Old HDD giving me trouble

[nwo]

I have an old 1TB Seagate 3.5" SATA 7.2k RPM HDD. It hasn't been used for about 3 years and I just recently installed it in my new rig. I'm using it as a storage drive for games/etc...

Here is the issue:
Every couple of minutes, I would hear a fairly loud "click". When I am in windows just doing normal stuff, I can't really tell any difference. However, if I am gaming (Diablo 3 is the only game I tried so far) when I hear the HDD click, the game would lock up for a split second and then resume.

I just ran the default windows error check with both options enabled and I did not recall seeing any errors after the scan was completed. I also used HD Tune's quick error scan and nothing was found either.

The drive is split into two partitions of ~500GB each. I tried moving all the files to one partition and formatting the empty partition, and I am still having the same issues afterwards.

 

[C1]

I have some WD drives whose performance/behavior matches your description, but the interval between "clicks" is much greater. Basically, unaccessed drives spin down (ie, sleep). When finally accessed, there is a clearly audible "click" then you can hear the 7200 rpm drive spin up. Until the drive spins up and is ready, any operation requested which involves that drive is frozen till the drive becomes ready (eg, access my computer to display the drive list or save a file to the affected "sleeping" HDD). As near as I can tell, the "sleep" function is integral to the WD firmware. It can be a bit annoying at times, but the HDDs which do this have lasted now for many years trouble free.

 

[nwo]

Sometimes it's more frequent than others, I don't think there is a set period of time nor is it always the same constant frequency between the clicks.

Did it affect your application or gaming performance like it did for me? Is there any way to get rid of it?

 

[Elixer]

Get something like Crystaldidskinfo to check the SMART status of the HD.
I wouldn't describe head parking as loud, so usually, loud noises are not good... and the drive is on the way out.

 

[nwo]

Get something like Crystaldidskinfo to check the SMART status of the HD.
I wouldn't describe head parking as loud, so usually, loud noises are not good... and the drive is on the way out.

Yep, I was thinking the same thing. However, none of the programs or utilities I have used so far have pointed towards that direction.

Crystaldiskinfo also says my health status of the HD is good. However, I do see a bunch of attributes displayed down at the bottom and I am not sure how to interpret them.

 

[fixbsod]

Not sure if it is truly a power issue -- in my experience with drives sleeping and spinning down is that when they are spun back up it sounds just like that. There is a little clicking in the beginning but this is overshadowed by humming and hearing this humming get faster and faster -- like a CD/DVD spinning up in a drive. I would be wary of that drive as loud clicking can be a sign of impending death, especially if it's causing slow read speeds (stuttering in games).

I played D3 on HDD and stuttering can be normal in these situations : when you join an existing game (and likewise sometimes starting a new game) and sometimes when someone else is joining your game and it is syncing, and sometimes when you first enter a new level/area and it lets you play but is obviously still loading a lot of the assets.

That said I've never encountered RANDOM stuttering.

 

[nickbits]

clicking usually means the drive is dying (even if diagnostics indicate otherwise)

that assumes it didn't do this 3 years ago when it was in normal use.

 

[nwo]

Alright, thanks for the suggestions everyone. I will start looking for a good deal on a new 1TB HDD.