Maxtor 160 gb 8 mg cache HDD noise

[nealh]

I have 2 of these drives and these seem much louder than my DX740 80 gb drive...anyone else got opinions....

the 160 gb drives are Diamond Max 9 Plus...8mg cache drives with FDB motors

 

[Excelsior]

My makes a little bit of noise..and well its louder cause it performs better than the D740.

 

[nealh]

thanks...

 

[mmmm]

There is a program called AMSET (Acoustic Management Set) - you can download it from maxtor's site (it is a little bit hard to find it on maxtor site, try using google searching just maxtor.com site for AMSET keyword).

Basically, you run that program from DOS (not dos window) and there you can set attributes for any found maxtor HDD in your computer. You can set:

1. faster access (louder drive)
2. slower access (quiet drive)
3. turn off AMSET

My Maxtor HD 80 GB D740X is by default set to faster access (loud).

 

[WobbleWobble]

I had 2 40GB D740X (ball bearings) and replaced them with 2 Maxtor 120GB 8MB (fluid bearing) drives. I think my 120GBs are considerably quieter, but that's because the 40s were ball bearings.

Was your 80GB fluid or ball bearing?

 

[nealh]

My 80 gb hdd is FDB..fluid bearing drive and is quiet I could barely ever hear it over my case fans...the 160 gb drives are clearly louder than the 80 gb ..and the 160 gb (all I guess are fluid bearing at least for 8 mg cache) are fluid bearing as well

I have AMSET program but I am not sure it can be used with these drives..at least according to maxtor site..one place says it will be for all drives another list thespecific family of HDD to use it with...

I am more concerned if the noise is normal ...I can learn to get used to it....

 

[mmmm]

You can not do anything about HDD rotation noise. Period. Just think about it - it is 7200 RPM! For comparison, put a 7000 RPM CPU HSF (like Thermaltake 6cu+) - just hear that noise (I had a chance to hear several HSFs at that speed - they sound like Apache gunship!). You can (maybe can, maybe can't) only set maxtor's access times using AMSET program. Any CPU HSF rotating more that 5000 RPM is considered as loud.


My HDD is Maxtor 80 GB D740X with ball bearings, and it is the loudest component in my computer! My CPU fan is Speeze 8cm 2700 RPM rated (3100 RPM real world), PSU fan 1500-1700 RPM, HDD fans inaubible (I made a switch for them to 1. turn them off, 2. turn them on at low speed (inaudible) and 3. turn them on at high speed (loud). In winter, I set HDD fans to low speed (inaudible), and in summer at high (loud), but that loudness is not hearable beacuse of room fan cooling myself So in winter, basically, only HDD is hearable in my computer.

 

[nealh]

Ok...but I find it strange my DX740 FDB drive which is 7200 rpm is so much quiter than the 160gb FDB hdd...I never checked amset settings on the dx740 could be set to quiet mode

 

[akers]

Strange.

I have three Maxtor 160GB, 8Mb cache drives. Two in one PC and one in another. They are all three quiet. I also have a couple of 40GB D740s and a couple of WD 40s and the 160s are the quitest of the bunch.

These are retail drives not OEM. Bought two kits from Frye's and one from CompUSA.

 

[nealh]

Mine were both retail kits one from staples other from office depot and they sound alike

 

[beatle]

I've had 2 Maxtor DiamondMax 9's. Both were silent @ idle and a little noisy during seeks. My Raptor by comparison is slightly quieter in seeks.