How is Western Digital Caviar SE 160 GB?

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 1:27 pm

Can anyone tell me how quiet the fluid damped model Caviar SE 160 GB models are?

HellDiver · Post by **HellDiver** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 4:33 pm

Very.

Compare favourably to the Barracuda 7200.7.

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 7:09 pm

HellDiver wrote:Very.

Compare favourably to the Barracuda 7200.7.

Now that I have it installed, I say it compares favorably to the Samsung SP1614N with NIDEC motor!

Believe me, I am totally surprised and never expected the WD drive to be as quiet, if not quieter, than the Samusng SP1614N.

Viperoni · Post by **Viperoni** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 8:07 pm

I think I'm gonna have to get me a WD 250gb SE

m0002a · Post by **m0002a** » Sat Feb 26, 2005 1:14 am

Where does it say that the SE drive is fluid damped?
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=57

"Quiet – Today's PCs, digital video recorders and gaming machines are increasingly operated in environments where noise is less tolerated. WD minimizes WD Caviar noise to levels virtually below the threshold of human hearing with its WhisperDrive™ technology, which features a highly efficient power driver design. And to cut seek noise, Soft Seek™ technology streamlines read/write seeking algorithms, resulting in the drive operating more efficiently when accessing and writing data."

The RE drives are advertised as fluid damped:
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=88

"Fluid Dynamic Bearings (FDB) – improve hard drive reliability; reduce heat, vibration and noise."

Am I missing something?

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Sat Feb 26, 2005 7:56 am

http://store.westerndigital.com/product.asp?sku=2277847

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Sat Feb 26, 2005 8:02 am

Seems like the WD online store has the updated FDB mentioned--I did speak with WD before buying directly from them and was told the Caviar SE drives are FDB.

http://store.westerndigital.com/product.asp?sku=2328183

as530 · Post by **as530** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 5:30 am

according to this UK news item from April 2004, all WD drives should have FDB by now.

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JVM · Post by **JVM** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 5:55 am

as530 wrote:according to this UK news item from April 2004, all WD drives should have FDB by now.

[right ][/url]

The date of manufacture listed on my drive is 12/24/04. Looks like it was made as a Christmas gift for me

Of course, I just received it in February, but better late than never

Coolin · Post by **Coolin** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 9:46 am

How do you check the date?

I bought my WD drive on Christmas, and it rattles like heck. I'm betting its 40+dB -_-

as530 · Post by **as530** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 9:53 am

coolin - which model did you buy? was it SATA? i am thinking of WD3000JD or WD3200JD - but neither are on sale in the UK yet.

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 10:45 am

Coolin wrote:How do you check the date?

I bought my WD drive on Christmas, and it rattles like heck. I'm betting its 40+dB -_-

The date is on the label--top of drive.

What kind of rattles do you get? I mean, does it always occur or at certain times?

What kind of case do you have? Aluminum? Steel?

Deheinx · Post by **Deheinx** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 11:16 am

This is from the Environmental's tab on the drive description page: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=57

Acoustics
Idle Mode 33 dBA (average)
Seek Mode 0 35 dBA (average)
Seek Mode 3 34 dBA (average)

Aren't these reading a bit loud to be considered 'quiet'?

JVM · Post by **JVM** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 11:52 am

Perhaps the specs shown in your post are from the period before WD went to FDB.

Here are the acoustic specs with the Caviar SE 160 GB IDE drive:

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=66

Acoustics
Idle Mode 26 dBA (average)
Seek Mode 0 31 dBA (average)
Seek Mode 3 27 dBA (average)

undefined · Post by **undefined** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 12:58 pm

I would strongly recommend downloading and running the Hitachi Feature Tool. This tool lets you set the acoustic management features - I have numerous Western Digital hard drives and most of them are relatively quiet when you get them, but can be set to run much quieter with about 5 minutes of work.

You can download the tool from:

http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm

madman2003 · Post by **madman2003** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 1:57 pm

Have the SATA models been improved too, because all the specs upto and including the 250 GB are still "loud"?(while all the PATA models are better)

Viperoni · Post by **Viperoni** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 3:07 pm

I picked up the WD 250gb SE SATA, FDB, manuf Dec.2004... pretty quiet drive!
Can't do any real noise comparo tests, but I can tell you it idles and seeks quieter than a 36.7 Raptor manuf. Aug 2004

carrot · Post by **carrot** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 5:28 pm

For the 160GB model, the IDE version is quieter (according to WD specs). I just got the 160GB model. It runs well. Gonna suspend it in a week or so. Not sure if it'll make a huge difference.

carrot · Post by **carrot** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 5:35 pm

What's kinda cool is the HD has a black top finish, while other HD's onyl have a normal silver metal top. Mine was produced Feb.1, 2005. I saw some other WD's at another store that had the standard silver top finish. I'm assuming those are the older stock and may not have the current decibal ratings. So look out for that maybe. cause in my case, the HD's were same price at both places, but one was new stock.

The black top finish is sexy.

Viperoni · Post by **Viperoni** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 8:36 pm

carrot wrote:What's kinda cool is the HD has a black top finish, while other HD's onyl have a normal silver metal top. Mine was produced Feb.1, 2005. I saw some other WD's at another store that had the standard silver top finish. I'm assuming those are the older stock and may not have the current decibal ratings. So look out for that maybe. cause in my case, the HD's were same price at both places, but one was new stock.

The black top finish is sexy.

Another thing to look for is the different WD logo. I'm pretty sure all the FDB motored SE's have the new looking WD logo.

jldet5 · Post by **jldet5** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 6:23 am

Just tried the 250G model, october 2004 build date, and it has a slight whine to it. According to the WD specs the 160 seems to be in some sort of sweet spot? The larger drives are slightly louder and the smaller drives are way louder? Surpised that the smaller drives are louder?

carrot · Post by **carrot** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 6:49 am

jldet5 wrote:Just tried the 250G model, october 2004 build date, and it has a slight whine to it. According to the WD specs the 160 seems to be in some sort of sweet spot? The larger drives are slightly louder and the smaller drives are way louder? Surpised that the smaller drives are louder?

I agree.

It gets louder after 160GB for IDE. And these dbA levels carry over for SATA models 300GB or over. (listed below for >=200GB IDE and >=300GB SATA)

Idle Mode 28 dBA (average)
Seek Mode 0 33 dBA (average)
Seek Mode 3 29 dBA (average)

For SATA 160GB they are louder than same IDE model. (listed below for SATA 160GB)

Idle Mode 34 dBA (average)
Seek Mode 0 36 dBA (average)
Seek Mode 3 35 dBA (average)

(listed below for IDE 160GB)

Idle Mode 26 dBA (average)
Seek Mode 0 31 dBA (average)
Seek Mode 3 27 dBA (average)

direavenger · Post by **direavenger** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 8:06 am

I thought I should mention my experience...

I work in a Computer hardware shop part time, and I just came across a new dell with a WD1600JD with a manufacture date of May 2004 (black top on the drive). This drive is MUCH quieter than the older WD's. I have an old school (spring 2002) WD800JB, and the high-frequency whine is deafening. This new WD drive has no high frequency whine, rather a low frequency hum. Subjectively, it is very quiet, and I was unable to hear it when it was inside the case.

While I have it in the shop, feel free to ask me any more questions.

madman2003 · Post by **madman2003** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 8:29 am

Do you know if other WD SATA drives have FDB or are those still ball bearing?