Noticeable whine (with case closed, about 1 meter away): None
Noticeable whine (with ear next to harddrive): Very slight
Model Number: SP0812C
Supplier: overclockers.co.uk
Month of purchase: Dec 03
Motor: Nidec FDB
Revision: Rev 1
Date of Manufacturing: Forgot to look!
Any other relevant/interesting info: I have two drives with the same details. Both are whine free. One does vibrate more than the other though.

Please don't. It would be nice to see your results as well.

Then you can send it back.

I have just sent Samsung this message, under category 'Product Information'.

EDIT: Gah! I forgot a period after 'having Fluid Dynamic Bearings'! Hopefully they will still understand me.

Noticeable whine (with case closed, about 1 meter away): no
Noticeable whine (with ear next to harddrive): very faint
Model Number: SP1614N
Supplier: Excaliberpc.com
Month of purchase: August 2003
Motor: Nidec F0320112F FDB (stamp)
Revision: A
Date of Manufacturing: June 2003
Any other relevant/interesting info: nope

I can't hear any whine unless my ear is 6 inches away. From further away, all I can hear is a whoosh.

Noticeable whine (with case closed, about 1 meter away): Extremely faint; I have to try hard to hear it. Sitting at my desk I can't hear it.
Noticeable whine (with ear next to harddrive): Definite whine
Model Number: SP1213N
Supplier: newegg.com
Month of purchase: April 2004
Motor: JVC 40126DD - P/V80 2D - R2 (stamp)
Revision: A
Date of Manufacturing: February 2004
Any other relevant/interesting info: Just got the drive last week. Drive is suspended.

Picture of my motor:


I wonder how forthcoming Samsung will be with information and if we can RMA these drives.

Wow, so I'm not crazy. I sold my pair of 120G SATA P80s because of the high pitched whine, it was driving me nuts but since I hadn't heard of anyone having issues like that I figured it was just me.

This is really unbelievable. Outright fraud, no two ways about it - advertising FDB and knowingly using some that are not. Makes me hesitant to buy Samsung in the future. I like the performance and quality but this is just inexcusable.

http://forums.storagereview.net/index.php?showtopic=15072

hopefully this will help in the data gathering.

tim

I don't think I'll have the time to test my drive before I leave the US on Thursday - sorry about that

I remember seeing another poll about the reliability of these drives, if annybody had a dead 'non-FDB' one I'd be interested in seeing an autopsy!

Finally got around to opening my case (first time in four months) to check the label on my SP1614N:

Noticeable whine (with case closed, about 1 meter away): no
Noticeable whine (with ear next to harddrive): very faint
Model Number: SP1614N
Supplier: Newegg
Month of purchase: August 2003
Motor: Nidec F0320632F FDB (stamp)
Revision: A
Date of Manufacturing: 2003.07
Any other relevant/interesting info: -

Dunno whether my info would be of any use but I've just put a 160gb 8mb cache Samsung in an enclosure - Speed Metal Box

It's open metal mesh on 3 sides and spinning noise is certainly noticeable...seek is quiet..Overall it's difficult to assess whether it's more or less noisy than my existing external (an iomega 120gb)

I'll open the enclosure up and have a look and do a couple of checks and report back if anyone's interested...

Noticeable whine (with case closed, about 1 meter away): No
Noticeable whine (with ear next to harddrive): Barely noticeable
Model Number: SP1614C
Supplier: Komplett.co.uk
Month of purchase: 2004.04
Motor: JVC 31216CD P/V80 2D R2
Revision: A
Date of Manufacturing: 2004.02
Any other relevant/interesting info: I also have a Barracuda IV 80GB, in a Novibes III frame in one of the 5.25" bays. I've compared the noise of the Spinpoint in the Novibes III against the Barracuda. At idle the Spinpoint seems quieter wherever I am in the room, and I can't detect any seek noise unlike the Barracuda. Note - this is the SATA version.

Now this is strange....

Here is the reply I received from Samsung:


Perhaps I am just more sensitive to high pitches? That sucks.

Noticeable whine (with case closed, about 1 meter away): No
Noticeable whine (with ear next to harddrive): Faint high pitched whine
Model Number: SP1614C
Supplier: newegg
Month of purchase: 04/2004
Motor: JVC - no FDB markings
Revision:
Date of Manufacturing:
Any other relevant/interesting info: Cannot hear the drive over other fans in the case, at idle or when seeking.

I'm at work now so I'll fill out more of the specifics on the drive when I get home tonight. Also, I'm probably less sensitive to noise than some of the people here so take my assessment with a grain of salt.

I have a SV0802N in here, bought Jan 04 (made late '03, -24 firmware), with Nidec motor, which "sings" a bit when you stick your ear next to it, but is inaudible with the case closed. (Over the Cheetah 36ES anyway.) Our older SP1604N (bought Jul/Aug 03, -23 firmware, I didn't take notes on the components used but assume a Nidec motor) is not very whiny either, just the usual bit of vibration. (An old Maxtor VL40 with occasional spinup trouble is much more noisy in comparison.)

BTW, whining alone is not a sign of ball bearings (the Cheetah 36ES has FDBs and does whine quite noticeably), rather it's the typical ball-bearing-like "rough" (or circular saw like, for bad WD bearings) sounds. I must admit, however, that I have not had the pleasure of using post-2001 BB equipped IDE drives, so if the only difference is whine level nowadays it should be pretty hard to reliably distinguish both types. :-/

As for a theory, it seems with hard drive prices falling Samsung has switched to JVC for motors (my guess: they're cheaper), and those exhibit larger variations in quality / noise level. Of course it could still be they're using BB motors at times, but that would contradict with the specs and be pretty WD-ish.

Not true as I have a SP0812C NIDEC and FDB stamped on the bottom. I suspect it's just an oversight and all their drives are FDB.

Just checked my smaller 80GB SATA drive, this is a Nidec also and has FDB stamped on it. Its just as noisy as the JVC without FDB stamped on it.

I think maybe it comes down to something as simple as the whine is so high pitched that it is only audible/a problem to some people, others just don't notice it.

Either that or samsung have such shoddy quality control that there is huge variation between different examples, regardless of which motor they have. Either way I don't think I'll be tempted into getting one of these again. Very disappointing.

Owain

Just got a second hand Barracuda IV from ebay, it's so much better it's not true, now the only time I ever hear it is when it's seeking (not bad at all and not really bothersome) or when it has just spun up - slight chugging for a second. Most importantly NO WHINE with the case closed!

Much happier with this, in fact I have now noticed that my TV is a bit on the whiny side - it's never going to end is it?

Owain

No, but if you use the "search" you'll find threads showing you how to silence your refrigerator compressor, the neighbors' dog, noisy children etc. We try and run a full service forum here.

Hi ppl

Noticeable whine (with case NOT closed, about 5 meter away): audible, at that range i'm sure i still hear it .. one meter more and i have to guess.
Noticeable whine (with ear next to harddrive): ouch
Model Number: SP1614N
Supplier: ditech.at
Month of purchase: 2004/03
Motor: JVC 31129BN P/V80 2D R2
Revision: A
Date of Manufacturing: 2004.01
Any other relevant/interesting info: on spin up it sounds like a sine sweep until it reaches its final high pitch frequency

I wrote also a reply in the samsung noise thread ..

HTH
ecki

I just bought another drive.

Noticeable whine (with case closed, about 1 meter away): no
Noticeable whine (with ear next to harddrive): faint
Model Number: SP1604N
Supplier: Newegg.com
Month of purchase: May 2004
Motor: Nidec F0347321F FDB G(stamp)
Revision: A
Date of Manufacturing: Dec 2003
Any other relevant/interesting info: nope

This drive definitely vibrates less than the one I bought in August. Also, its "whoosh" sounds more like a "whossssss": the drive when idling has less of the lower-frequency broadband noise. I haven't listened for seek noise.

I'm not sure, but my original drive might have a bit more high-frequency whine now that I have two hard drives plugged in and powered on. I haven't verified this, so it might be nonsense. Both drives have the same amount of whine. They are completely inaudible from 9 inches away, or when the they are put in the case.

My 14 dBA 20 x 10 x 8 "acoustic test room" is actually the downstairs LR that we use normally for occasional TV/movies. There's a decent GAOO Panasonic CRT 27" TV in there. I noticed the last time I was doing notebook drive noise testing that near the TV, there was some kind of buzzing. Very soft. I looked around but could not spot any transformers or wallwarts plugged in. The TV was off but in standby mode for instant turnon like they all are these days. I pulled the plug -- yup, the buzz disappeared. Ditto CRT monitors on standby. Who knows what other supposedly 'off" appliances emit noise?

It's when I start trying to find the cord for the purring cat that my wife will surely march me off to the looney bin.

Noticeable Whine (with case closed, about One Yard away)? No.
Noticeable whine (with ear Next to Drive)? Very Little.
Model Number? SP1614N
Supplier? Newegg.Com
Month of Purchase? Darn, um...I want to say February, 2004.
Motor? NIDEC F0337?11F Sort of hard to read, don't you agree?
Revision? A
Date of Manufacturing? September, 2003




-Ed

EDIT: BTW, it says FDB on it, in case you can't tell.

EDIT 2: Added super large versions of the images; click on the images above to see them!

Noticeable whine (with case closed, about 1 meter away): Yes, barely
Noticeable whine (with ear next to harddrive): ow it hurts my ear
Model Number: SP1614N
Supplier: microdirect.co.uk
Month of purchase: May 2004
Motor: JVC P/V80 2D R2
Revision: A
Date of Manufacturing: Not sure i will check later
Any other relevant/interesting info: just screwed into case as normal... not sure if this amplifies the effect but i doubt it.


update: The loud high frequency noise that i noticed when the case was closed was actually my TFT monitor (going to have to try and silence that now lol)
So i dont think the noise is too annoying when the case is actually closed

on a side note the difference is amazing, i turned on AAM to silent mode, and can barely hear it. I had my computer on last night, and woke up thinking oh great it has crashed... well no it hadn't it was just so damn quiet

Noticeable whine (with case closed, about 1 meter away): not sure
Noticeable whine (with ear next to harddrive): ouch
Model Number: SP1604N
Month of purchase: May 2004
Motor: JVC sticker without FDB note
Revision: A
Date of Manufacturing: 4/2004

Any other relevant/interesting info: I'm sitting <1m in front of my PC, the high frequency noise is really annoying

so it appears the nidec FDB motors are better than JVC FDB motors.

gee i hope NEWEGG ships with NIDEC or that it is somehow possible to only order and purchase NIDEC SP80's.

-dan

Unfortunately, neither newegg nor ZipZoomFly do such a thing.
I "pricegrabbed" the SP80's and found a decent reseller (or at least the reviews aren't too bad) called Compuvest. I emailed them, and they do allow special requests like this, as long as the product is in stock. Their prices aren't too bad either...

Compuvest eh?

how could they know what type of motor it is, unless it is printed on the box? so nidec is better than jvc?

dan

Well it seems that they sell them in "bulk" packaging, which I guess is pretty much the same as OEM (?). If so, then all they would have to do is look at the bare hard drive, as you would instruct them.

it does appear that newegg has produced pretty satisfied customers with respect to its shipment of SP80, and i know newegg has a good return policy.

their website offers customers to post comments, and their customers seem happy with their shipment of SP80.

anyone disagree feel free to post. my current plan is to buy a single platter spinpoint from newegg.

My only worry is that you need to remember one small thing about NewEgg's customer reviews; the majority of SPCR members have a much, much more stringent set of standards for acoustic performance. While most NewEgg members may say an item is quiet (or very often, silent), sometimes it could be an item that we would consider merely okay or even not good; the Vantec Stealth fans are a fine example of this.

-Ed