Western Digital 320gb WD3200JD SATA way too whiny

ivan · Post by **ivan** » Thu Jul 07, 2005 3:56 pm

I got this drive from Newegg (after hearing reports of broken drives from Monarch). There is no audible high pitch sound from any angle, and I've got better ears than anyone I know. There's a lot of whooshing white noise, but it's very tolerable and within my limits. It is mounted flat/horizontally in my Antec SLK-3000B with the rubber grommets.

I'm not certain yet but I think the idle noise level on this drive is far higher than on my external 200GB Seagate.

Edit: either I'm deaf or the drive is a lot quieter now. I plugged in my CPU so my computer actually boots.

Shining Arcanine · Post by **Shining Arcanine** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 6:17 am

ivan wrote:I got this drive from Newegg (after hearing reports of broken drives from Monarch). There is no audible high pitch sound from any angle, and I've got better ears than anyone I know. There's a lot of whooshing white noise, but it's very tolerable and within my limits. It is mounted flat/horizontally in my Antec SLK-3000B with the rubber grommets.

I'm not certain yet but I think the idle noise level on this drive is far higher than on my external 200GB Seagate.

Edit: either I'm deaf or the drive is a lot quieter now. I plugged in my CPU so my computer actually boots.

That is how I felt when I replaced my hard drives with my 320GB Caviar.

dragontales · Post by **dragontales** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 5:00 pm

UPDATE:

Okay I got my new drive today and I am testing it out right now. It seems like it is still giving out the same whine but this time the volume is much lower and less noticable. I think this softer sound is tolerable for me. I think I will find an enclosure for it for sure. So overall, I guess I am semi-satisfied with my replacement. I'm guessing these Western Digital hdd is the luck of the draw. I'm not going to do another return or replacement. It's just not worth the time, money, or effort. One thing is for sure though, I will not buy another Wester Digital drive for a long time.

JazzJackRabbit · Post by **JazzJackRabbit** » Fri Jul 08, 2005 5:15 pm

Thanks for the update. Bad news for me though, if all the drives have this coarse whine, then I don't want another replacement. It seems the best option for me is to either sell the drive or return it in which case I'll lose $25 in restocking fees and shipping...

What's interesting is that I have a first generation of fluid bearing WD, more specifically 2500JB, made in 2003 and it has absolutely none of that whine I'm getting with 3200JD. I don't know why WD decided to change the fluid bearings if their first generation was considerably quiter than the one used in 3200JB/JD.

clarkkent333 · Post by **clarkkent333** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 5:41 pm

Anyone else having problems with the whining? I'm thinking about 3 of these for my 1TB setup.

dragontales · Post by **dragontales** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 10:50 pm

clarkkent333 wrote:Anyone else having problems with the whining? I'm thinking about 3 of these for my 1TB setup.

If all three drives come whiny, you will go insane. It is the luck of the draw buddy.

lenny · Post by **lenny** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 10:58 pm

Can those of you with the WD 3200JB/JD post info about the motor types and the noise? I wonder if this is similar to the Samsung with two different motor types, one being quieter than the other.

JazzJackRabbit · Post by **JazzJackRabbit** » Fri Jul 15, 2005 6:04 am

I'm going to order another HDD to replace 3200JD. As soon as it comes and I transfer data to it I'll take the 3200JD out and will write down everything I can to try to identify if it's indeed a certain batch that is whiny. Although as far as I remember WD does not print spindle manufacturer like Samsung does so there is no way of identifying it.

JazzJackRabbit · Post by **JazzJackRabbit** » Thu Jul 21, 2005 3:50 pm

I took out the 3200JD today and as I suspected there are no identifying marks on the bottom of the hard drive so there is no way to tell who makes the bearings.

Personally I would not recommend any SPCRer getting new WD hard drives. The "coarse whine" as coined by the SPCR review of 2500JD is way too annoying, it can be heard all the way across the room and may fade out and reappear again within minutes which makes it even more annoying - just when you think it's gone it's back.

anze · Post by **anze** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 6:59 pm

JazzJackRabbit wrote: http://www.silentpcreview.com/files/sou ... -26dba.mp3
Here, I linked it directly for your pleasure. Download and notice the change at 10 second mark, that's what my drive sounds all the time.

dragontales wrote: That is the exact noise that I am getting from my drive. It is freakin annoying.

Thats exactly the kind of noise i also get from WDC 3200JB. I also noticed this sound is not always there (just on 1/3 of the drive). I noticed it when i was "low formating" drive and on the beginning the noise was there on the end it was silent and when the low format finished the noise appeared again.

So i guess all 3200JB has this noise? I already returned one drive and this replacement has the same kind of noise.

Quite dissapointed with WD :/. Is there any way to get rid of this noise? Dragontales did that enclosure help?

ROcHE · Post by **ROcHE** » Thu Jun 08, 2006 6:23 pm

Sorry to bring back this old thread. I think I have the same problem with a new WD3200JD.

It emits a faint whining noise, different from a standard idle bearing noise. The sound changes every second or so and I just can't stand it.

Any solutions or ideas to insulate this kind of noise?

ROcHE · Post by **ROcHE** » Fri Jun 09, 2006 5:56 am

Here is a recording of the noise, discard the obvious seek.

Link

Shining Arcanine · Post by **Shining Arcanine** » Sun Jun 11, 2006 5:56 pm

ROcHE wrote:Here is a recording of the noise, discard the obvious seek.

Link

I have a WD3200JB and it does not really whine. It emits a constant soft noise that sounds like disk on a FDB motor spinning but it is very low and it is not annoying. I am curious, though, what metal is your case made out of and is your WD3200JD hard mounted? The noise could very well be from case resonance. I have my WD3200JB suspended in my P150 case and the suspension reduced my computer's noise level to a tolerable one.

tjasinski · Post by **tjasinski** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 5:57 am

I have the same drive (WD Caviar SE WD3200JB 320GB but IDE) it's making the same noise as the mp3 you posted. I have it in my external drive and it's been pissing me off for about 7 months.

ihategg_b · Post by **ihategg_b** » Sun Jul 02, 2006 11:40 am

Is it only the 320 gb that whines? Anyone else with other capacity WD drives have any comments?

dexton · Post by **dexton** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 3:26 am

ihategg_b wrote:Is it only the 320 gb that whines? Anyone else with other capacity WD drives have any comments?

And also, does this apply to the 320GB SE16 WD3200KS? Maybe I should just go for another Hitachi T7K250, mine has been working perfect with inaudible seeks in my P180.

http://aegd.cjb.net/dexton/osorterat/Dsc00833_800.jpg
http://aegd.cjb.net/dexton/osorterat/Dsc00432_800.jpg

JazzJackRabbit · Post by **JazzJackRabbit** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 4:34 am

ihategg_b and dexton
If you searched carefully through the forum you'd discover 250GB models also have been reported to have the same whine, hell, spcr reviewed 250GB sample had it, which you would have known if you read the thread carefully. Reading skills become a lost art it would seem. As for the other models I don't know.

TomMe · Post by **TomMe** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 7:25 am

I can hear no whine coming from my WD2500KS. Not even when I halt the fan of my CPU heatsink, and my S12-430 is completely silent to me. Of course, the ambient noise here could be too high for me to hear.

nomoon · Post by **nomoon** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 9:28 am

I am running a WD3200KS and a WD3200JD in the same system. The KS is slightly quieter than the JD. The seeks are very quiet and non-offensive. The idle whine sounds more like a high frequency white noise fan "whoosh". I don't think that either drive is very loud, but I could still barely hear them because the rest of my system is extremely quiet.

I am hoping to post some photos of my noise dampining improvements for these drives soon. Suspending these drives did nothing to improve the noise. I ended up using elastic straps to hold RubberMaid "Blue Ice" bags to the bottom of the drives. Much of the noise (and heat) seemed to be emanating from the bottom of the drives and this does a pretty good job of reducing the high frequency white whooshing noise while allowing the drives to remain cool.

Jason

merlyn · Post by **merlyn** » Mon Jul 03, 2006 10:49 am

i've got 2 wd3200jb's and a wd3200ks. the ks is definately noisier, although for 7200 rpm drives they're not bad. i have them all in suspended silentmaxx enclosures. i have very low ambient and very sensitive hearing. only other moving parts are a suspended mp0402h, a nexus at 7v and a scythe at 5v. the 7200's are the only thing i can hear late at night with no other noise sources. i really need a flat with a garage i can cable to

dexton · Post by **dexton** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 5:24 am

JazzJackRabbit wrote:ihategg_b and dexton
If you searched carefully through the forum you'd discover 250GB models also have been reported to have the same whine, hell, spcr reviewed 250GB sample had it, which you would have known if you read the thread carefully. Reading skills become a lost art it would seem. As for the other models I don't know.

Well tell me where to find the SPCR review of a SE16 WD2500KS and I wont bother you

JazzJackRabbit · Post by **JazzJackRabbit** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 9:26 am

dexton wrote:
JazzJackRabbit wrote:ihategg_b and dexton
If you searched carefully through the forum you'd discover 250GB models also have been reported to have the same whine, hell, spcr reviewed 250GB sample had it, which you would have known if you read the thread carefully. Reading skills become a lost art it would seem. As for the other models I don't know.
Well tell me where to find the SPCR review of a SE16 WD2500KS and I wont bother you

KS and JD is essentially the same thing, just different firmware and maybe pcb.

dexton · Post by **dexton** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 10:11 am

JazzJackRabbit wrote: KS and JD is essentially the same thing, just different firmware and maybe pcb.

yeah also 16MB of cache of course but since the SPCR reviews of WD5000KS and WD2500JD are so different in terms of noise type/amount (WD5000KS being waaaaay better) and the 250GB drive has 1 platter less, I dont trust the old WD2500JD review. I mean, SPCR's WD5000KS couldnt have been SOOO much better than the norm. I mean its still a 4-platter drive.

I just got this 7200.10 320GB SATA with the terrible "pure tone" mentioned in SPCRs 7200.9 review. Its soooo bad and you can hear it with your head turned certain angles and the drive is in lower P180 cage with sound dampening material added. Some whine is ok, my T7K250 has a touch of whine and I dont even hear this drive in my normal sitting position. If I put my head next to the case when defragging I can hear a faint sound of seeks.

Shining Arcanine · Post by **Shining Arcanine** » Tue Jul 04, 2006 3:49 pm

I suggest you RMA it. My WD3200JB failed, but I was able to transfer off my OS and all of its files before it stopped working (if it stopped working and if it did, it did so in Western Digital's possession) and the replacement Western Digital sent me was just as quiet as the last.

TomMe · Post by **TomMe** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 4:45 am

TomMe wrote:I can hear no whine coming from my WD2500KS. Not even when I halt the fan of my CPU heatsink, and my S12-430 is completely silent to me. Of course, the ambient noise here could be too high for me to hear.

After using it for a few days now, I must admit that the drive sometimes makes a buzzing sound. I have no idea what causes it.

QuietOC · Post by **QuietOC** » Fri Jul 07, 2006 5:43 am

dexton wrote:
JazzJackRabbit wrote: KS and JD is essentially the same thing, just different firmware and maybe pcb.
yeah also 16MB of cache of course but since the SPCR reviews of WD5000KS and WD2500JD are so different in terms of noise type/amount (WD5000KS being waaaaay better) and the 250GB drive has 1 platter less, I dont trust the old WD2500JD review. I mean, SPCR's WD5000KS couldnt have been SOOO much better than the norm. I mean its still a 4-platter drive.

WD part numbers are just a way of specifying the size of the drive. Two drives with the same WD part number can be vastly different--even different number of platters.

The recent WD SE16 "KS" drives seem to be about the quietest drives out there right now, but a year or more old WD2500KS may have nothing in common with a current WD2500KS, and certainly may have nothing in common with a two year old WD2500JD.

Recent tests/user experience seems to show that WD is really improving the audible quality of their Raptor and SE16 lines. I'd recommend either of those, but, yes, there is probably a good deal of variation too.