Velociraptors - high pitched hum

[David Cole]

I have x2 velociraptors in NoVibes III cradles (icepaks off) set in the lower cage of a P182 (using the rubber grommets). They are producing a high pitched hum and slight buzz - heard through the P182 side panel. The hum is not loud but when sitting a couple of feet away diffusely intrusive. I don't think I am hearing anything malfunctioning. It is just the noise inherent in these very fast spinning drives. I am currently using a slow turning 120x12mm fan to cool the hdds and they average around 37C. WD say 60C is the max and before I put in a fan I was averaging 52C.

The noise is irritating and I need to get rid of it or muffle it. I have x2 Scythe 2.5" Silencer enclosures but have resisted using them with the Velociraptors because of concern about heat. You have to leave one or two bits of the enclosure off to get a Velociraptor in and it's a pretty tight fit. They will get very hot in there. I wondered about putting the VRs in 3.5" enclosures to get a little more air to them but this maybe counter productive as there would be no outward, direct metal to metal heat conduction.

Having just lost some data in a recent sudden hdd heat death I'd like the VRs not to fall over but I can't cope with the hum.

I'd be grateful for any idea on the best approach to take and about how concerned I should be about the VRs getting heat stroke.

Thanks.
David

[aSASa]

Well, you could try putting it in the Scythe 2.5" thing, and if it reduces the noise enough, watch your temps and see if they get too high. If they do, just shut it down [ of course ] and another solution will need to be found. If not, its all good and you can be happy with a quiet drive .

[Ethyriel]

This thread talks about using them in the Quiet Drive. It doesn't fit as intended, but you can make it work, and actually have about as effective cooling as the stock sled.

viewtopic.php?p=423408#423408

[David Cole]

Thanks. I'll try out the enclosures.

[mrCow]

Have you tried acoustic dampening material? For the same prices a s a pair of Scythe QDs, you can get AcoustiPack Deluxe. I sat my Velociraptor on a foam brick at the bottom of a p182 with full dampening. It's blissfully quiet and I still have the icePack mounted

[David Cole]

So you have no hum?

[mrCow]

No hum, not a peep. I'll post pics of my build in the gallery when I find some time.

Hmm, I'll double check that my drive has some hum when the case door is off, maybe I have a "lucky" drive...

[David Cole]

The problem turned out not to be the Velociraptors at all. I took the build apart and with a stethoscope found the culprit was actually my 650W Be Quiet Dark Power Pro psu. It took some tracking down because the hum was diffuse. There is a small amount of hum from the Velociraptors but it is not noticeable to me and with a 650W Enermax MODU82+ psu the case is pretty much silent. It is interesting that with a stethoscope I found that there is a particular point in the P182 which seems to relay hum - the join between the mid-lower partition and the bottom of the case (it is just a partition - I have removed the fan there). As this backs on to the side panel I suppose hum - if you have something producing it - is passed on and generalised there. I have no idea why that point should be a focus for hum when there is no fan, psu or hdd near it. Anyway, there it is.

My VRs are just suspended in NoVibes III cradles in the lower front cage.

Thanks for all the suggestions and advice.

[Ethyriel]

I'll trade you one of yours for mine...

I have it suspended using stretch magic in a 5.25" bay, and it's by far the noisiest thing in my case. That's saying a lot since I'm still using the stock cooler on my 9800 GTX+.

And no, the stretch magic isn't so tight that it's relaying the vibrations to the cage.

[krille]

Ethyriel, do you have AAM turned on?

[David Cole]

I'll trade you one of yours for mine...

I have it suspended using stretch magic in a 5.25" bay, and it's by far the noisiest thing in my case. That's saying a lot since I'm still using the stock cooler on my 9800 GTX+.

And no, the stretch magic isn't so tight that it's relaying the vibrations to the cage.

Is the ICEpak heatsink off? Mine were unacceptable until I took the heatsinks off.

[Ethyriel]

HDD Scan says it was on to begin with, but I've never used that tool before, so I'm not sure I trust that assessment. Unfortunately, I'm having a hell of a time getting a CD with Hitachi's Feature Tool to boot. It's really odd, I boot burned CD's all the time.

[nutball]

HDD Scan says it was on to begin with, but I've never used that tool before, so I'm not sure I trust that assessment.

Well AAM might be on and turned to "performance" rather than "quiet". That's how mine shipped I believe, and the seeks were very obnoxious. They're still audible now even with AAM configured for quiet, with the drive in a SQD suspended in a NoVibes.

[Ethyriel]

That sounds like it. HDD Scan shows it set to 254, and suggests 128. The damned thing won't let me change the setting, though. I grabbed Ultimate Boot CD, so I'll see if Hitachi's ftools work from there tomorrow.

[Ethyriel]

Is the ICEpak heatsink off? Mine were unacceptable until I took the heatsinks off.

Yeap

I ran some stressful diagnostics to try and induce an early failure, and took that thing right off.