Western Digital drives: Raptor 74 & Caviar SE 250

Want to talk about one of the articles in SPCR? Here's the forum for you.
m0002a
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Re: Dual power connectors a byproduct of logic bridge?

Post by m0002a » Sun May 22, 2005 1:26 pm

WayneSherman wrote:At this point, the provision of a legacy power connector is likely motivated by other factors rather than being something dictated by the chipset logic.
One reason is that the Western Digital SecureConnect SATA cables (which only work on WD SATA drives) block the SATA power connector, and you must use the legacy power connector with these cables.

Mats
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Post by Mats » Mon May 23, 2005 4:25 am

Since there are both 300 and 320 GB versions available I was wondering if there are some other differences between these models exept capacity?

Devonavar
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Post by Devonavar » Tue May 24, 2005 12:50 pm

Since this review was posted, Western Digital has put out a new SATA-II line of Caviar Drives, with the model suffixes -JS and -KS (16 MB cache). Keep in mind that our review applies only to the 250GB -JD model. For what it's worth, Western Digital's noise specs for the new drives are slightly lower than the WD2500JD.

doudou
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Hey ?

Post by doudou » Tue May 24, 2005 1:42 pm

What a nice review to read ! Thanks SPCR, you've fulfilled my least probable wishes in only two reviews ! But here's an idea that might get me completely, entirely, wholy, happy : why didn't you test the raptor inside the scythe SBX 1000 enclosure ? Even better: inside the newly released nexus drive-a-way box ? Because I don't think testing a hard drive silencing box with the loudest drive you could find was a good idea. The question everyone here is wondering is : how can I get the best performance with the smallest noise ? So, I think for future reviews, you should pick the best hard drive enclosure on hand, and test new top performance drives like the raptor or new samsung's and Western Digital's SE16, inside and outside the box. and give us the sound recordings (darn good idea by the way ! You guys are geniuses !)
Please, Santa Mike... :D
So that I could be sure, before actually replacing my cuda IV...

Mats
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Post by Mats » Tue May 24, 2005 1:54 pm

Devonavar wrote:For what it's worth, Western Digital's noise specs for the new drives are slightly lower than the WD2500JD.
Only the JS (SATA2/8 MB) is more low noise, the KS (SATA2/ 16 MB) got the same noise as the other models according to their site.

m0002a
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Post by m0002a » Tue May 24, 2005 1:59 pm

Mats wrote:Only the JS (SATA2/8 MB) is more low noise, the KS (SATA2/ 16 MB) got the same noise as the other models according to their site.
I am not sure I would pay too much attention to the specs on the WD site. Maybe they have fixed it now, but recently they did not update them for the switch to FDB for all drives. i confirmed this with WD tech support.

You might look at the specs on the WD web store section, which might have more up to date specs.

Mats
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Post by Mats » Tue May 24, 2005 2:05 pm

m0002a wrote:You might look at the specs on the WD web store section, which might have more up to date specs.
Couldn't find any data about that.

m0002a
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Post by m0002a » Tue May 24, 2005 2:07 pm

Mats wrote:
m0002a wrote:You might look at the specs on the WD web store section, which might have more up to date specs.
Couldn't find any data about that.
http://store.westerndigital.com/searchr ... dept_id=72

Mats
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Post by Mats » Tue May 24, 2005 4:52 pm

m0002a wrote:
Mats wrote:
m0002a wrote:You might look at the specs on the WD web store section, which might have more up to date specs.
Couldn't find any data about that.
http://store.westerndigital.com/searchr ... dept_id=72
As I said, I couldn't find it, or am I blind? Can you give me a link or the numbers?

Chaendler
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Post by Chaendler » Tue Aug 16, 2005 6:22 am

Hello everybody in the forum!!
Could you tell me how to turn up the AAM mechanism?
Perhaps in bios? Perhaps a jumper? Or is via software?

I'm about to buy a caviar 3200JD.

Thank you!

Rick1114
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Post by Rick1114 » Tue Aug 16, 2005 7:01 am

I have a fairly new WD1600 JD (Sata). If I'm working on the CPU with the case open the seek noise seems a little loud to me. Closing the case (which sits below me in the desk almost on the floor) it's barely noticable. I can only hear a 'whine' if I put my ear right next to it. My WD is suspended with stretch majic and I've only got a 120 nexus case fan and a 90mm nexus MB fan w/ fanless PSU so it's easy to hear any kind of sound. I will admit to slight hearing loss in one ear though!

To put things in perspective, I can hear a 5yr old sony laptop from across the room while this things sits silently at my feet. If I'm working with large audio samples and the drive ramps up I can hear it, otherwise I have to 'try' to hear it.

I too would be interested in how to 'turn on' the AAM for a Western Digital HD.

Devonavar
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Post by Devonavar » Wed Aug 17, 2005 11:06 am

Turn on AAM with Hitachi's Drive Tool (too lazy to find the link right now ... it's in the testing methodology article that's linked in the review itself). There's plenty of instructions on how to do this elsewhere in the forums.

rpsgc
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Post by rpsgc » Fri Aug 19, 2005 10:08 am

Check this out, there's gonna be a new Raptor in Q2'06
150 GB (2 74GB platters)
16MB cache
SATA 300 connection
NCQ
RAFF (vibration control technology coined by WD)
Staggered spin-up
TLER (Time-limited error recovery)
I want to believe ;)

zoob
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Post by zoob » Fri Aug 19, 2005 6:24 pm

rpsgc wrote:Check this out, there's gonna be a new Raptor in Q2'06
150 GB (2 74GB platters)
16MB cache
SATA 300 connection
NCQ
RAFF (vibration control technology coined by WD)
Staggered spin-up
TLER (Time-limited error recovery)
I want to believe ;)
Image

SoopahMan
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Post by SoopahMan » Fri Aug 19, 2005 8:20 pm

Re earlier comment about some Raptors not making certain tell-tale noises - I've seen it mentioned over on StorageReview.com that Raptors have seen a lot of attention from Western Digital's engineers, and they're constantly being revised. I've seen this for myself, buying 2 Raptors 2 years ago and 2 more recently - the difference in sound, what pitch of sound, and at one temperatures and points in run-time it makes those sounds, is dramatic.

My old Raptors spun up loudly at boot then quiet down, and would slowly get higher pitched and quieter (presumably spinning off to dog-hearing land) as the machine continued running. My new Raptors are audible only when spinning up, spinning down, or when being accessed - their idle volume is unnoticeable.

rpsgc
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Post by rpsgc » Sat Aug 20, 2005 1:49 am

zoob wrote:Image
He he :lol:
So that means you don't buy it eh? :wink:

TheAtomicKid
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Raptor 74 gig.

Post by TheAtomicKid » Sat Aug 20, 2005 3:24 am

Was browsing and saw this thread, thought I'd chime in with my .02.

I recently.. (couple months ago), purchased a raptor in my quest to completely replace/upgrade all the drives in my system... it's a long story, don't wanna go into details here. Anyways, it's my new boot drive, and I'm extremely pleased with it... I need more! :D (three more, to be exact)

Idle noise: It's nearly inaudible when idling, especially if you go to any trouble to muffle it... my case has some soft rubber mounts for the 3.5 cages, which fit between the drive and the cage... the screws mount through the holes, so it's not a perfect system, but... mounted with care, using the 'default' setup that comes with the case... you basically can't hear it. Mind you, the noise floor for my case includes one of those really noisy MSI northbridge fans, but I try to accomodate that in my judgement of the idle noise.

Seek noise: I like the seek noise... best way I can describe it.. it's more of a 'throaty rumble' than an actually defined click or anything. I find it a very pleasant sound, and it really doesnt intrude, unless you do something that causes a lot of seeks... I like it because it lets me know the drive is there, without distracting me from what I'm doing.

Is it totally silent? No... but it is very quiet, and the seeks are not irritating, at least not to me.

TAK

Oh, as far as heat goes. When I first bought the drive, I had it laying on some foam on top of the case, for the initial format/surface test... and it did get quite warm. However, mounted in the front of my case, even when I didnt have the front fans running, but with _minimal_ airflow over the drive, it.. well, it's slightly warm to the touch, but then almost all drives will be. It is not hot by any means, as long as you maintain that minimal airflow. By contrast, I still own 4 IBM 75 GXP 'Deathstars'... the reason for my intended replacement of all hard drives, and they are significantly hotter running, and MUCH noisier, even at idle. You can hear them on the other end of the house, if I open all the doors and it's not too noisy outside. When the A/C kicks in it drowns it out though :D

TheAtomicKid
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Raptor, continued...

Post by TheAtomicKid » Sat Aug 20, 2005 3:37 am

Oh yes. I fussed around with turning on the AAM on the drive. Tried settings at 0, 128, 255, nothing seemed to make a difference in the noise level. It may be disabled, though you'd think the tool would pick up on that. (hitachi's tool, btw). That said, it doesnt really truly need it. anything that absolutely would need it... a DVR setup, for instance... that's mostly linear access anyways, with only a little bit of random... the drive will remain basically inaudible, unless I miss my guess.

TAK

Chaendler
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Post by Chaendler » Thu Sep 22, 2005 9:37 am

Hello all,
I only wanna make a comment for whom is about to buy a WD JD.

My WD 2000JD is extremely high pitched when at idle. It's like a wishtle, too anoying for me.
I think it's driving me crazy.
I'm returning it next week and buying a Maxtor DiamondMax10.

I hope Maxtor will not have this anoying whine at idle.

Shadowknight
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Post by Shadowknight » Wed Nov 09, 2005 9:11 pm

Resurrecting an old thread...

Awhile back, I had to RMA my Raptor (enclosed in a Smartdrive, resting on foam). Apparently, the SATA cable was full of corrosion, and so was the connector on the hard drive end. What would have cause that? The drive itself? A bad cable that was prone to corrosion somehow? Power surge? The current drive I've had running for much much longer than the old one, but I would rather make sure that I know whether or not I'll have to start obsessing about backing up reguarly in the future. I lost a LOT of data on that old drive.

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Post by sthayashi » Thu Nov 10, 2005 10:33 pm

Shadowknight wrote:Resurrecting an old thread...

Awhile back, I had to RMA my Raptor (enclosed in a Smartdrive, resting on foam). Apparently, the SATA cable was full of corrosion, and so was the connector on the hard drive end. What would have cause that? The drive itself? A bad cable that was prone to corrosion somehow? Power surge? The current drive I've had running for much much longer than the old one, but I would rather make sure that I know whether or not I'll have to start obsessing about backing up reguarly in the future. I lost a LOT of data on that old drive.
I've heard rumors of this sort of thing happening with people who live near a salt water body (e.g. ocean). Does this describe you at all?

Shadowknight
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Post by Shadowknight » Fri Nov 11, 2005 6:01 am

Nope. The sea's a 6 hour drive from where I live.

doudou
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Post by doudou » Thu Dec 08, 2005 2:57 am

Maybe there is too much humidity in the air in your place. Or there was when you enclosed the drive in the smartdrive. Further heat does increase chemical reactions' speed, so you may want to cool your raptor a little more...

Anyway, I originally wanted to post on something else: Storage review made an interesting article yesterday, on the different revisions of raptors. Apparently, the last increased performance even further. But what about noise ?
Anyone got a raptor during the last month ? Or about to get one for christmas ?

rpsgc
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Post by rpsgc » Thu Dec 08, 2005 3:46 am

doudou wrote:But what about noise ?
Anyone got a raptor during the last month ? Or about to get one for christmas ?
Their charts show its less noisy, as well as SPCR's.

doudou
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Post by doudou » Thu Dec 08, 2005 6:32 am

Ok but what I was wondering was how does the new revision compare to the one tested by SPCR ? Seeks are faster, will they be louder ? Are there any further improvements in noise ? etc...

Can anyone tell me what was the rev number of the drive SPCR tested ?

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Post by MikeC » Thu Dec 08, 2005 9:04 am

doudou wrote:Can anyone tell me what was the rev number of the drive SPCR tested ?
Firmware info is in the article.

rpsgc
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Post by rpsgc » Thu Dec 08, 2005 9:30 am

MikeC wrote:
doudou wrote:Can anyone tell me what was the rev number of the drive SPCR tested ?
Firmware info is in the article.
I think he meant revision number, not firmware version. I.e. "00FLC0" or "00FLA1", but I think it was the same type as SPCR's one.

doudou
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Post by doudou » Thu Dec 08, 2005 9:41 am

I think he meant revision number, not firmware version. I.e. "00FLC0" or "00FLA1",
Yes exactly that's what I am after ! :D Anyway, that's not a big deal. Just wanted to know if there was any improvement in noise to expect or not. I would bet there isn't, since both drives are equipped with FDB motors, and that was the main improvement between the first rev of Raptors and the one currently shipping. Jsut wanted to be sure...

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Post by Devonavar » Thu Dec 08, 2005 2:39 pm

The drive was listed as a 00FLA2 model. That doesn't tell me anything, but I hope it helps you...

rpsgc
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Post by rpsgc » Thu Dec 08, 2005 3:16 pm

Devonavar wrote:The drive was listed as a 00FLA2 model. That doesn't tell me anything, but I hope it helps you...
So they are not the same versions....
StorageReview wrote:Four major versions of the product have made it into the channel: the original 00FLA0 (covered in SR's initial review), the 00FLA1 (featured in our look at Raptor RAID performance and subsequently reassessed under Testbed4), the 00FLA2 (not tested by SR), and 00FLC0, the revision featured in this writeup.
I wonde if the 00FLC0 is still as quiet as the 00FLA2 tested by SPCR...

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