Maxtor Maxline III

clarkkent333 · Post by **clarkkent333** » Mon Sep 26, 2005 3:31 pm

Was just wondering if anyone had one or two of these and how the sound/heat are. I think I've decided on this to replace my stupid WD 3200.

Devonavar · Post by **Devonavar** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 12:14 am

They're identical to the DiamondMax 10 that was reviewed here. Take a look at the MaxLine III review at www.storagereview.com for proof that they're functionally identical.

clarkkent333 · Post by **clarkkent333** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 1:04 pm

Well I've been reading up over at SR and the Maxline are supposed to be enterprize class. I wasn't sure it that lead them to being noiser, or producing more heat, or both. Kind of wanted to hear from anyone who had one to see some first hand results.

SebRad · Post by **SebRad** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 2:36 pm

Hi, I have a Diamondmax 10 (mechanically identical, I remember reading on Storage Review a post from a Maxtor employee saying the only difference is the Maxline undergoes more stringent testing) 300GB / 3 platter SATA version. I have mine in an aluminium enclosure (LEY FEK Pro) in the intake path of my PC so it has reasonable air flow. At the moment ambient is 20°C and HDD smart report is 30°C, I've seem up to about 40°C a few months ago when the weather was hot. When I first got it I tested it as a bear drive with no air flow and I think it got pretty warm maybe 45+. I'd be surprised if it was any worse than any other equivalent drives.
Noise wise I don't think the FEK is doing much, a bear drive would be similar noise level. It's wedged in foam for good decoupling behind a decoupled 80mm panaflo L1A. The fan runs at 5V and putting my ear to the front of the case I can hear the soft sshhh sshhh of the fans bearings, somewhat quieter than the idle noise of the drive. By comparison my previous 80GB 'cuda ATA IV (one of the quietest ever 3.5" drives) idled a bit quieter than the fan.
Seeks are audible (even though it's decoupled), clearly so when ambient is very low. As per SPCRs review AAM will remove seek noise completely, but I quite like to hear it as feedback of when the drive is working hard.
Detailed PC set-up

Hope this helps,
Sebastien

OmegaZero · Post by **OmegaZero** » Tue Sep 27, 2005 5:09 pm

I have two Maxline III's (7L300S0) in my server, mounted with EAR grommets, and set up in a RAID1 array. In that machine I also have a WD Raptor WD360GD enclosed in a SmartDrive 2002 Copper, 4 Nexus 80mm fans @ 6v, a Zalman 7000b @ ~9v, and an S12-430.

For what it's worth the noise from those drives is the loudest thing in the case, but certainly not unmanageable. With the case closed up and on the floor it is definitely below ambient - even at 3am.

According to SpeedFan, the drives maintain a temp of ~22C just about all the time. They are located directly in front of two 80mm intakes, though the airflow from those Nexus fans @ 6v isn't much.

Hope this helps. I am very pleased with the drives myself, and would certainly recommend them.