WD3200AAKS: Are seeks as silent as WD5000KS?

mshan · Post by **mshan** » Mon Sep 17, 2007 11:26 am

Just wondering if the two platter WD3200AAKS has the same silent seeks as the WD5000KS reviewed at SPCR?

mshan · Post by **mshan** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 10:48 am

Anyone?

Morten74 · Post by **Morten74** » Thu Sep 20, 2007 9:56 pm

Well, I can't really say anything about 5000KS, but have the 3200AAKS and that is very silent - actually my Scythe S-Flex E @800rpm are 'louder'.

Morten

mshan · Post by **mshan** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 4:44 am

Are seeks essentially silent, or at least have a very unobstrusive character?

I already own a WD3200KS, and it's idle noise is very very low and smooth, but seeks are rather sharp and annoying. I don't necessarily need more than 320 GB capacity, so two platters, rather than three, would be ideal, if seeks are just like those in the reviewed WD5000KS.

jsweet · Post by **jsweet** » Fri Sep 21, 2007 5:32 am

My suggestion - do NOT buy the 'AA' series drives.

I own a WD3200KS drive and am happy with it. Yes, it does have a somewhat annoying "clanking" going on when seeking, but at idle it is dead silent to me.

I purchased two WD3200AAKS drives to run RAID1 and the noise they emit at idle is sooo annoying! It's a high pitch whine, and I can hear it 20 feet away. It actually gives me a headache if I sit next to it for 5 mins.

I purchased them from Newegg, and the many reviews say nothing about the idle noise. So, i RMA'd them to Newegg and bought the WD3200AAJS drives. I was thinking they were built more for personal desktops, so they shouldn't be loud. Well, exact same sound - now I have to return these.

I just want to buy two more WD3200KS drives, but they are about $10 more each. I am putting the RAID1 setup in my MCE PC which is sitting in my basement, but near my work bench. The 'AA' drives should be fine for a server, but it annoys me so much when I'm by the thing that I'm willing to lose money to get different drives.

jsweet · Post by **jsweet** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 6:06 pm

Whoops - if you check the other thread you'll see that it was my PSU that was causing all of the noise, but only when this drive was connected - didn't matter what else was connected.

I have no doubt that the AAKS would have been pretty much silent, since the AAJS drive is silent.

Sorry guys.

porkchop · Post by **porkchop** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 9:26 pm

i have a 3200ks and a 3200aaks.

at idle, the aaks is a little quieter.
during seeks the aaks is alot quieter, the seeks sound like like fairly light scratches and are not too annoying.
the ks was pretty bad and alot louder.

the idle is louder than an 80mm fan @770rpm and a 120mm @600rpm, seeks obviously are a step up.
my system sits under my desk and is inaudible, the only time i can hear it is when the hdd is seeking- and this is only if i'm listening for it.

on a side note, it runs 2-4C hotter than sys temps during idle and it doesn't go up much even when in full use. this is suspended and with a little airflow.

recommended.

Edit: oops, didn't answer your question- unfortunately i've never heard the wd5000ks before. i did have a listen to the mp3 though(i'm at work and i'm really, really bored) and the sound characteristics very similar but if the mp3 is accurate, then the aaks has much more pronounced seeks.
i kind of doubt the mp3 cause i have to turn up the audio quite a bit to hear anything, and by then it sounds more like noise than an idling hdd- can any wd5000ks owners confirm?

MoJo · Post by **MoJo** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 1:00 am

I have two KS and two AAKS drives. Seeks are about the same on both, but the AAKS motor noise is much louder. Suspended, the KSs are silent but I can hear the AAKS.

Get the KS if you can.

mshan · Post by **mshan** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 5:49 am

Anyone know how currently produced WD5000AAKS compare to my WD3200KS, in terms of idle noise and seeks?

elec999 · Post by **elec999** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 7:28 am

jsweet wrote:My suggestion - do NOT buy the 'AA' series drives.

I own a WD3200KS drive and am happy with it. Yes, it does have a somewhat annoying "clanking" going on when seeking, but at idle it is dead silent to me.

I purchased two WD3200AAKS drives to run RAID1 and the noise they emit at idle is sooo annoying! It's a high pitch whine, and I can hear it 20 feet away. It actually gives me a headache if I sit next to it for 5 mins.

I purchased them from Newegg, and the many reviews say nothing about the idle noise. So, i RMA'd them to Newegg and bought the WD3200AAJS drives. I was thinking they were built more for personal desktops, so they shouldn't be loud. Well, exact same sound - now I have to return these.

I just want to buy two more WD3200KS drives, but they are about $10 more each. I am putting the RAID1 setup in my MCE PC which is sitting in my basement, but near my work bench. The 'AA' drives should be fine for a server, but it annoys me so much when I'm by the thing that I'm willing to lose money to get different drives.

The funny thing is that I have 250ks, and its making that ennoying sound when running. I rmad it and still makes that noise. Western Digital says its normal sound.
Thanks

porkchop · Post by **porkchop** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 7:35 pm

Anyone know how currently produced WD5000AAKS compare to my WD3200KS, in terms of idle noise and seeks?

my mates got a wd5000aaks, and i reckon its sounds about the same as my 3200aaks.
seems that having 1 less platter didn't make a real difference.