Samsung drive noise normal?

carl · Post by **carl** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 7:37 am

Hey all. I just put a system together, with much help from folks here. Based on recommendations here at SPCR, I chose a Samsung SP1604N hard drive. At idle, the drive is great, I can't hear it. However, when writing to the disk (for example, installing Windows XP SP2), it's definitely audible. I can walk several feet away, and into the hall, and still hear it (although faintly). Sitting next to it kinda bugs me.

I'm not sure if this is normal, or if I have a defective drive. Perhap my expectations are too high? Last year I put a new hard drive in my Tivo (a Seagate Barracuda - mark 5 I think), and I can't hear it unless I get quite close to it; I was expecting the same from my PC.

I've read in the forums about AAM; is this enabled by default? If not, how do I enable it?

If AAM is enabled, do people think this drive is defective, or perhaps just installed improperly? I'm wondering if I should return it for a SP1614N anyway; maybe the SATA interface would be faster.

I don't have too long to return it, so I appreciate any and all advice!

Thanks!

Carl

Mr_Smartepants · Post by **Mr_Smartepants** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 12:27 pm

Mine just makes a periodic "growling" noise which is probably the heads seeking. I have AAM enabled. AAM is disabled by default. You'll need HUTIL to enable it (check the web links on the SPCR main page).

squanto · Post by **squanto** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 12:29 pm

I have the 80GB parallel ide version of that drive, and mine's nice and quiet except for then accessing the disk. It kind of growls too. Audible from across my room, but it doesn't bother me too much.

BTW, just got mine last week, so it should be from a fairly new batch as yours is.

ilh · Post by **ilh** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 12:32 pm

How is the drive mounted? If it is hard mounted to the drive cage, it will be much louder. I cannot hear either of my SP1614Cs seek even if I put my ear right up to the front of my SLK3000B, but they are suspended.

Silencing my Samsung DirecTivo is my next task. I can hear seeks from 10+ feet away. Yuck. I'll be using sorbothane for the drive mount.

carl · Post by **carl** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 1:10 pm

I'll download HUTIL tonight and try the AAM setting. I'm not sure why I didn't see this when I did forum archive searches. Doh!

As for how it is mounted, I'm not sure how to describe it (I'm pretty untechnical about building PCs). I have an Evercase 4252, and inside of it, there are a number of slots for CD drives, floppy drives, etc. Below these is a piece of metal that detaches from the case. It's in the shape of an upside-down square "U". The hard drive fits inside of this, and four screws hold it in, two on each side of the "U". I'm not sure if this is what you call mounted to the cage or suspended (or something else entirely). I did spend the extra money and got little rubber grommets that separate the screws form the "U".

I'm thinking if the HUTIL settings don't solve my issue, that perhaps I'll unmount the drive and place it on a piece of foam to see if it still makes noise. That way I can rule out the installation (or, hopefully, find out that it is the installation that's the problem, and not the drive).

Thanks!

Carl

burcakb · Post by **burcakb** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 1:20 pm

My "large" collection (of two

) samsung drives are both quiet (one JVC one NIDEC motor) wrt motor but both exhibit significant vibration. As I've got them both suspended, vibrations are not a problem for me.

From your description, I gather you've hardmounted (even with grommets that's still a hardmount) to the drive sleds. That'll still transmit vibrations to the case, probably amplifying it in the process.

There're two nice threads about drive suspension. One on drive silencing (a sticky I think) and another one of suspension pics. Have a look at them for ideas.

Suspension makes a HUGE difference in noise.

carl · Post by **carl** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 4:31 pm

burcakb wrote:My "large" collection (of two ) samsung drives are both quiet (one JVC one NIDEC motor) wrt motor but both exhibit significant vibration. As I've got them both suspended, vibrations are not a problem for me.

From your description, I gather you've hardmounted (even with grommets that's still a hardmount) to the drive sleds. That'll still transmit vibrations to the case, probably amplifying it in the process.

There're two nice threads about drive suspension. One on drive silencing (a sticky I think) and another one of suspension pics. Have a look at them for ideas.

Suspension makes a HUGE difference in noise.

Doh! I missed that sticky. I'm going to order a NoVibes mount; sounds like whatever HD I end up with, this product is a good thing.

Thanks!

Carl

carl · Post by **carl** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 9:18 pm

Well, I unmounted the drive and put it on a piece of foam, and the drive is much quieter, though not inaudible. I then ran HUTIL, and set the AAM to quiet mode. This made a difference; not inaudible, but very acceptable. When I remounted the drive and put it back into the case, the noise level went up again, and I could feel case vibrating in time with the HD seeks. So I'm pretty convinced getting a suspension mount will make a difference here.

Unfortunately Silicon Acoustics is out of NoVibes mounts, so I'll have to wait a bit for that. But right now I'm happy knowing that I won't have to return this drive.

Thanks again, everyone!

Carl

sthayashi · Post by **sthayashi** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 10:31 pm

Go to a fabric or bead store and get some Stretch magic. It's the cheapest and best investment you can make for drive decoupling.

as530 · Post by **as530** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 12:47 am

carl: alternatively, try small bits of sorbothane, which almost eliminated seek noise for my Spinpoints:

http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=20566

Samsung drive noise normal?

Samsung drive noise normal?

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