Samsung SpinPoint P80 120 GB?

Hanu · Post by **Hanu** » Mon Jun 23, 2003 11:29 am

I was looking for a new, quiet HDD and came across this Samsung drive. The shop lists it as "NEW" and it's fairly cheap. I've read the review here in SPCR and Samsung's SP1604N got very good scores. Well, using my brains, I deducted that the SP1203N would also be very good. So, is Samsung SpinPoint P80 120 GB really SP1203N? There wasn't really much info in the shop so I'm not sure if this really is the praised SP1203N. Going to Samsung's site revealed that the P80 series consists of

SP0612N / 60.0GB / 7200rpm
SP0802N / 80.0GB / 7200rpm
SP1203N / 120.0GB / 7200rpm
SP1604N / 160.0GB / 7200rpm
SP0812N / 80.0GB / 7200rpm
SP1213N / 120.0GB / 7200rpm
SP1614N / 160.0GB / 7200rpm

So, I'd think I am correct, but I want to be absolutely sure.
Any help would be greatly appreciated, as my current 5400 RPM old Maxtor is driving me NUTS!!

ez2remember · Post by **ez2remember** » Mon Jun 23, 2003 12:09 pm

Read this thread for more info

They are all the same model as reviewed by MikeC except these ones are the 8mb cache versions.

SP0812N / 80.0GB / 7200rpm
SP1213N / 120.0GB / 7200rpm
SP1614N / 160.0GB / 7200rpm

It is safe to assume these drive will be just as quiet as the 2mb versions but with the increased speed. Go for the 8mb cache if you can afford it, a worthy investment.

Unicron · Post by **Unicron** » Mon Jun 23, 2003 12:36 pm

How big is the speed difference between the 2MB and 8MB version?

Hanu · Post by **Hanu** » Mon Jun 23, 2003 12:52 pm

Thank you.......

Too bad I can't find the 8 mb versions... how much would they cost? I don't really need that much performance (my oooooold Maxtor is perfect performance-wise) so would it make any sense to get the 8 mb version?

So, the P80 is a good investment?:)

ez2remember · Post by **ez2remember** » Mon Jun 23, 2003 4:18 pm

Don't worry this new 2mb cache HD will be a big improvement over 5400rpm drive. My brothers 5400rpm (also Maxtor) hard disk feels like a turtle compared the latest generations of 7200rpm 80GB per platter HDD. You will feel like you upgraded from a Turtle to Ferrari.

Tell me your experience when you get it..

ez2remember · Post by **ez2remember** » Mon Jun 23, 2003 4:44 pm

Unicron wrote:How big is the speed difference between the 2MB and 8MB version?

I think you will get between 10-15% improvement, but it will feel a whole lot faster than this in a real system, since the HDD is the slowest component, if we exclude optical drives, flash drives etc.

It's still mechanical which is very slow compared to circuits which travels at the speed of electricity. That's why ramdrives or solid state HDD may make your system feel atleast twice as fast, even though nothing else has changed.

monkiman · Post by **monkiman** » Mon Jun 23, 2003 5:08 pm

The 8 meg versions don't seem to be available anywhere.

Newegg has the 120 for $96.00 the 160 for $115.00 (free shipping)

Might be buying a new HD!

Hanu · Post by **Hanu** » Wed Jun 25, 2003 1:13 pm

Thanks everybody, I think I'm gonna get the P80-series SP1203N (120 GB), as it seems to be fast enough and reasonably priced (120 €). I just hope it's as quiet as it claims to be.... my Maxtor's driving me insane....

karmasalad · Post by **karmasalad** » Wed Jun 25, 2003 1:48 pm

I just ordered the P80 120GB hd today from Newegg (managed to sell my old 5400rpm Maxtor so the upgrade to this was pretty cheap).

I should be getting it in at the end of this week or early next. I'll report back on how it is then.

Hanu · Post by **Hanu** » Thu Jun 26, 2003 12:49 pm

karmasalad wrote:I just ordered the P80 120GB hd today from Newegg (managed to sell my old 5400rpm Maxtor so the upgrade to this was pretty cheap).

I should be getting it in at the end of this week or early next. I'll report back on how it is then.

Cool!:)

Please tell me how you like it when you get it, ok? Users' real life experiences can tell a lot more than a few reviews.

geordie · Post by **geordie** » Wed Jul 02, 2003 11:24 pm

I got my SP1203N a few days ago and it is very quiet - much quieter than my old Maxtor 5400rpm. Can't hear it above the psu noise.

The default AAM setting is fast seeks, and it is very quiet even at this setting. Download HUTIL from samsung to change it to quiet seek.

scubasau · Post by **scubasau** » Thu Jul 03, 2003 6:21 am

Has the higher vibration been a problem with those hard-mounting in their cases?

the vibration is quite substantial in my case (with the drive hardmounted), but after plugging my raid array (2xwd1200) back in, the vibration noise/case resonance is masked by the whine of those drives. If the samsung is your only drive, or if your other hds are quiet, then I'd definitely recommend decoupling.

QuietMind · Post by **QuietMind** » Fri Jul 04, 2003 3:05 pm

Unicron wrote:How big is the speed difference between the 2MB and 8MB version?

I caught myself looking for an 8MB version then thought, "Wait a minute". I've already got 512MB of RAM in my system, and I'm running Linux which is automatically caching all disk access in this RAM. What's the point of adding another 6MB of RAM on the disk? Wouldn't that just be redundant (and more expensive) than using some of the 512MB I've already got? I suppose it's possible the hard disk manufacturers are using faster RAM in their caches than mainboard RAM, and if so, does that really matter in the real world? If I'm reading or writing to a disk, I'm most likely reading or writing from mainboard RAM anyway, so that'll be the limiting factor even if the memory the hard disk is using is faster.

Who knows whether Windows is doing the right thing, but can anyway explain to me why extra drive cache on a Linux system isn't pointless?

karmasalad · Post by **karmasalad** » Fri Jul 04, 2003 9:19 pm

Well, I finally got around to installing the hard drive in my system tonight.

It's definitely a quiet drive, but it's not silent. There's a slight high-pitched whine to it. It's clearly discernable when you place your ear next to it, and becomes progressively fainter as you move away. However, even with the case closed, I can still hear it above the PSU (Seasonic SS300) and my NMB fans.

Mind you, this is in a silent room in the middle of the night. During the day, I'm not sure I'd be able to make out the noise.

I've read about reports of vibrations, but I don't think the noise I'm hearing stems from that. Again, it's not loud, but it is audible. I've switched between Fast and Quiet in the AAM settings, but I can't tell any difference.

I don't think my drive is defective either. Ran the full diagnostics and everything reports fine. I'll try running it again later just to make sure though.

Overall, I'm slightly disappointed (was expecting silence, especially when sealed in the case), but I would buy another. (In fact, I plan on picking up the 80GB model next week.) It is a HUGE improvement over my Maxtor DM+60.

Has anybody else experienced the faint whine that I'm hearing? Or am I just too sensitve?

al bundy · Post by **al bundy** » Fri Jul 04, 2003 9:28 pm

karmasalad wrote:...It's definitely a quiet drive, but it's not silent. There's a slight high-pitched whine to it. It's clearly discernable when you place your ear next to it, and becomes progressively fainter as you move away. ...Again, it's not loud, but it is audible. I've switched between Fast and Quiet in the AAM settings, but I can't tell any difference... Overall, I'm slightly disappointed (was expecting silence, especially when sealed in the case), but I would buy another...

Thanks for sharing that info, it helps to know that.

karmasalad · Post by **karmasalad** » Fri Jul 04, 2003 11:46 pm

Okay, played around with the drive some more, and my initial disappointment is waning. I'm more pleased with it now.

The drive passed another full series of diagnostics, so there's nothing wrong with it physically. The whine is indeed there.

BUT I don't want to give people the impression that it is anything near loud. It's not.

Having only the hard drive and CPU fan plugged in (through a FanMate turned all the way down), I can make out the whine in a silent room with the case closed. However, you have to sort of concentrate to hear it. In other words, if you're not specifically listening for it, you may not notice it. (I'm sensitive to high-pitched sounds though, so I notice it pretty easily. Still, it's not particularly bothersome.)

Now, with the NMB case fans (regular 12v) plugged in as well, the whine becomes masked by the soft whoosh of the fan noise. Again, if you concentrate, you can still make out the high-pitched whine above the soft airflow noise. But the NMBs become more of an annoyance than the faint whine.

I haven't had the chance to test out the seek noise, but that's not really a major concern of mine. Idle noise is most important to me.

The temp of the hd has varied in the range of 22C to 33C, usually stabilizing around 29 ~ 31C.

Sooo... while I don't agree with Samsung's claim that "you won't even know it's there," it is indeed very quiet. If I had my windows open, I probably would not hear it. I've never had a Seagate, so I can't give any comparisons to any of the 'Cudas, but it's by far the quietest hd I've ever had.

I think the best way to sum it up is this: I'll be picking up one of the 80GB models from Newegg next week.

Hope this has been helpful to some of you still trying to decide on the drive. Now I need to get some sleep!

al bundy · Post by **al bundy** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 1:34 am

karmasalad wrote:...The whine is indeed there... Having only the hard drive and CPU fan plugged in (through a FanMate turned all the way down), I can make out the whine in a silent room with the case closed... I'm sensitive to high-pitched sounds though, so I notice it pretty easily... with the NMB case fans (regular 12v) plugged in as well... if you concentrate, you can still make out the high-pitched whine above the soft airflow noise... Idle noise is most important to me... I don't agree with Samsung's claim that "you won't even know it's there,"... but it's by far the quietest hd I've ever had... Hope this has been helpful...

This is indeed helpful information, at least to me. Thanks again.

Hanu · Post by **Hanu** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 2:13 am

Many thanks karmasalad.

Might pick it up someday.

QuietMind · Post by **QuietMind** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 1:59 pm

QuietMind wrote:Who knows whether Windows is doing the right thing, but can anyway explain to me why extra drive cache on a Linux system isn't pointless?

I found a good discussion of the issue.

ez2remember · Post by **ez2remember** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 4:50 pm

Hey, even with quiet drives I hope you guys have it decoupled. Sit it on foam and the whine and vibrations should be less or inaudible above everything else in your case.

cliche · Post by **cliche** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 5:35 pm

ez2remember wrote:Hey, even with quiet drives I hope you guys have it decoupled. Sit it on foam and the whine and vibrations should be less or inaudible above everything else in your case.

I know that vibrations are reduced when decoupled, but I thought that whine was due to spindle speed and that decoupling has little or no effect on this?
Am I thinking wrong ?

xilles · Post by **xilles** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 5:46 pm

i got 2 samsung drives and i have a 120gb in this and i cant hear it

al bundy · Post by **al bundy** » Sat Jul 05, 2003 11:53 pm

cliche wrote:I know that vibrations are reduced when decoupled, but I thought that whine was due to spindle speed and that decoupling has little or no effect on this?...

That has been my experience too. Decoupling is great for diminishing seek noise. However, in a very quiet rig, decoupling doesn't help to get rid of that &%#$@%* high-pitched idle whine noise!

cliche · Post by **cliche** » Sun Jul 06, 2003 7:23 am

al bundy wrote:
cliche wrote:I know that vibrations are reduced when decoupled, but I thought that whine was due to spindle speed and that decoupling has little or no effect on this?...
That has been my experience too. Decoupling is great for diminishing seek noise. However, in a very quiet rig, decoupling doesn't help to get rid of that &%#$@%* high-pitched idle whine noise!

Disconnect my 2 x Maxtors last night and woah, bliss (almost).
Have emailed samsung regarding their 8 meg version of the HDD btw.
Will post (prob. on another topic if I lose this one) if I get a reply.

ez2remember · Post by **ez2remember** » Sun Jul 06, 2003 8:18 am

cliche wrote:
ez2remember wrote:Hey, even with quiet drives I hope you guys have it decoupled. Sit it on foam and the whine and vibrations should be less or inaudible above everything else in your case.

I know that vibrations are reduced when decoupled, but I thought that whine was due to spindle speed and that decoupling has little or no effect on this?
Am I thinking wrong ?

I am not sure about high pitched whine mentioned by al bundy, but the little whine on my Maxtor DM+9 is reduced by sitting it on a good piece thick soft foam, but suspended with elastic the whine remains.

I think the foam acts like the seashield found in the Barracuda IV. It seems to me most of the noise comes from the underside of the drive, and sitting it on foam just leaves no gaps for noise to escape, from my POV anyway, but no harm in trying, foam should be easy to find.

One bad point sitting it on foam, seems to increase the HDD temps a little.