WD 640GB Noise

falcon26 · Post by **falcon26** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 3:56 pm

Is the the WD 640GB noise AAM on by default or do you have to enable it?

christopher3393 · Post by **christopher3393** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 7:34 pm

Ive read on xtreme systems.com that it's set to quiet by default :

edit I did a test on my WD6400AAKS, if i put AAM value of 128 i got a accestime of 15.6ms but it makes really less noise, however when i jack it up to 254, i got a accestime of 12.6ms and it is noticeable louder in seek, but nothing much to bother so I leave it at 254...my WD6400AAKS shows a default of 128 , however HDtune put it automaticly after install on 254

Mine's pretty quiet!

Cryoburner · Post by **Cryoburner** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 7:40 pm

I'm testing mine right now, and AAM is off by default, with my random access times averaging just under 13ms. Even so, the drive idles a bit quieter than my 160GB Samsung, and seeks are quieter as well, even with AAM enabled on the older drive. I haven't tried AAM with the WD yet, and I'll likely leave it in performance mode. Both drives are currently mounted with rubber grommets in an Antec Sonata case, though I plan to suspend them.

falcon26 · Post by **falcon26** » Fri Jun 06, 2008 6:36 am

Got the WD 640GB installed and it is indeed quieter and faster than my old samsung spinpoint T 320gb HD

farns · Post by **farns** » Mon Jun 09, 2008 6:14 pm

How does heat and idle noise compare to a WD5000AAKS? My 5000aaks is made in March 2008 so I guess its 3-platter, unless they are making 2-platter ones now?

christopher3393 · Post by **christopher3393** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 5:11 am

Tech Report's Noise and Power comparative graph: http://techreport.com/articles.x/14380/14

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Tue Jun 10, 2008 1:59 pm

13ms?! My bloody WD6400AAKS has a ~16ms access time!

And yes, mine came with AAM off.

Tez · Post by **Tez** » Thu Jun 12, 2008 11:25 am

farns wrote:How does heat and idle noise compare to a WD5000AAKS? My 5000aaks is made in March 2008 so I guess its 3-platter, unless they are making 2-platter ones now?

I just installed the WD6400AAKS into my P182, suspended in the upper chamber with my 5000AAKS. It is quieter than the 5000AAKS in both idle and seek noise, I cannot hear it at all

Temps are about the same, 35C each right now according to speedfan.

jlmsaw · Post by **jlmsaw** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 6:41 am

Can anyone comment on the type of idle noise these drives have? My last WD drive was a 200GB IDE drive (2000JB iirc). I couldn't stand the high pitch idle noise to it and replaced it with a couple 200gb PATA Seagates (ST320082's) which have been perfect as far as noise is concerned. I want to upgrade to the single 640GB drive and ditch my pci IDE controller but I don't want to have to deal with the high pitch idle noise that I heard in their older drives.

falcon26 · Post by **falcon26** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 8:09 am

Sorry for the late reply

Mine has no high pitched sound that I can here. Idle its dead quiet, seek is also almost dead quiet. Its still quieter in both seek and idle then my old samsung T HD. The only thing is the WD temps are a tad higher than the samsung. The WD is about 35 while my samsung was about 32. I am very pleased with this drive, its faster and quieter than the samsung which is what I wanted. I really wanted the samsung F1 320GB drive but it appears that it will not be released in the USA anytime soon, why I have no idea. Got my drive for $100 and its a very well spent $100 I might add. Anyone looking a a very quiet drive, and very fast the WD 640GB has both and at a good price too.

Cryoburner · Post by **Cryoburner** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 10:43 pm

rpsgc wrote:13ms?! My bloody WD6400AAKS has a ~16ms access time! :x

While my access times average around 13ms, the speed of my 6400AAKS is slightly limited by my motherboard's early SATA 1.5 controller. The controller only handles a burst rate of around 120MB/s, and the drive's overall performance is a little slower because of it. I could install a controller card to draw a bit more performance from the drive, but I'll likely be moving it to a new system in another year or so, and I can live with that for now. It's still much faster than my 160GB Samsung Drive. Here's a shot of my HDTach results comparing the two. : )

jlmsaw wrote:Can anyone comment on the type of idle noise these drives have?

The drive is rather quiet in my system. I can't distinguish any noticeable idle noise from a couple feet away, with anything there masked by the rest of the system. The seeks are also pretty quiet, and they're noticeably quieter in performance mode than my other drive in AAM mode.

rpsgc · Post by **rpsgc** » Tue Jun 17, 2008 12:10 am

Cryoburner wrote:
rpsgc wrote:13ms?! My bloody WD6400AAKS has a ~16ms access time!
While my access times average around 13ms

Forget it... mine had AAM on and I thought it was off '-.-