500GB 7200.9 loud seek!!

addyngan · Post by **addyngan** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 8:49 am

Not having done my homework, i didn't know about the AAM issue of seagate, and bought the new 7200.9 500GB. While the idle noise is reasonable, the seek noise is super-annoying, it is much louder than the 2x DM9 i am replacing, and i can even hear the seeks over regular TV sound! Notice all my drives are suspended already, and my 2 DM9 had AAM enabled.

Is there any third-party software that can enable AAM on the seagate drives? If not, I will definitely return the drive as soon as possible (and eat up the 15% restocking fee

)

While I have put some effort in reducing noise in my system, it's not a 'very quiet' system. So i am unpleasantly surprised the new seagate drive can be the dominating factor in the overall noise.

If there's no way to enable the AAM, i would highly recommend against this drive.

NoizEnvader · Post by **NoizEnvader** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 9:22 am

Nope. These drives are loud, even when enclosed. It’s ridiculous really…

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 11:19 am

These drives are loud, even when enclosed. It’s ridiculous really…

To be honest, is it any wonder that a half-a-terabyte drive is noisy? That 7200.9 has all the warning signs of a high noise hard drive:

A) relatively high RPM

B) multiple platters, sometimes 3+

C) as a result of that, lots of mechanical and induced vibrational noise as well

Two 250GB Spinpoints will probably be quieter than one 500GB 7200.9.

Is there any third-party software that can enable AAM on the seagate drives?

Perhaps the Hitachi Feature Tool will work?

SPCR Recommended HDDs

Automatic Acoustic Management (AAM). This technology sacrifices some seek latency in favor of softer, quieter seeks. The performance hit is often small enough that AAM is well worth using. Almost all manufacturers these days allow AAM to be enabled, although its effectiveness varies wildly from drive to drive. Not all manufacturers provide a utility to enable and adjust AAM, but almost all drives work with Hitachi's feature tool.

Hitachi Feature Tool

Feature Tool (v1.99)
This is a DOS-bootable tool for changing various ATA features. The Feature Tool allows you to control some of the features of our Deskstar and Travelstar high performance ATA hard disk drives and supports 48-bit addressing, so it will work with the new large capacity drives.

This version adds support for our latest drives. Changes include:

Added new product support
Updated documentation and install packages to reflect changes

The Feature Tool allows you to:
Enable or disable the read-ahead or write cache.
Change the drive Automatic Acoustic Management settings to the:
Lowest acoustic emanation setting (Quiet Seek Mode), or
Maximum performance level (Normal Seek Mode).

mathias · Post by **mathias** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 11:20 am

Well, it is a 4 platter drive.

Is it IDE or SATA?

addyngan · Post by **addyngan** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 11:34 am

jaganath:

thanks for the reply. No i am not expecting the large drive to be very quiet (but i do need the size), but what i am comparing it to, is 2 maxtor DM9, giving a same total number of 4 platters, and also at 7200rpm, and they are no samsungs.

Really the problem is AAM. With my 2 DM9 running in RAID 1, with AAM enabled, i can very rarely hear the seeks. On the other hand, the seagate seek is so loud that I can hear it over TV!

I tried the hitachi tool but it didn't work..

mathias: it's SATA.

I bought the drive based on the review from anandtech, and also MikeC has mentioned the sample he got is 'pretty quiet'. Quote: "Quick & dirty check: It's pretty quiet at idle, considering 4 platters. More broadband than the Hitachi 400G, and less whine. Fairly low vibration. Suspended, this sample could be a pretty quiet drive."

Post by **MikeC** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 12:00 pm

Did you suspend it?

addyngan · Post by **addyngan** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 12:10 pm

I put it on sorbothane strips, no screws anywhere.

MikeC: How's the seek noise on ur sample?

Devonavar · Post by **Devonavar** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 12:27 pm

addyngan wrote:I put it on sorbothane strips, no screws anywhere.

MikeC: How's the seek noise on ur sample?

Pretty much what you noticed: Sharp and loud. And the Hitachi tool doesn't work because AAM is not a feature.

addyngan · Post by **addyngan** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 12:29 pm

Yah i am so disappointed..

Now i am thinking of replacing it with a WD3200JD. Do you think it would be much quieter?

Post by **MikeC** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 12:29 pm

What are the sorbothane strips on? What's around the HDD?

addyngan · Post by **addyngan** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 12:32 pm

On the drive bracket that came with the Sonata, mounted in the normal position.

Around the HD.. hmm.. my other drives, cables, and a nexus fan soft mounted to the drive cage.

NoizEnvader · Post by **NoizEnvader** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 12:46 pm

addyngan wrote:Yah i am so disappointed..

Now i am thinking of replacing it with a WD3200JD. Do you think it would be much quieter?

The "WD3200JD" is a little more quite at seeking. Suspended with AAM enabled it would be much more quiet. It does emit a bit of motor whine however.

Post by **MikeC** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 1:48 pm

There' no question the seek noise of all the Seagate SATA drives is not good these days. But, a good soft-mounting system goes a long way to getting rid of most of it. sounds like you might have to play around a bit more with alternative methods of suspension.

The reason I asked what it was on & around is that these things matter for vibration conduction. If there was a room, a bit of damping material around the drive (not touching it but on the surfaces close to it) could help.

But a HDD w/ AAM enabled will be quieter, for sure.

And tho I guess this isn't your main issue, you could do with a better case.

Takhisos · Post by **Takhisos** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 3:21 pm

Yeah, i'm really disapointed with my latest Baraccuda, can't remember if its a .8 or .9 but the seek is fkin anoying. My 7200.7 is perfect though, gawd damn...

addyngan · Post by **addyngan** » Thu Nov 24, 2005 5:13 pm

Update:

I've replaced the Seagate 500GB with a Western digital WD3200JD. Idle noise is a bit higher, but the seek is much quieter, even when AAM is off. I haven't tried AAM yet.

I will not buy any seagate drive again unless they fixed the seek noise..

ZeroAquaduct · Post by **ZeroAquaduct** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 12:12 pm

Darn, I wish I read this thread before buying my Seagate 250GB SATA. I have a Seagate 160GB IDE and a Seagate 200GB IDE, and those were pretty good. Idle is quiet, seek noise is low. So I thought a Seagate 250GB SATA would be just as good. But no way! The seek noise is loud. It actually woke me up today because the weekly antivirus scan automatically turned on at 8am, and the crunching noise went like crazy. Only idle is quiet on this drive. I don't have my drive suspended, but I better do something.

I definately don't recommend this drive.

perplex · Post by **perplex** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 12:16 pm

Anyone have experience with the 160GB 7200.9 ? As it's single platter.

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Sun Feb 19, 2006 1:17 pm

Try the SPCR Review of 7200.9 160GB.

A Bad Experience w/ 7200.9 160G

The search function is truly a wonderful tool.