can fluid dynamic bearing hard drives develop whine?

[draggoon01]

i have WD 120gb that makes an annoying whining noise (not just idle noise), which developed after almost a year of use. i'm wondering though if fluid dynamic bearing hard drives are protected against such a problem?

also are fluid dynamic bearing hard drives more/less reliable than ball bearing? or is it same with just less noise overall?

 

[ethebubbeth]

western digital drives are pretty infamous for developing a whine, so i really don't know. apparently they can...

 

[chilled]

Originally posted by: draggoon01
i have WD 120gb that makes an annoying whining noise (not just idle noise), which developed after almost a year of use. i'm wondering though if fluid dynamic bearing hard drives are protected against such a problem?

also are fluid dynamic bearing hard drives more/less reliable than ball bearing? or is it same with just less noise overall?

AFAIK, WD only started to use fluid bearings in their performance 7200rpm HD's after April-May 2003. I remember since I bought the IBM 180GXP instead in Jan due to this. I would assume your HD uses ball bearings instead.

 

[Baronz]

my WD 160 has a noticeable whine, moreso than my maxt or, so i wouldnt say its abnormal. Atlhough the fact that it developed it might be a little worrying...

 

[draggoon01]

Originally posted by: chilled

Originally posted by: draggoon01
i have WD 120gb that makes an annoying whining noise (not just idle noise), which developed after almost a year of use. i'm wondering though if fluid dynamic bearing hard drives are protected against such a problem?

also are fluid dynamic bearing hard drives more/less reliable than ball bearing? or is it same with just less noise overall?

AFAIK, WD only started to use fluid bearings in their performance 7200rpm HD's after April-May 2003. I remember since I bought the IBM 180GXP instead in Jan due to this. I would assume your HD uses ball bearings instead.

i guess i wasn't clear. yes i know my drives use ball bearings. what i'm wondering is if fluid bearing drives are protected against the whine problem. i'm trying to avoid the whine problem and want to know if buying a fluid bearing drive will be safe against the whine problem

 

[draggoon01]

bump for answer...

 

[RalfHutter]

Well, I had a FDB Maxtor D740X that developed a bad enough whine that I RMA'd it so my answer would be "yes".

 

[cnicol]

My WD 120G SE drive developed a whine. It is driving me nuts! It is a pretty loud whine but the drive seems to work ok and has given me no problems at all.

Is there a greater chance this drive will fail now? I was thinking of returning it to WD since it is still under warranty...even tho it works fine its just to loud to use in my bedroom. I could put it in my server downstairs...were the noise wouldn't be as much of a problem...if I was sure that it is going to be reliable.