WD Caviar SE16 single-platter 320GB hard drive poll

Silencing hard drives, optical drives and other storage devices

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee

My WD Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS-00B3A0 looks like

Version 1
13
57%
Version 2
10
43%
 
Total votes: 23

MikeC
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WD Caviar SE16 single-platter 320GB hard drive poll

Post by MikeC » Wed Apr 09, 2008 9:52 pm

In my review about the WD Caviar SE16 WD3200AAKS-00B3A0 hard drive, I reported on the existence of two difference types of housing for the drive. In the interest of silent PC enthusiasts, this is a poll to try and get a sense of whether one version is more widely distributed. (Discussion about the article is here.)

The differences are most marked on the underside of the drive, on the casting side where the PCB is mounted. The photo below shows version 1 (which is my own arbitrary identifier, since it was the first one I saw) on the right and version 2 on the left. Version 2 is quieter, not by a large margin by normal PC standards, but it's significant if you're into uber-quiet PC.

Image

If you have one (or more) of these drives, please post in this thread whether yours looks like version 1 or version 2. Please also post the date of manufacture, which is on the label on the top cover, as shown in the pic below.

Image
Last edited by MikeC on Sat Dec 06, 2008 12:14 pm, edited 4 times in total.

angelkiller
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Post by angelkiller » Thu Apr 10, 2008 4:44 am

Image
I ordered my WD3200AAKS on March 27th (from Newegg), and I got the first version. My drive has a manufacture date of February 12th 2008. (I answered in the poll)
Last edited by angelkiller on Thu Apr 10, 2008 9:52 am, edited 1 time in total.

frisky
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Post by frisky » Thu Apr 10, 2008 5:51 am

I bought one in Singapore on 30 Mar 08, and it is the first version, Manufacture date 24 Feb 2008, Make in Malaysia

Would be interested to see reviews on the Seagate 7200.11 Single platter 320GB too.
Last edited by frisky on Thu Apr 10, 2008 6:02 am, edited 1 time in total.

confusion
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Post by confusion » Sat Apr 12, 2008 12:36 pm

I don't have these drives but I'm passing on this information from my brother, who has four of them.

There are more variations than the two samples reviewed here.

Of his four:
All four have the top plate of your version 2.
All four have the ELEC-8 PCB.
Two have the bottom with 11 support ribs; these were made on 31 Jan 2008.
Two have the bottom with 5 support ribs; these were made on 01 Feb 2008.

So I don't know how to vote in the poll since none of the drives exactly match either your version 1 or version 2.


I would speculate the following based on the manufacture dates:
1) The top plate has been changed to the version 2 design?
2) The bottom casting is whatever they happen to be using at the time?
3) Ditto for the PCB?

nicko
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Post by nicko » Tue Apr 15, 2008 1:32 pm

I'm sorry for intruding in this topic, but if someone can post the results of HD Tach Long Bench test of one of these drives?

I have doubts right now, buy this drive or not :)

Just wanna say that my local store has second version, but I didn't see the manufacter date...

EDIT: no need for HD Tach test anymore, angelkiller did that...thanks again man :)

Cistron
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Post by Cistron » Thu Apr 17, 2008 1:46 pm

frisky wrote:Manufacture date 24 Feb 2008, Make in Malaysia
Dito and it is the lighter version. Unbelievable, now that I've actually have a somewhat quiet new computer, I'm quite annoyed by the drive.
Last edited by Cistron on Fri Apr 18, 2008 4:15 pm, edited 1 time in total.

pablo
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Post by pablo » Fri Apr 18, 2008 3:11 pm

Any Kiwis know which version we are likely to get here from the main wholesalers?

Dirge
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Post by Dirge » Tue Apr 22, 2008 8:07 pm

Hi i'm in New Zealand and just purchased one of these drives. The bottom of my HDD has 6 support ribs and looks like the WD6400AAKS. I will post pictures soon.

WD3200AAKS
10 Feb 2008
Made in Thailand

BTW could someone point me towards those HD Tach results? Have been searching but cant find any.

lobuni
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Post by lobuni » Tue Apr 22, 2008 10:58 pm

Dirge wrote: BTW could someone point me towards those HD Tach results? Have been searching but cant find any.
http://techreport.com/articles.x/14380/13
http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdo ... i=3269&p=2
http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=3236

you can download hdtach yourself and run it to see if your results are any different

http://www.simplisoftware.com/Public/in ... est=HdTach

xafier
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Post by xafier » Wed Apr 23, 2008 11:51 pm

If I bought one of these now from somewhere in the UK like ebuyer/scan/overclockers would I get the more quiet version or would it still be pot luck?

I'm temped by the SE 320Gb for its better performance, but I'd rather get the WD GP 500Gb if it's going to be pot luck whether its the good, the bad or the ugly version :lol:

Cistron
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Post by Cistron » Thu Apr 24, 2008 2:26 am

xafier wrote:If I bought one of these now from somewhere in the UK like ebuyer/scan/overclockers would I get the more quiet version or would it still be pot luck?
Mine is from Scan.

xafier
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Post by xafier » Thu Apr 24, 2008 2:59 am

Cistron wrote:Mine is from Scan.
Maybe I'll just get a WD GP then, unless the 640Gb model doesnt suffer from this same descepencies between batches?

nicko
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Post by nicko » Mon Apr 28, 2008 11:00 am

I bought today this drive and got Version 2.

From Malaysia, date: 30 January....

frisky
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Post by frisky » Wed Apr 30, 2008 8:07 am

Local store had a restock of the 320GB hdd, these were made on 4 Apr,
but apparent are of the 2 platter version, made in thailand though.

clinkme
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Post by clinkme » Sat May 03, 2008 4:59 am

It seems, there is also the Version 3 of WD3200AAKS. The drive motor is different from all previous versions.
The drive is very noisy: no seek sounds at all, very small vibration(7+), but very loud high pitch tone from the wheel.
Image and Image

lemmy
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Post by lemmy » Sat May 03, 2008 1:02 pm

clinkme wrote:It seems, there is also the Version 3 of WD3200AAKS. The drive motor is different from all previous versions.
The drive is very noisy: no seek sounds at all, very small vibration(7+), but very loud high pitch tone from the wheel.
Oh no - that's not good at all. I've been through bearing whine issues with WD for years. It is so hit/miss. Thanks for input.

yacoub
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Post by yacoub » Sat May 03, 2008 5:33 pm

clinkme wrote:It seems, there is also the Version 3 of WD3200AAKS. The drive motor is different from all previous versions.
The drive is very noisy: no seek sounds at all, very small vibration(7+), but very loud high pitch tone from the wheel.
Wow, that's HUGE news. Ugh.

NeilBlanchard
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Post by NeilBlanchard » Sun May 04, 2008 3:23 am

Hello,
clinkme wrote:It seems, there is also the Version 3 of WD3200AAKS. The drive motor is different from all previous versions.
The drive is very noisy: no seek sounds at all, very small vibration(7+), but very loud high pitch tone from the wheel.
This looks almost the same as the noisy model we already know about. How do you know it isn't the same?

Oh and welcome to SPCR!

clinkme
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Post by clinkme » Mon May 05, 2008 5:33 am

NeilBlanchard wrote:Hello,
clinkme wrote:It seems, there is also the Version 3 of WD3200AAKS. The drive motor is different from all previous versions.
The drive is very noisy: no seek sounds at all, very small vibration(7+), but very loud high pitch tone from the wheel.
This looks almost the same as the noisy model we already know about. How do you know it isn't the same?
See image!
Image

Yomat
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Post by Yomat » Wed May 07, 2008 6:09 pm

Heehe. The ole bait'n'switch con. Also popular among the LCD brands. Too bad I hate gambling.

Dirge
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Post by Dirge » Wed May 21, 2008 1:56 pm

I finally got around to posting those pics. This drive was purchased in New Zealand 22 April 2008. There seem to be a number of different versions of this drive. I note the PCB and bottom chassis are different from those in the SPCR review.
Hi i'm in New Zealand and just purchased one of these drives. The bottom of my HDD has 6 support ribs and looks like the WD6400AAKS. I will post pictures soon.

WD3200AAKS
10 Feb 2008
Made in Thailand

Image Image

Cistron
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Post by Cistron » Wed May 21, 2008 11:58 pm

Could the last one be an older dual platter version? It's not 00B3A0.

Dirge
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Post by Dirge » Thu May 22, 2008 12:38 am

Cistron wrote:Could the last one be an older dual platter version? It's not 00B3A0.
I really hope it's not dual platter. Its model number is WD3200AAKS-75VYA0

angelkiller
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Post by angelkiller » Thu May 22, 2008 2:21 am

Dirge wrote:
Cistron wrote:Could the last one be an older dual platter version? It's not 00B3A0.
I really hope it's not dual platter. Its model number is WD3200AAKS-75VYA0
Unfortunately, I think it is. The B3 is the single platter version. Could you post your results for HD Tune for comparison?

Dirge
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Post by Dirge » Thu May 22, 2008 2:54 am

I figure I got stuck with a dual platter drive after looking at these results. Damn I didn't reaslise there were different versions of the WD3200AAKS before purchasing.

Image

Edit: According to DailyTech
Update 1/25/2008: According to a close source at Western Digital, the WD3200AAKS model number is currently in use for the single 320GB platter model as well as the double 160GB platter model until the latter is phased out of the lineup.

NeilBlanchard
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Post by NeilBlanchard » Wed May 28, 2008 8:24 am

Hello,

We bought a 320GB SE16 drive from NewEgg -- it just arrived today, and it is "type 2" i.e. the quieter one with 11 ribs! :D

catkin
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Post by catkin » Wed Jun 04, 2008 11:05 pm

Hello :)

I just bought one in India.

It has both the 5 rib casting and wider ridged cover of version 1, although the cover has an extra ridge. The extra ridge should stiffen the cover and perhaps quieten the drive. The PCB is by DYnamic and its part number is 2060-701537-003 REV A, changed from the earlier 2060-701537-002 REV P1.

Manufacturing date is 16 April 08 so it does not seem that Western Digital have favoured the quieter 11 ridge casting after early production trials.

From the label: Product of Malaysia, DCM HARNHT2CG

Edwood
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Post by Edwood » Fri Jun 20, 2008 7:45 pm

I was doing musical chairs with my hard drives and pulled them out today to install my new Velociraptor, so I took a look at mine.

Mine looks like Version 2 on the Left with the more radial ribs.

Product of Malaysia
DATE: 23 JAN 2008
DCM: HGNCHV2CH

It's incredibly quiet, in fact the quietest drive I have. Including the WD6400AAKS and the Veliciraptor in 2.5" Scythe.

-Ed

pputer
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Post by pputer » Tue Jul 01, 2008 6:15 am

Hello, I found 'version 1' in a local store. How much more noise is there compared to the other one (i.e. "ver. 2")? Sorry, I forgot to look at the manufacture date. But, it had the 'five ribs.' It's about $60 (Cdn $$). If I can't find the other drive, is it worth buying? I am looking for a single-platter HD to be my new OS/System drive.

I don't know if the other version is available but in Ontario (Canada), I can confirm that at least one distributor/retailer is carrying version one with the reduced number of 'ribs.'

FYI.

Edit: Sorry to add but would retailers know what you're talking about if you ask if they stock the '11 ribs' drive? Is it worth it to try to find one? There's a bunch of distributors near me who sell the WD 3200AAKS drive with the B3 code but I don't know if they have the 11 ribs or 5 ribs. Is it possible that both types could be found in the area? Thanks, if anyone knows.

Kishai
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Post by Kishai » Mon Aug 11, 2008 9:16 pm

Have recently read the article on the WD3200AAKS harddrives. I have two bought in september 2007, dated august 2007 (am in New Zealand)—and one has just failed (it was from new obviously noisier spun up than the other, the latter being relatively quiet), or to be more precise, is failing (SMART) and i can still boot into it and use it, but do nothing to it regarding partitioning, verifying, &c, and i triple backup eveything so no problems there—and was surprised to find that both are identical to each other but different to the ones in the article! Having also read the article on the WD6400AAKS, i compared them to it, and found that the casing cover (including the plugged holes) and the PCB-side ribbing of my WD3200AAKS drives are identical to the WD6400AAKS illustrated; however, the PCB itself, which looks similar in all three reviewed drives, is different on mine!

The model info is:
      
      Product of Thailand
      MDL: WD3200AAKS-00VYA0
      Date: 26 AUG 2007
      
Thus, all this differs, including the paper sticker, from those reviewed.

I hope you find this of interest; just seen Dirge’s (from NZ also) input, and mine are identical looking to his but with slightly different model designation—looks like i got dual platter ones also.':x' Will be interesting to see what i end up with as a replacement, as presumably the warrantry covers this.

Devlésa
Last edited by Kishai on Tue Aug 12, 2008 5:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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