Hitachi 5K3000 2TB experiences

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dchrsf
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Hitachi 5K3000 2TB experiences

Post by dchrsf » Mon Jan 31, 2011 8:28 am

I was considering buying either the Samsung F4EG 2TB, or a Hitachi 5K3000 2TB drive and was looking for some noise results on the Hitachi drives.

If anyone has this drive or the 7K3000 series of disks from Hitachi, I'd like some input from y'all.
-David.
Last edited by dchrsf on Tue Feb 01, 2011 9:51 am, edited 1 time in total.

jleonard711
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Re: Hitachi 5K3000 2TB experiences

Post by jleonard711 » Tue Feb 01, 2011 3:56 am

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fumino
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Re: Hitachi 5K3000 2TB experiences

Post by fumino » Tue Feb 01, 2011 3:54 pm

well, ive got a Samsung F4EG 2TB, and a few 1TB Hitachi 7K1000.C drives... i can give em a listen later tonight if you'd like. (theyre not in my rig atm.)

the 5K3000 is on sale at newegg for 79.99 with a promo code though, so its a pretty good deal if youre thinking of jumping on it.

$20 off promo code:

Code: Select all

EMCKHKJ26

jleonard711
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Re: Hitachi 5K3000 2TB experiences

Post by jleonard711 » Tue Feb 01, 2011 5:23 pm

I just ordered one of the Hitachi drives for $79.99 yesterday. I was a little hesitant since there are absolutely ZERO reviews on NewEgg and I couldn't find any reviews anywhere else either, but I needed a drive in a hurry and couldn't wait for the Samsung to go on sale again for $79.99.

The Samsung would have been my first choice because they are known for being very quiet and dependable, and I have 4 of the 1TB drives now and haven't had any problems. Although based on the chart above the Hitachi should be pretty quiet too, because the one listed in the chart is the 7200rpm drive and the 5400rpm should be considerably quieter.

dchrsf
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Re: Hitachi 5K3000 2TB experiences

Post by dchrsf » Wed Feb 02, 2011 10:04 am

fumino wrote:well, ive got a Samsung F4EG 2TB, and a few 1TB Hitachi 7K1000.C drives... i can give em a listen later tonight if you'd like. (theyre not in my rig atm.)

the 5K3000 is on sale at newegg for 79.99 with a promo code though, so its a pretty good deal if youre thinking of jumping on it.

$20 off promo code:

Code: Select all

EMCKHKJ26
That would be awesome if you would be able to check for me fumino, you see, I am concerned about vibration, idle noise, and seek noise because I already have two quiet drives in the system, so I was just trying to get an idea how quiet the Samsung 2TB would be along with comparing the 7K Hitachi and 5K Hitachi all compared to my 1.5TB GREEN and 640 BLUE. Both are very respectable in noise, so I would like to be somewhere in between the two when it comes to purchasing a 2TB drive right now.

However, I am going to let the technology mature for a little while while I save up some money and pay off credit cards, so I will not be purchasing right away, maybe in 6 months. It's just nice to have an idea of what is out there currently, but I appreciate the promo code.

-David.

zsero
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Re: Hitachi 5K3000 2TB experiences

Post by zsero » Wed Feb 02, 2011 4:03 pm

About Samsungs being quiet: have a look in the F4EG topic! There are a few 2 TB owners including me, and their vibration tends to be distributed from WD Green levels to 7200 rpm levels. I know I have one, which vibrates more than my Seagate 7200.12 drive. If it's suspended it's OK, but without suspension it turned my computer into a huge vibrating resonating box.

But the only two reliable brands as of today are Samsung and Hitachi, so I would try my chances in Hitachi, maybe it's really quiet.

dchrsf
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Re: Hitachi 5K3000 2TB experiences

Post by dchrsf » Wed Feb 02, 2011 4:13 pm

Thanks, I really like Hitachi drives, so I was most likely going to dive into the 5K3000 2tb eventually. The samsung doesn't look like a bad choice, I just think that sample variation is a bit concerning, especially after the drive has gotten good performance numbers, I feel like that sample variation is a let down.

I'm going to see how things even out when I'm ready to purchase, and I hope Samsung can become more consistent or at least designate (through model numbers or revisions) which are quiet, or they will not be recieving my money.

dragonfire
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Re: Hitachi 5K3000 2TB experiences

Post by dragonfire » Tue Feb 08, 2011 7:50 am

Any thoughts/reactions so far for those who have already bought one?

The Hitachi 5K3000 2TB is today's 3rd Shell Shocker at Newegg. $60 after rebate. Thinking about grabbing one.

fumino
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Re: Hitachi 5K3000 2TB experiences

Post by fumino » Tue Feb 08, 2011 1:30 pm

dragonfire wrote:The Hitachi 5K3000 2TB is today's 3rd Shell Shocker at Newegg. $60 after rebate. Thinking about grabbing one.
just ordered mine. get yours before theyre gone!

dchrsf
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Re: Hitachi 5K3000 2TB experiences

Post by dchrsf » Tue Feb 08, 2011 7:56 pm

They are sold out, was about to charge one!

fumino
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Re: Hitachi 5K3000 2TB experiences

Post by fumino » Wed Feb 09, 2011 12:53 am

when it shows up i'll be able to run some test with the 2tb f4eg , the 1tb 7k1000.c, and the 2tb 5k3000. nothing scientific, but i'm excited about it.

zsero
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Re: Hitachi 5K3000 2TB experiences

Post by zsero » Wed Feb 09, 2011 9:02 am

fumino wrote:when it shows up i'll be able to run some test with the 2tb f4eg , the 1tb 7k1000.c, and the 2tb 5k3000. nothing scientific, but i'm excited about it.
Looking forward for the test. Please run CrystalDiskMark too. I am really interested in the unsuspended vibrations of the Hitachis. The Samsung has a huge variation, but I hope the Hitachi is all right.

dchrsf
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Re: Hitachi 5K3000 2TB experiences

Post by dchrsf » Wed Feb 09, 2011 9:17 am

zsero wrote:
fumino wrote:when it shows up i'll be able to run some test with the 2tb f4eg , the 1tb 7k1000.c, and the 2tb 5k3000. nothing scientific, but i'm excited about it.
Looking forward for the test. Please run CrystalDiskMark too. I am really interested in the unsuspended vibrations of the Hitachis. The Samsung has a huge variation, but I hope the Hitachi is all right.
Yes!! I'm happy to hear this, If it wouldnt be too much trouble the CrystalDiskMark, along with HDTunes and a vibration/noise summary would be excellent! Thanks so much, fumino

JaYp146
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Re: Hitachi 5K3000 2TB experiences

Post by JaYp146 » Fri Feb 11, 2011 9:06 am

My 5K3000 is set to arrive later this afternoon - will report back once I receive it. I'll be comparing noise output and vibration to a Samsung EcoGreen 1TB.

larrymoencurly
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Re: Hitachi 5K3000 2TB experiences

Post by larrymoencurly » Sat Feb 12, 2011 1:24 pm

I got 10 slow sectors with MHDD's surface scan, compared to 2-3 with my 2TB Samsung HD204UI and 0 with my 2TB WD20EARS and 1TB Hitachi 7K1000.C drives. Zeroing out the drive didn't change anything. Also the exact LBAs of the slow sectors change slightly on each test run, by more than just a few numbers.

fumino
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Re: Hitachi 5K3000 2TB experiences

Post by fumino » Sat Feb 12, 2011 1:29 pm

did you have any software running that was querying smart data from the drive during testing?

zsero
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Re: Hitachi 5K3000 2TB experiences

Post by zsero » Sat Feb 12, 2011 3:36 pm

larrymoencurly wrote:I got 10 slow sectors with MHDD's surface scan, compared to 2-3 with my 2TB Samsung HD204UI and 0 with my 2TB WD20EARS and 1TB Hitachi 7K1000.C drives. Zeroing out the drive didn't change anything. Also the exact LBAs of the slow sectors change slightly on each test run, by more than just a few numbers.
I belive on a 2 TB drive it's natural to have a few slow or even remapped sectors, just because of their pure size. Nothing to worry about till the number is not growing.

JaYp146
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Re: Hitachi 5K3000 2TB experiences

Post by JaYp146 » Sun Feb 13, 2011 9:46 am

Reporting back in with my general impressions on the 5K3000 2TB drive vs. its predecessor (Samsung EcoGreen F2 1TB):

Vibration: Samsung, 2/10 ... Hitachi, 3/10

Temperature: Similar, but the Hitachi tends to run 2-3 C warmer.

Throughput: Pretty solid advantage to the Hitachi, 20-30MB/s faster in sequential R/W (expected).

Noise: Hitachi is louder to start and is a little bit more noticeable when going into "standby" mode. Seeks are a little bit more noticeable on the Hitachi, hard to quantify though.

Anyway, I hope this helps those interested in getting one. Already very pleased with my purchase.

fumino
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Re: Hitachi 5K3000 2TB experiences

Post by fumino » Sun Feb 13, 2011 11:38 pm

so ive had this drive for a few days now, and im pretty impressed with it. i dont have my main rig set up right now(rebuilding slowly), and im not at my usual location(little higher noise floor here), and i dont have my kill-a-watt on hand here for power consumption estimates either... but i did still run some tests, and moved a fair bit o data between them all, so here goes nothing :D

first comes the benches, then i'll talk about what they're really like.

all the pics are set up the same:
  • left: Hitachi 7K1000.C - 7200rpm, 1TB, 2x500GB platters
    center: Hitachi 5K3000 - ~5940rpm, 2TB, 3x667GB platters
    right: Samsung F4EG - 5400rpm, 2TB, 3x667 platters
programs used:
  • ATTO Disk Benchmark v2.46
    CrystalDiskMark 3.0.1
    HDTune Pro 4.01

[thumbs because not everyone cares to load ~4mb of pics every time they preview their post xD]
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a few notes:
  • motherboard was a 780g, with sb700... so performance isnt as good as it might be with a better chipset.
    the spikes you see in hdtune are from hwmonitor checking the smart data. (you cant just ask for temps, and some smart data is actually stored on the drive itself.)
    tests were run MANY times to make sure the results were consistent, however i didn't zero fill or anything like that between tests(lets be honest here people, thats not representative of real world use).
    all hdtune tests were run at default settings, other tests have their settings clearly shown.
    for these tests the 7k100c and the f4eg both had aam set to maximum performance. (it is noticable, both here and when i turned them down fr the noise/vibe tests)
    the 5k300 does not have an option for aam.
    the f4eg is running on the new firmware, not that it changed performance.
    the 5k3000 is a sata iii drive, but i dont have a sata iii controller to test with; and i doubt it'd make a difference anyways.
    if you want more benches, including a comparison to the wd20ears check this link
performance: theyre all pretty good. there wasnt much that set them apart in terms of speed. the 7k100c consistently had the best access times; the 5k3000 kept pace with it, and outpaced the f4eg by a slight margin; the f4eg was very consistent across its surface though, for whatever reason it's speed is maintained much better, with less of a drop off at the center than the other drives. im really not sure that the results show it, but thats how it was. hdtune specifically isnt indicative of real world performance for these drives; and if i had tons of time and somewhere to put my data i might run those benches again with a different file size, as the default is 64KB, and i think most people will look to these drives for storing large files.

vibration: i actually had fun testing this. i dont have a mic and an aluminum box like the spcr team, but ive got imagination~*stars and rainbows appear* mmk, enough with the foolishness. what i actually did was take the drives, and installed some long drive screws on the bottom of them. then i placed them on their back, on my desk; and finished off my setup by placing a spare license plate on top of the drive screws. yep, a license plate. to test i just plugged in the drive, listening to it spin up; ran a surface scan for lots of seeking; and then listened while it wasnt being accessed, but still spun up. it's difficult to rank them with such an unscientific method that clearly wasn't optimal... so i wont.

the 7k1000c definitely had more vibration than the others, especially on spin up. while under typical use though, all 3 drives seemed to produce similar levels of vibration: not much. really, until i did the quick surface scans on them, they remained very well behaved. i think the slower drive speed pretty much negated the added mass of another platter.

mounted in my mini p180's drive cages (but still just on my desk), they didnt produce any vibration that i could notice. it wasnt until i had all three of my 7k1000s mounted in a single cage and running that i actually got a response. the 2TB drives were mounted on the horizontal drive trays upside down; so they more or less hang from the silicon dampers. i didnt notice any vibration from them when they were running together in that configuration. i think thats a bit more important than the open air/ license plate tests... i mean, none of you will just blot a hard drive to the case, right?

acoustics: the pitch derived from their rotational speed was the only differentiating factor here. the 7k100c had what was clearly a higher pitched sound, but it was tricky getting my noise floor low enough to actually hear it. i ended up listening from very close, maybe 4 inches away. the 4feg and the 5k3000 sounded... different, but both were certainly as quiet as the 7k1000c. certainly i'd say that they're all very very quiet drives. seeks were louder with both hitachis, but not by much really.

final thoughts: theres really not much separating these drives acoustically, or performance wise. spcr's sample of the 7k100c was reported to have a fair bit of vibration, which i cant say ive experienced. the quality of the 4feg seems to be in question, certainly we've seen lots of variation within the forums. the firmware bug is also a hassle, samsung's website not really being a helpful resource. the 5k3000 hasnt really been out in the wild long enough for those kind of issues to reveal themselves though.

i wouldnt feel bad about recommending any of these drives. between the two 2TB drives...i dont really sense much difference. to me theyre both sufficiently fast for their purpose: mass storage. small file transfers and quickly copying files is snappy on both. larger files paint a similar picture. i do want to say it clearly though, the samsung isnt as fast as the hitachi. it didnt really make a difference on perceived performance, but for instance when i scroll through a folder of vacation pictures (12mp) with extra large thumbnails the hitachi loads them quicker (a few thumbs faster... i guess xD). it does this at the cost of more aggressive seeking though... so it really feels like a toss up between the two.

the 7k1000c is definitely a very nice option for someone who wants to expand their storage quietly and inexpensively. personally though, i dont see the point of buying 1TB drives anymore. for me it doesnt make sense, for someone else it might though. it kinda got thrown into the fray because of its recent review, and by virtue of me having a few on hand.

tl;dr the hitachi's sound alike(slightly different tone, same volume). the samsung is slower, but also has quieter seeks. inside a mini p180(no fans except mugen2 on low) all of them are damn hard to hear a metre away from above, even closer from the side. as long as you dont get shafted by the sample variation fairy, you cant go wrong with either the 4feg or the 5k3000. i'd recommend the hitachi though, its a bit quicker and theres no firmware bug.

dchrsf
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Re: Hitachi 5K3000 2TB experiences

Post by dchrsf » Mon Feb 14, 2011 8:37 am

That really helped my decision out fumino, I reallly Appreciate your hands-on analysis and good benches!

I think the Hitachi 1tb or 2tb would be good for me!

chinna_n
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Re: Hitachi 5K3000 2TB experiences

Post by chinna_n » Tue Feb 15, 2011 2:13 pm

Thanks for very detailed analysis fumino! :)

In addition to my current 5 x Samsung F4 2TB drives which are all over the map for vibrations, I bought Hitachi 5k3000 drive in NewEgg deal. I just got it yesterday, and I will hook it up and check to see how it sounds/vibrations.

I will provide info about my sample once I test.

Thanks

dchrsf
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Re: Hitachi 5K3000 2TB experiences

Post by dchrsf » Sun Feb 20, 2011 9:32 am

I ended up buying a new condition 7k1000.c 1tb from a guy on the HARDOCP since I couldn't pass up the deal.
;D Image
This Hitachi is noticeable over my other two drives when running the random HDtune Test when compared to running the Green and BLUE drives in my signiture.

The Hitachi, then the WD Blue 640, and finally the WD Green 1.5tb is the order I would place the Hitachi in the case of Slightly noticeable in a quiet house (LOUD)----> (SOFT), have to strain to hear at all.
The noise is tonal throaty but not something that is much worse than the 640AAKS in my case.
Image
Wouldnt mind a few in RAID 5 with some suspension

I am very satisfied with my purchase, the drive is really fast, and matches the sound profile of my pc (other 2 hard drives are very silent), besides a small amount of added vibration. It is hard to tell there was anything added to the computer however, so Everything is above my expectations in terms of my overall rating of this disk.

I really love Hitachi, and would defiantly make the 5K 2tb my next purchase if nothing else comes out to replace its specs. From what I've seen, it sound like just as good as a price/performance/noise/great engineering balance as the 1tb 7k1000c.

On a side note, after review: The Hitachi Deskstar 5K3000 2tb seems comparable to my Western Digital Green 1.5tb (EARS) HDD in terms of performance for the RANDOM test in HDDTUNE
Last edited by dchrsf on Mon Feb 28, 2011 8:59 am, edited 1 time in total.

chinna_n
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Re: Hitachi 5K3000 2TB experiences

Post by chinna_n » Mon Feb 21, 2011 6:12 pm

Anyways, I got a chance to mount this Hitachi drive finally. It is infact as quiet as one of the best Best Samsung H204 2TB drive I have. No vibrations. But it seems little warmer than Samsung drives, almost by 3 degrees. Also seems power consumptions is little more than Samsung (Probably by 0.5 watts when idling, I guess).

Btw, it is only with one sample drive, so I can not really say how the QC is.

Thanks

Owen
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Re: Hitachi 5K3000 2TB experiences

Post by Owen » Wed Mar 09, 2011 3:26 am

dchrsf wrote:
On a side note, after review: The Hitachi Deskstar 5K3000 2tb seems comparable to my Western Digital Green 1.5tb (EARS) HDD in terms of performance for the RANDOM test in HDDTUNE
How about temperature and noise?

dchrsf
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Re: Hitachi 5K3000 2TB experiences

Post by dchrsf » Sun Mar 20, 2011 8:29 pm

I dont know about the 2TB hitachi, but my 1TB 1000c runs a little cooler than the 1.5TB Western digital EARS in the current placement in my case

CX23882-19
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Re: Hitachi 5K3000 2TB experiences

Post by CX23882-19 » Wed Apr 27, 2011 8:23 am

I bought 4 of these, after having tried the Samsung HD203WI and HD204UI.

3 of them have no noticeable vibration at all (as in, they are sat in a dock spinning but I cannot sense the vibration with my fingers and there is no hum from the shelf), 1 has more noticeable vibration, similar to the WD10EACS drive I have. They all vibrate less than either of the two HD204UI drives I have.

I need to put these through some testing before putting them to use, keeping an extra eye on the one with more vibration, and see if any suffer from an early death, but so far these are looking superior to the Samsung drives in terms of vibration levels.

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