7200.10 ST3320620AS vs. WD3200AAKS

bendit · Post by **bendit** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 10:41 am

look at this drive, which is smaller, ST3250410AS, or the new Seagate 7200.11 drives. I believe the technology has changed for the better.

Das_Saunamies · Post by **Das_Saunamies** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 11:12 am

Seagates have been ruddy awful noisewise.

Swapped out two Seagates for two WDs, and I can say it was worth it. 3200AAKS is excellent: seeks aren't intrusive and best of all there's no vibration. The 5000AAKS has rough, even pronounced seeks, but still little or no vibration. Both heartily recommended(320 for active drive, 500 for storage or games), both very snappy drives.

Bobendren · Post by **Bobendren** » Sat Oct 27, 2007 3:36 pm

I've had experience with a number of 7200.10 drives as well as the 5000AAKS and 3200KS. I would definitely recommend the WD's over the Seagates when noise is the major concern.

porkchop · Post by **porkchop** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 12:43 am

the wd is faster benchmark wise, but i doubt anyone would be able to notice a difference in actual use.

how about the samsung t166 or f1 series(if it's out yet)?
its reportedly a little quieter.

i've had my wd3200aaks for a while and am very happy with it.
it was a good upgrade from my wd3200ks, with slightly better idle and much better seeks.
on a side note it also runs pretty cool, about 3C above sys temps, with only a 120mm exhaust @600rpm on the other side of the case. of course these temps are given by the hdd and mb so should be taken with a grain of salt, although it is only warmish to the touch.

as for vibrations, it is the same as my old ks, and not even close to being as good as my old barracuda 4.

Das_Saunamies · Post by **Das_Saunamies** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 6:18 am

Similar HDDs from contemporary generations, in this case AAKS and .11, don't usually differ a discernable amount performance-wise.

I feel the AAKS to be faster than the .10 drives they replaced, but then again those only had an 8MB cache. In large writes they're about the same over time, but there's a noticeable if slight improvement in game loading times. Could be just from installing the games on a fresh drive and the data being written on a faster portion of the discs. Fragmentation shouldn't have been an issue as PerfectDisk 8 had been run frequently on the games drive.

Samsungs apparently have worse vibration and quieter seeks. I have no trouble believing they're quieter than the 5000AAKS, but the 3200AAKS I can't hear, so no advantage there. I'm more bothered about and by vibration, as that's something you can't cure without hardware modification.

lechuck · Post by **lechuck** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 8:04 am

I have a question for all un-happy Seagate users - what type of motor did you have:
1) http://www.engit.com.au/Silent.jpg
or
2) http://www.engit.com.au/Not-Silent.jpg

I prefer Seagate over all other brands, but it must be with motor 1. Motor 2 is bad in terms of idle noise.

Das_Saunamies · Post by **Das_Saunamies** » Sun Oct 28, 2007 11:49 am

What should the motor be ID'd by, the dent in the middle? I've got two drives here, the noisy one has the dent(and a sticker) and the decent one doesn't(and no sticker). Mind you the AAKS beat both drives noisewise, especially because of little or no vibrations. All my serial ATA Seagates have vibrated to an audible and irritating degree.

Das_Saunamies · Post by **Das_Saunamies** » Mon Oct 29, 2007 10:46 pm

My 3200AAKS from July '07 has audible seeks, but certainly not loud. My 5000AAKS has the rougher seeks of the two, and those are certainly loud, so I do have some comparison.

I play movies and music from my 320, and it doesn't let out a single crunch or creak, only a slight tapping noise that is only audible if I go down on all fours right next to the case. Only large file transfers make some real noise, but even then I wouldn't describe it as loud. Certainly quieter than my old Seagates, and no vibrations! I just hated that rising and falling humming sound the 160 Seagate was so good at making.

Get an SSD if you want absolute silence. Traditional HDDs are mechanical devices, and as such feature moving parts and noise.

lechuck · Post by **lechuck** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 12:11 am

@K10: I suppose you'll never be happy with 3.5" HDDs. Util SSD become afordable consider 2.5" HDD in enclousure (or double enclousure).

I'm thinking of buying Quiet Drive 2.5â€

Das_Saunamies · Post by **Das_Saunamies** » Tue Oct 30, 2007 8:16 am

Samsung supposedly has quieter seeks than WD, but their vibrations are worse.

Could try a Samsung, or just get an enclosure like lechuck suggested. The 2.5" drives I've tried(all Momentus) haven't been worth the tradeoff in size and price. They also need adapters or enclosures for mounting.