ST3250410AS vs KS

elec999 · Post by **elec999** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 7:03 am

I am wondering if anyone is using the new Segeate 250gigers with single platters (ST3250410AS), how silent is it. Compared the Western Digital 250gigers ks or aaks.
Thanks

wwenze · Post by **wwenze** » Wed Sep 26, 2007 4:10 pm

If the 250GB 7200.10 are ST3250410AS (as I managed to google it out), then I guess I've seen those.

Nah, seeks are loud. I haven't touched the WD ks/aaks before, but even when compared to P120 and Barracuda IV,

It's still loud.

Never got to test the idle though, coz it was for a client's computer and even the "silent" PSU fan was louder...

I've lost faith in Seagate after U6 and BarracudaIV/V... since all the low-capacity 7200.7, 7200.8, 7200.9, 7200.10 (most people don't go for 500gig ya?) are louder compared to the rest of the HDD I'm using.

SHODAN · Post by **SHODAN** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 9:09 am

This drive (ST3250410AS) has very high ratings at NewEgg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822148262

There are several comments about it being very quiet. Has Seagate soured all of you to the point that no one is trying this drive? Are these reviewers simply too accustomed to noise?

A collection of quotes about this drive:

From NewEgg:

My quest to find a quiet hard drive is finally over! This HDD is virtually silent! The reason: this drive is built utilizing Seagate's second-generation perpendicular magnetic recording technology on one disc (data density of 180 Gbits per square inch). If you desire a really quiet hard drive, this is it! Windows Vista's 'Windows Experience Index' rates this drive at 5.9 (highest) for disk data transfer rate.

Works silently, just like Seagate drives I owned in the past.

I can't even hear the drive, it's virtually silent.

Great size for the price. Slim build, as it only has one platter, which also equates to it being pretty silent.

Pros: Extremely quiet, slim, cool running

This is a very quiet drive. FAST and Quiet. This drive for the price is awesome.

ProVantage user review:

The drive is SUPER quite and runs nice and cool with the help of less moving parts (less platters and motors) .

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/message ... did=758568

Just installed this drive in my computer. When Seagate said it's super quiet, they weren't kidding. I cannot hear any clicking sound whatsoever, even after I turned my fans down all the way. ... The most impressive thing, I feel, for these drives, is how quiet it is. Completely no clicking sound whatsoever.

elec999 · Post by **elec999** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 9:13 am

I heard these should be faster and quitter since they are single platter drives. But I want to confirm this. Some people review as being quiet, but then again my KS which is superloud when I bought it I read reviews being "quiet".
Thanks

SHODAN · Post by **SHODAN** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 6:19 pm

I have ordered one of these drives. I will compare it to my 60GB Barracuda ATA V and post the result.

wwenze · Post by **wwenze** » Fri Sep 28, 2007 10:40 pm

SHODAN wrote:This drive (ST3250410AS) has very high ratings at NewEgg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822148262

There are several comments about it being very quiet. Has Seagate soured all of you to the point that no one is trying this drive? Are these reviewers simply too accustomed to noise?

I believe this isn't the only forum that will tell you that newegg reviews are totally useless,

but nonetheless, for me, the 7200.x drives I've met, have relatively ok idle and loud seeks, from 7 up to 10.

And one interesting thing to note is that, supporting the finds of another SPCR (mini)review, the SATA 7200.7 I had was indeed louder than the PATA 7200.7, both single-platter.
Most important -> AAM cannot or very hard to be enabled on these drives.

But, even though they are loud (measuring close to or over 30dbA in SPCR's reviews), they would be at most twice as loud compared to other normal (as in maths -> statistic context, as in what you or your neighbour owns) drives, and drowned out easily by a fan @ 3000rpm.

But, given that there was Barracuda IV, and there are now drives that wins it in terms of noise, idle or seek (WD & Samsung), isn't it pointless to buy something that is louder if you are a quiet PC enthusiaist?

And the final but, in this forum, people seldom have fan speeds over 1500rpm. With a system @ 20~23dbA, a HDD motor is already the loudest consistent noise in the PC. And with a seek noise of ~30dbA and the only thing you can distinctly hear 1m away and break that silence,

How can that be not loud?

Oh and one more thing, although HDDs today are all very quiet compared to last time, threadstarter specifically asked for comparison against the aaks ans ks, which have been measured to give very soft seeks. Against those, it'd be impossible to find good evidence of a drive that can win against those. Similarly, Samsung drives and the Barracuda IV are also famous for the same reason. Against all of these, no doubt the newer Seagates are loud(er)

elec999 wrote:I heard these should be faster and quitter since they are single platter drives. But I want to confirm this. Some people review as being quiet, but then again my KS which is superloud when I bought it I read reviews being "quiet".
Thanks

Single platter drives are slower than multi-platter drives of the same platter type...
But then there isn't a multi-platter 250GB per platter drive yet for comparison, IF the drive you'll get is indeed 250GB per platter.

And WD has huge sample variance problem, which you'll hear about when you search it.

Not as though Samsung or Seagate don't have it. But apparently for WD it's bad. On a slightly related note, I actually owned a 40GB WD that supposedly use FDB, or liquid bearing, and it sounded worse than my old ball-bearing drives...

The plus side of Seagate, it has been fairly consistent for me. Seeks are there, but idle is good. Handled (and closely touched :p) almost 10 of the 7200.x so far, and never had to start a new thread complaining that the motor noise is unexpectedly loud.

Oh and while less platters are quieter than more, becuz of design and sample variance, getting a drive with less platters do no gaurentee lower noise. There was actually one comment that the guy's Barracuda 40GB was louder than his 80GB. And And no 1/2 the platter is not 1/2 the noise, only slightly less.

Also, here's SPCR's own review on single-platter 7200.9. Results speaks better than my 2-page long talking.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article291-page3.html
And it's 4-platter brother:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article283-page3.html
7200.10 - 4-platter version
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article611-page2.html

SHODAN · Post by **SHODAN** » Sat Sep 29, 2007 9:35 am

wwenze wrote:I believe this isn't the only forum that will tell you that newegg reviews are totally useless,

For measures of quietness (granted), or everything? When I built my current PC in 2002/2003, I thought the NewEgg reviews were considered at least somewhat valuable. It is a shame if that has changed, or if I've been duped all along.

but nonetheless, for me, the 7200.x drives I've met, have relatively ok idle and loud seeks, from 7 up to 10.
And one interesting thing to note is that, supporting the finds of another SPCR (mini)review, the SATA 7200.7 I had was indeed louder than the PATA 7200.7, both single-platter.
Most important -> AAM cannot or very hard to be enabled on these drives.

One of the things that interested me in the new Seagate drive is that apparently AAM is now enabled by default. I will be able to give my thoughts on this next week when the drive gets here.

Oh and one more thing, although HDDs today are all very quiet compared to last time, threadstarter specifically asked for comparison against the aaks ans ks, which have been measured to give very soft seeks. Against those, it'd be impossible to find good evidence of a drive that can win against those. Similarly, Samsung drives and the Barracuda IV are also famous for the same reason. Against all of these, no doubt the newer Seagates are loud(er)

We shall see. As previously stated, I will compare it to my 80GB 'Cuda V. It is my understanding the 'Cuda V is comparable to the 'Cuda IV?

wwenze · Post by **wwenze** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 7:53 pm

It's been more than a week. So how is it? I'm curious.

Das_Saunamies · Post by **Das_Saunamies** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 10:33 pm

Last time I tried a Seagate single-platter it churned out the worst vibrations my case has ever seen. Would not buy again.

Also, user reviews are useless, especially on shopping sites. Half the people talk through their hat and the other half through their ass - you can't expect them to know anything about, well, anything. They're just people who have enough spare time to put in a few lines at the shopping site they visit, usually immediately after receiving their product, limiting their actual experience with it.

Unregistered, general-purpose user reviews? AVOID.

Tn3 · Post by **Tn3** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 12:02 pm

I have 2 of these drives and are really satisfied with them.
With my nexus 92mm@800rpm the fans are louder then the disks when working.
I'm not an expert but its alot better then my old 7200.9 and 7200.7.

donpipo · Post by **donpipo** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 4:53 am

I personally own one of those ST3250410AS one-platter 250GB.
This drive is virtually silent!

Case opened, seeks are inaudible.

I've never had particularly silent drives in the past but this one is a real surprise.
Amazingly fast: 82 MB/s average read, 105 MB/s at the beginning of the drive.
Amazingly silent at seeking.
Idle noise exists, but no whine and much, much quieter at idle than Hitachi 7K250 drives I own.
It seems to vibrate a lot, just a detail if it's soft mounted.

A detail though: it's elastic-mounted in an Antec Solo case.

PS: No official tests have been made at this time, it would be nice to see one coming to confirm users comments and reviews.

bendit · Post by **bendit** » Fri Nov 16, 2007 3:11 pm

beware of this drive. seeks are driving me crazy! I tried to enable aam and it says it's NOT supported. It's much louder than my last drive which was a single platter WD 160gb, although it is faster.

ST3250410AS vs KS

ST3250410AS vs KS

It IS silent