Samsung 1TB SATA drive and an old 80GB IDE drive (Seagate I think) which is just for temporary files so that programs aren't having to read the source files and write to the same drive, which slows things down immensely.
I'm using an Aerocool VS-4 case which has a removable drive cage with rubber grommets http://www.aerocool.com.tw/images/case/ ... vs_4_2.png (I actually put the cage the other way round as it allows for better airflow from the front fan).
Until recently, the HDDs have sounded OK, once I enabled AAM on the Samsung at least as the seeks were very loud on that before I did that. The old 80GB drive is actually quieter than the Samsung, even with AAM on, but maybe that's to be expected and perhaps it's a slower drive. They were still audible, both airborne motor and seek noises and vibrations into the case but nothing too offensive but the other day I started getting a quite intrusive loud hum from them, which persists even if I remove the cage from the case and place it on some bubble wrap. If I disconnect the power from either drive, it doesn't happen, so I can only conclude it must be some sort of harmonics between the two drives. It's a right pain as I've spent a lot of time tuning the fans to make this machine as quiet as possible and now this happens and needs sorting out.
I'd done the screws up tight into the grommets as I'd read that works best but have tried loosening them by a turn or two, to no avail. I guess the only thing I can try is moving the IDE drive out of the cage and screwing it directly into the 3.5" bay behind the front panel or into a 5.25" bay with some brackets I have, which might be better as they have rubber grommets on them. It would be easier if I could keep both drives in the cage though.
Has anyone else ever encountered this problem and found any solutions, other than moving one drive?
I'm using an Aerocool VS-4 case which has a removable drive cage with rubber grommets http://www.aerocool.com.tw/images/case/ ... vs_4_2.png (I actually put the cage the other way round as it allows for better airflow from the front fan).
Until recently, the HDDs have sounded OK, once I enabled AAM on the Samsung at least as the seeks were very loud on that before I did that. The old 80GB drive is actually quieter than the Samsung, even with AAM on, but maybe that's to be expected and perhaps it's a slower drive. They were still audible, both airborne motor and seek noises and vibrations into the case but nothing too offensive but the other day I started getting a quite intrusive loud hum from them, which persists even if I remove the cage from the case and place it on some bubble wrap. If I disconnect the power from either drive, it doesn't happen, so I can only conclude it must be some sort of harmonics between the two drives. It's a right pain as I've spent a lot of time tuning the fans to make this machine as quiet as possible and now this happens and needs sorting out.
I'd done the screws up tight into the grommets as I'd read that works best but have tried loosening them by a turn or two, to no avail. I guess the only thing I can try is moving the IDE drive out of the cage and screwing it directly into the 3.5" bay behind the front panel or into a 5.25" bay with some brackets I have, which might be better as they have rubber grommets on them. It would be easier if I could keep both drives in the cage though.
Has anyone else ever encountered this problem and found any solutions, other than moving one drive?