Hard Drives

greshoff · Post by **greshoff** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 1:40 am

I was wondering if the Samsung SP1614N 160 GB drive runs cooler and quieter than the Maxtor 6Y160PO 160 GB. I am looking for a drive that runs as cool and quietly as possible.

gitto · Post by **gitto** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 2:11 am

The Samsung P80 series has become the standard around here for cool and quiet 3.5" drives, just make sure you get a nidec motor one. But for the coolest and quietest drive possible....look into the 2.5" drives. They are magnitudes quieter and cooler, for a sufferable performance decrease.

greshoff · Post by **greshoff** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 2:15 am

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. What is a NIDEC motor?

Derek Baker · Post by **Derek Baker** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 3:27 am

The quietist one. Look for an N at the end of the model number, like the one in your first post.

scara · Post by **scara** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 3:47 am

I think you've got that wrong Derek, the N does not refer to the motor used. SP1614N denotes SpinPoint, 160GB, 8MB cache P-ATA drive. The sata version is named 1614C but can also use a Nidec motor.

greshoff
I bought two Nidec SP1614N from Micro Direct. Ask them to check for you if the motor is stamped with 'Nidec' or 'JVC'

greshoff · Post by **greshoff** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 9:38 am

scara wrote:I think you've got that wrong Derek, the N does not refer to the motor used. SP1614N denotes SpinPoint, 160GB, 8MB cache P-ATA drive. The sata version is named 1614C but can also use a Nidec motor.

greshoff
I bought two Nidec SP1614N from Micro Direct. Ask them to check for you if the motor is stamped with 'Nidec' or 'JVC'

What are the temps of the Nidec SP1614N Samsung drives? I was told they rum quite hot. Is this your experience?

karmasalad · Post by **karmasalad** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 10:39 am

greshoff wrote: What are the temps of the Nidec SP1614N Samsung drives? I was told they rum quite hot. Is this your experience?

They are quite cool. Checking the temp log on my server, the SP1614N has been hovering between 27C and 29C this morning. Temperature in NYC today is around 50F/10C.

Derek Baker · Post by **Derek Baker** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 11:38 pm

scara wrote:I think you've got that wrong Derek, the N does not refer to the motor used. SP1614N denotes SpinPoint, 160GB, 8MB cache P-ATA drive. The sata version is named 1614C but can also use a Nidec motor.

Whoops, sorry.

greshoff · Post by **greshoff** » Tue Mar 22, 2005 11:44 pm

I suppose I am trying to work out if I will gain any significant benefit in terms of noise and heat reduction from replacing the 2 Maxtor 6Y160PO 160 GB drives I have with 2 Samsung SP1614N 160 GB drives.

Any opinions greatefully received

greshoff · Post by **greshoff** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 1:30 am

scara wrote:I think you've got that wrong Derek, the N does not refer to the motor used. SP1614N denotes SpinPoint, 160GB, 8MB cache P-ATA drive. The sata version is named 1614C but can also use a Nidec motor.

greshoff
I bought two Nidec SP1614N from Micro Direct. Ask them to check for you if the motor is stamped with 'Nidec' or 'JVC'

Hi,

I have just spoken to Micro Direct who were unable to confirm whether they sell drives with a nidec or JVC motor. Which is more common?

scara · Post by **scara** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 6:22 am

greshoff wrote:What are the temps of the Nidec SP1614N Samsung drives? I was told they run quite hot. Is this your experience?

I wouldn't class them as particularly hot-running. Without direct airflow mine used to run at around 40C, thats with a case temp of ~35C (actual air temp not motherboard sensor). At the moment the drive is at 31C with 2x Nexus 80mm fans @ 5v blowing past it, case temp is 30C. Its important to note that if the drive was hard-mounted in the usual way, the temperature would be a few degrees lower.

The other drive was put in a standard Packard Bell from PC World and i think that runs in the low 30's while the OEM Seagate its attached to is generally over 40C.

greshoff wrote:I have just spoken to Micro Direct who were unable to confirm whether they sell drives with a nidec or JVC motor. Which is more common?

Thats a tough one to answer. I got the impression from these forums that recently JVC motors are more common with Nidecs becoming harder to find. That might not be the case globally however and maybe most places in the UK stock Nidecs. The truth is I just don't know.
Rather than just 'risk it' I think it would be better to find a supplier that can guarantee you a nidec.

greshoff wrote:I suppose I am trying to work out if I will gain any significant benefit in terms of noise and heat reduction from replacing the 2 Maxtor 6Y160PO 160 GB drives I have with 2 Samsung SP1614N 160 GB drives.

They're DiamondMax Plus 9's aren't they? I can say with some certainty that two Samsungs will be quieter, exactly how much quieter I don't know.
In Mike C's own words: "Maxtor also makes FDB drives that rate fairly low for measured noise, including some of the DiamondMax Plus 9 models. However, firsthand experience with a number of Maxtor drives over the past two years has not turned up any that I would personally accept as a quiet drive."

Hope some of that helps you,
Rich

Ackelind · Post by **Ackelind** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 6:45 am

The diamondmax 9 is not all that noisy, though my overall system is too noisy for me to say if it really is silent or not.

One thing i can say is that it is HOT! I have a barebone with close to no airflow around the discs, but my old tower didn't have that either, and i can say that the disc is so hot that i can barely touch it. It is hotter than my heatpipe cooling efter gaming!

greshoff · Post by **greshoff** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 8:47 am

[quote="scara"]Thats a tough one to answer. I got the impression from these forums that recently JVC motors are more common with Nidecs becoming harder to find. That might not be the case globally however and maybe most places in the UK stock Nidecs. The truth is I just don't know.
Rather than just 'risk it' I think it would be better to find a supplier that can guarantee you a nidec.[quote]

Every I have tried in the UK is unable to give me the info about the motors?

scara · Post by **scara** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 9:38 am

Where have you tried?
I doubt any large retailer would check for you but a small business probably will. Give Kustom PCs a shot, they're abit expensive at £72 but I really do think its worth paying the extra if they are Nidecs.

You could see if any of these can help but don't hold your breath:
Quiet PC
Overclockers UK
Overclock
Planet Micro
RL Supplies

Are there any shops locally that you could visit?

burcakb · Post by **burcakb** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 3:16 pm

One bit of warning with the Samsung drives though. This is based on my extremely small sample of 2 but I've seen similar posts on the board so....

The Samsung drives (I have one with JVC non-FDB, one with Nidec) are the quietest I've tried when suspended but tend to vibrate more (the JVC more than the other) than most others (including my Seagate 7200.7) so if you're going to hardmount them, you may be dissapointed a bit.

As for JVC/Nidec difference, I doubt you'll find any online retailer who'll guarantee you motor choise. The main difference is the JVC motor has a significantly louder & higher-pitched noise that can be pretty annoying. With melamine foam in the case however, they sound nearly identical.

Shining Arcanine · Post by **Shining Arcanine** » Wed Mar 23, 2005 5:00 pm

greshoff wrote:I was wondering if the Samsung SP1614N 160 GB drive runs cooler and quieter than the Maxtor 6Y160PO 160 GB. I am looking for a drive that runs as cool and quietly as possible.

Here's my recommendation:

http://www.westerndigital.com/en/produc ... DriveID=66

I have the 320GB model. It runs extremely quietly (not to mention Toms' Hardware said it was the coolest 3.5" hard drive they've ever encountered) and I've read accounts that the 160GB model is quieter than the 160GB Nidec Samsung Spinpoint hard drives.

greshoff · Post by **greshoff** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 11:27 am

scara wrote:Where have you tried?
I doubt any large retailer would check for you but a small business probably will. Give Kustom PCs a shot, they're abit expensive at £72 but I really do think its worth paying the extra if they are Nidecs.

You could see if any of these can help but don't hold your breath:
Quiet PC
Overclockers UK
Overclock
Planet Micro
RL Supplies

Are there any shops locally that you could visit?

I found a Nidec Samsung at Quiet PC. Thanks for your input. I'll post my thoughts on the drives once they are installed

greshoff · Post by **greshoff** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 12:45 am

The Samsung Nidec drives are now installed. They are quiet and temps are about 35° - 38° which are OK. I did notice the farmatted capacity of the 160gb drives is only 149gb. My old 160gb maxtors had a formatted capacity of 152gb. It seems a pity to loose 3gb's

Hard Drives

Hard Drives

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