WD 120GB w/ 8MB Cache questions

MGP · Post by **MGP** » Thu Dec 19, 2002 7:26 pm

hey everyone,

what is the best way to silence a Western Digital 120GB SE drive? In addition, it is to my understanding that the Dell 8200 series used this same HD--based on my familiarity with Dells, im assuming its quiet. Was is installed in any unique way? thanks

SungHyun7 · Post by **SungHyun7** » Thu Dec 19, 2002 7:52 pm

short answer: it's impossible.

long answer: it's hard... after spending about $200 in my journey to silence this m.f. (wd1200jb) and after a few months of enclosing in custom case, suspending, enclosing in rubbermaid lunchbox, smart driving, my drive still whines and annoys the living soul out of me.

it's either #1 very high temp for the drive (wasn't comfortable knowing the drive was very hot to the touch) or #2. live with the noise.

of all the solutions, i found smart drive 2002 the best solution. then again, it's an expensive solution that doesn't work completely...

your best bet is get a FDB drive and either suspend it or smart drive it. i've given up on silencing wd1200jb. maybe some other custom solution (heatpipe + insulation chamber or water cooling + insulation chamble + complete isolation + complete enclosure of the entire case) may work.... and if you wouldn' t mind it, by all means, give it a shot. but for me, i like to keep my computer size sane while enjoying the silence... and so far, wd1200jb has proved to be the hardest thing to silence in my system.

quokked · Post by **quokked** » Fri Dec 20, 2002 5:12 am

SungHyun7 wrote:short answer: it's impossible.

of all the solutions, i found smart drive 2002 the best solution. then again, it's an expensive solution that doesn't work completely...

another solution sunghyun would be to get a smaller cudda IV and run your system files and OS off that and setup the WD drive to store all your files, and let that WD spin down after some idle time....

Alistair · Post by **Alistair** » Sun Jan 05, 2003 3:35 am

I also own one of these drives and i agree with the last two responses. seagate barracuda V's will be available soon, and with serial ata it makes a great reason to upgrade and sell the western digital while it will fetch a good price. If serial ata doesn't interest you then the model IV's will go at a good price.

The WD makes a great drive in performance and stability, but is just too loud even when idle compared to the seagates, and too hot for an enclosure.

ll.

Bigg · Post by **Bigg** » Fri Jan 10, 2003 2:16 pm

theres this ide to scsi adaptor, put the wd on it, get a scsi cont, a long cable, and hear the scilence

jeffreylee · Post by **jeffreylee** » Thu Jan 16, 2003 2:19 pm

I have two WD HDDs
a WD1000BB and a WD1200JB.
I don't find them to be too loud if at all. Although, I can't say much since I use(d) Vantec Tornados...

DaShiv · Post by **DaShiv** » Thu Jan 16, 2003 4:32 pm

I'm running the WD 80GB SE (7200 RPM, 8MB cache) inside a Smart Drive 2002, and while I can't say with any certainty whether or not it's completely silent, I definitely can't hear it above the ambient noise at all (which includes my other not-silent-yet PC parts). However, I don't know how the 80GB version compares to the 120GB version in terms of noise. Does it have fewer platters?

In any case, the consensus here seems to be that if you're buying a new harddrive to buy one with FDB to begin with (like the Seagate Barracudas). If I had to buy a haddrive all over again, I'm not sure what I would do because I really do like the performance on my WD drive.

bobash · Post by **bobash** » Thu Jan 16, 2003 6:53 pm

I also am using my WD 80G 8MB in a smartdrive enclosure. The enclosure is sitting on the bottom of my case on some closed cell foam. I cannot hear the hard drive from 1 foot away.

powergyoza · Post by **powergyoza** » Thu Jan 16, 2003 7:05 pm

If your willing to work with superglue and an xacto knife, then hands down, the rubber box I made is the best solution. Follow the link in my sig below.

BaconTastesGood · Post by **BaconTastesGood** » Sat Jan 18, 2003 12:25 am

I just got a 120SE in a SmartDrive 2002 and I can't hear a damn thing out of it (I also have a Cuda IV 40GB in a second enclosure).

However, MBM can't find a temp sensor for the WD -- what am I doing wrong?

powergyoza · Post by **powergyoza** » Sat Jan 18, 2003 3:18 am

BaconTastesGood wrote:However, MBM can't find a temp sensor for the WD -- what am I doing wrong?

If you are to take this page - http://www.hddtemperature.com/hdds.html - as any indication of whether the 120SE has a built-in thermal probe, then I would say that your hdd doesn't support thermal monitoring. Can anyone correct me on this?

mudboy · Post by **mudboy** » Sat Jan 18, 2003 5:27 am

Does anyone know if there is an acoustic management utility for Western Digital drives?

Pete

wally007 · Post by **wally007** » Sun Mar 30, 2003 12:12 pm

HI my 1st post here ,

since i just finished my watercooling set up , i have almost silent computer sitting beside me. I say ALMOST silent for a reason ... my WD 120JB drive is making very little noise (it's suspended in 5"25 bay using elastick shoe lace ). I just want to point out that this is my 4th !!!!!! WD 120JB drive , all 3 before this one i recieved from Dell were in MY opinion dead on arrival. All of them worked and installed XP PRO with no problems but noise they were making was far from acceptable so i RMA'ed them. (always one at the time) This has a LOT to do with how your local / online store packs them. Dell on 1st 3 tries didnt use NO PADDING AT ALL , no bubble , nada. They just put retail drives box into little larger box , and that was it. I complained a LOT but they didnt listen or whoever was in charge of shipping department was sleeping. MY 4th drive came in a box larger than my case came in. THAT BIG> Lots of bubles , peanuts , padding , you name it , it was there. After installing it in my case , i knew this was a keeper.

SO this is probably why people have mixed reviews on SmartDrive 2002 w/ WD drives.
I'm considering buying SM2002 today (Directrom has 'em for $59) becasue my drive is almost overheating while its suspended (52C) THis is probably becasue i have only one LOW voltage fan on radiator but that's like 2 feet under my 5"25 bays and i have 3 CD rom drives + SB platinium drive in my 5'25 bays.

Hope this helps and i will post my results next week or so , once i get this unit.

(By the way , i'm using Silent Drive in my GF's computer and it works great , but i'm afraid to use it on this WD120JB drive)

smush · Post by **smush** » Mon Mar 31, 2003 6:48 pm

I've got the 80gb 8mb cache WD HD, and though I can hear it seeking files, I think it is relatively quiet. I also have a 80gb Seagate Barracuda that though quieter, it makes an oscillating high-pitched whine, which bugs me more.

Cyrix · Post by **Cyrix** » Fri Apr 04, 2003 4:15 pm

The Smart Drive 2002 is honestly the way to go if your willing to spend the money. I currently have 2 scsi hdd's (Seagate 36GB ST336607LW and 16GB ST318406LW) inside the Smart Drive 2002 with no problems. Sure I can still hear them seek, but thats not why I bought them. The whiny pitches that emanate from my scsi hdd are not audible. I would say for best performance use some rubber grommets in with the Smart Drive if possible.

wally007 · Post by **wally007** » Sat Apr 05, 2003 9:38 pm

Cyrix -> Thanks. I just recieved my SM2002 and it does work pretty good but once installed in case it does make that vibration whiny noise. Too bad i cant use grommets because it's very tight fit in my 5 25 bay.

How'd you fit them in ?

I was thinking about suspending SmartDrive , but i dont have place in my case. Watercooled components take all the space.