FT05 Build Ruined By Spinning Disk

Enclosures and acoustic damping to help quiet them.

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muptup
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FT05 Build Ruined By Spinning Disk

Post by muptup » Tue May 26, 2015 7:44 am

I built a gaming PC similar to the SLI gaming build.

Intel Core i7-4790k 4.00GHz
500GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD
Single Asus Strix Nvidia GTX 970 DCUII
Asus Z97 Pro Wifi-AC Motherboard
Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB
600W be-quiet Straight Power 10
Scythe Kotetsu SCKTT-1000 CPU Cooler
Silverstone SST-FT05S Fortress Tower

Frankly it sounded like a dream. I've built several "quiet" PCs in the past and none came close to this.

So I was pretty disappointed when I finished setting everything up and moved my 1TB Western Digital Black 7200rpm from the old PC in to it. The drive makes a really frustrating sssschhhhh sort of sounds, that wasn't audible in my old PC. In the past the cases I've used have had drive cages that I could suspend the drive or place it in a 5.25 enclosure. The FT05 has no 5.25 drive bays and the cage is a plastic assembly that hugs the drive so no space for vibration absorption. The drive is only a couple of months old so I don't suspect mechanical issues.

So far I can think of a few options and I'd like to know your thoughts ...

First does anyone have experience with reducing noise like that in this case? What did you do?

Is there a way of reducing the spin speed of the drive in firmware?

Is this drive model a no hoper? Do I need to replace it or will other drives sound just as bad in this cage?

Cheers,

Martin

Abula
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Re: FT05 Build Ruined By Spinning Disk

Post by Abula » Tue May 26, 2015 7:50 am

WD Blacks always been among the most noisy drives in my experience, its a trade off you do if you want one of the fastest mechanical (raptors not taken in account).

Honestly, my suggestion is sell your WD Black, and grab a WD Red or Green, i have it hard mounted on my FT05 and i cant hear it at all, and if have the black because of the 1tb 7200rpm need, then start saving for a 1tb SSD, and leave the WD Red/Green for pure storage and downloads.

CA_Steve
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Re: FT05 Build Ruined By Spinning Disk

Post by CA_Steve » Tue May 26, 2015 9:35 am

Yep, the WD Black is a noisy HDD. Is it a continuous noise (drive motor/vibration) or only during drive seeks?

For the former, you can try discoupling it from the case. Since the case fans consume the case floor space...Set a thick piece of foam down next to the case (on your desk or the floor) and the drive on the foam. That gives you the best case scenario for vibration isolation. If that works, then the next step is to use elastic cord to suspend the drive in the case, while still holding it secure. Search this site for drive suspension.

For the latter, you are mostly screwed. There used to be some (somewhat) reasonably priced 3.5" drive enclosures that could cut down the seek noise...a bit. You'd be better off replacing the drive.

muptup
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Re: FT05 Build Ruined By Spinning Disk

Post by muptup » Wed May 27, 2015 5:57 am

I can cope without a 7200rpm drive to be honest. It's mostly a media/documents drive anyway.

It's a continuous noise (I am grateful for the peace when it spins down), I can try isolating it for test but to be honest I'm still at a loss as to how I can suspend it in this case.

Abula
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Re: FT05 Build Ruined By Spinning Disk

Post by Abula » Wed May 27, 2015 6:59 am

muptup wrote:I can try isolating it for test but to be honest I'm still at a loss as to how I can suspend it in this case.
The case by design doesn't have 5.25 slots, and its relatively small, there not much you can do, you could try to do some moding into doing a custom cage from there side where the 2 mechanical mount, but imo its not worth the trouble, specially when there are hdds that can give you a more quiet experience even hard mounted.

quest_for_silence
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Re: FT05 Build Ruined By Spinning Disk

Post by quest_for_silence » Wed May 27, 2015 11:56 am

muptup wrote:I can cope without a 7200rpm drive to be honest. It's mostly a media/documents drive anyway.

If you need to stick with 7200rpm drives, maybe you can pick something less noisy, like a Seagate SV 35.6 (ST1000VX000).

antiatavist
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Re: FT05 Build Ruined By Spinning Disk

Post by antiatavist » Thu Jul 02, 2015 1:42 am

Why do people still put HDDs in their computers?

I got 850 Evo 500GB as my only drive, and for everything else I got a WD Elements 4TB, which I plug in once a month.

chienpourri
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Re: FT05 Build Ruined By Spinning Disk

Post by chienpourri » Thu Jul 02, 2015 4:13 am

If I was you I would simply move your HDD to a NAS unit, hidden away in a closet or basement where noise is not an issue. You can also get the possibility of data duplication with RAID1 if you buy a 2nd identical drive.

quest_for_silence
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Re: FT05 Build Ruined By Spinning Disk

Post by quest_for_silence » Thu Jul 02, 2015 9:24 am

antiatavist wrote:Why do people still put HDDs in their computers?

I got 850 Evo 500GB as my only drive, and for everything else I got a WD Elements 4TB, which I plug in once a month.
What's the point/merit of your contribution?

xan_user
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Re: FT05 Build Ruined By Spinning Disk

Post by xan_user » Thu Jul 02, 2015 1:20 pm

antiatavist wrote:Why do people still put HDDs in their computers?
the fastest access to the largest amounts of data, and at the cheapest price? :roll:

Pappnaas
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Re: FT05 Build Ruined By Spinning Disk

Post by Pappnaas » Thu Jul 02, 2015 1:34 pm

But i find it kind of odd, people spending a bumload of $ on silent fans, case and oc cpu, but then skip the few dollars to buy a new 2.5 HDD or even a 3.5 Green.

Moreover as the old HDD has a mere 1Tb of capacity.

Zenphic
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Re: FT05 Build Ruined By Spinning Disk

Post by Zenphic » Thu Jul 02, 2015 3:12 pm

Pappnaas wrote:But i find it kind of odd, people spending a bumload of $ on silent fans, case and oc cpu, but then skip the few dollars to buy a new 2.5 HDD or even a 3.5 Green.

Moreover as the old HDD has a mere 1Tb of capacity.
Even a WD Green makes quite a bit of noise (seek noise) without proper dampening. That's how it is in my Cooler Master Mystique 632.

quest_for_silence
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Re: FT05 Build Ruined By Spinning Disk

Post by quest_for_silence » Thu Jul 02, 2015 11:13 pm

Zenphic wrote:That's how it is in my Cooler Master Mystique 632.

Sturdiness of mounting mechanism and frame/panels does more than somewhat "damping". :wink:

muptup
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Re: FT05 Build Ruined By Spinning Disk

Post by muptup » Mon Jul 27, 2015 5:57 am

Didn't realise this discussion continued. I have a 500GB 850 Evo and it works great, but once you install windows and a few games and all of a sudden other things like photos, mp3s, a few films and it's going to be fill up quickly.

I have a NAS I use for backup and media, but connection to it over wifi is pretty terrible, have you ever tried to use an itunes database on a networked drive, not pleasant.

So yes I need a chunk more local storage, this build was the first time I used an SSD and quiet technology has come a long long way in the few years since my last quiet build. I really hadn't realised how quiet the system would be and how loud in comparison the HD would be.

Abula
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Re: FT05 Build Ruined By Spinning Disk

Post by Abula » Mon Jul 27, 2015 6:11 am

Since the need is for pure storage, you should try a WD Red (or green) and place it below the PSU, you can see pictures on my build on my signature. Personally, i don't hear the drive ever, even hard mounted, but for me its pure storage, only photos, music, movies and backup of the main files.

Vicotnik
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Re: FT05 Build Ruined By Spinning Disk

Post by Vicotnik » Mon Jul 27, 2015 6:20 am

muptup wrote:Didn't realise this discussion continued. I have a 500GB 850 Evo and it works great, but once you install windows and a few games and all of a sudden other things like photos, mp3s, a few films and it's going to be fill up quickly.

I have a NAS I use for backup and media, but connection to it over wifi is pretty terrible, have you ever tried to use an itunes database on a networked drive, not pleasant.
I find iTunes unpleasant in general. ;) Why wifi? Do you move around the system a lot? Mp3s and movies belong on the NAS for easy access imo.
muptup wrote:So yes I need a chunk more local storage, this build was the first time I used an SSD and quiet technology has come a long long way in the few years since my last quiet build. I really hadn't realised how quiet the system would be and how loud in comparison the HD would be.
If I needed lots of local storage it would probably be in the form of a WD Red in a Scythe Quiet Drive.

Abula
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Re: FT05 Build Ruined By Spinning Disk

Post by Abula » Mon Jul 27, 2015 7:38 am

Vicotnik wrote:If I needed lots of local storage it would probably be in the form of a WD Red in a Scythe Quiet Drive.
This on the FT05 is very complicated, specially since there are no 5.25 nor slot to place it, i think it could be done with some modding to a side, but i would test it without it before going into modding.

muptup
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Re: FT05 Build Ruined By Spinning Disk

Post by muptup » Tue Jul 28, 2015 6:18 am

Thankfully in practice the drive spends much of its time not spinning, playing games and things it doesn't seem to need it. It's almost reassuring to here it spin up when I peeking around documents :-)

I was tempted to see if I could use the 3D printer at work to make a new cage but think that might be difficult to justify! Indeed the better long term option is to eventually replace it with a Red or Green drive. That can wait at least until I've bedded in with Windows 10 anyway.

The NAS is wired with ethernet to the modem/router which in turn is wired to the media player for the TV which works pretty well, movies over wifi . The PC on the other hand is in the spare bedroom. I experimented with trying to get itunes to work with the database on the NAS but it was far too clunky (and no one else in the flat is that keen on my music collection!). We're likely to move house next year and wired home network is definitely on my to do list!

xan_user
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Re: FT05 Build Ruined By Spinning Disk

Post by xan_user » Tue Jul 28, 2015 6:24 am

until you move, and go to hardwire, you could try ethernet over powerline adapters. Ive had pretty good success with them when im in a pinch.

muptup
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Re: FT05 Build Ruined By Spinning Disk

Post by muptup » Tue Dec 08, 2015 9:20 am

For the info for those of you who were reading this thread, I got a WD 4TB Red and it does exactly what I hoped. Brings the volume of the system, not quite silent but close enough to not be worried about it. The Black is relegated to backup duty.

Abula
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Re: FT05 Build Ruined By Spinning Disk

Post by Abula » Tue Dec 08, 2015 12:41 pm

muptup wrote:For the info for those of you who were reading this thread, I got a WD 4TB Red and it does exactly what I hoped. Brings the volume of the system, not quite silent but close enough to not be worried about it. The Black is relegated to backup duty.
Nice that it worked out for you, WD Reds and Greens are amazing storage quiet drives, btw did you heard mounted below the PSU?

muptup
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Re: FT05 Build Ruined By Spinning Disk

Post by muptup » Wed Dec 09, 2015 7:57 am

Yes hard mounted using the FT05's built in frame below the PSU.

The Red spins down much more often than the Black, which means it's a silent system a lot of the time. The Black also had an irritating grating type noise instead of a smooth whirr, the Red at the most sounds like a soft laptop fan.

Thanks for everyone's help in getting things right :-)

CA_Steve
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Re: FT05 Build Ruined By Spinning Disk

Post by CA_Steve » Wed Dec 09, 2015 8:16 am

Glad it worked out. You can also go into the Windows Power Options (at least that's what it's called in Win 7), set up a power plan, go into the advanced settings and specify how fast the HDD will turn off.

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