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Quietness of my 80GB Maxtor D740X [6L080L4 ]

dbz007

Senior member
Just bought a retail 80GB D740X fluid bearing and notice that it has a rather noisy seek. It's kinda like a scratching noise during seeks.
I thought this drive was supposed to be super quiet. I've had a 40GB IBM 60GXP, 60GB WD, 20 & 60GB older maxtor drives and they all seems as quiet or if not quieter then this new 80gb maxtor.
I was just wondering how others would compare the quietness of their new 80GB D740X [6L080L4] fluid bearing drives with other drives.
I just bought it today so I can easily exchange it. It just doesn't sound good to me. I dont want it to die on me. 🙁
Thanks
 
Did you have to do anything special to install this drive. I can't seem to get anywhere with a friends drive at the moment...?
 
I've got a 40GB fluid bearing D740X and noise levels have been within expected range.

Almost silent when not seeking, and regular seeks barely noticeable. Sustained seeking across the platters becomes very noticeable however, but not to the point wherein it is obtrusive.

Overall I'm pretty pleased, I've found it to be noticeably quieter then Western Digital, and IBM's present 7200RPM models. It is also slightly quieter then the typical ball bearing D740X drives but not to a great degree.
I can say that the Barracuda IV is definitely a quieter drive still, but I've no complaints.

It's quieter then Maxtor's previous DiamondMax 60+, and in many ways it distinctly reminds me of Quantum's old Fireball Plus AS series of drives... though perhaps that shouldnt be surprising given that the D740X was initially a Quantum design.
 
No I didn't do anything special to the drive to get it to install.
What kinda problems are you having? Drive recognized by the bios at all? Partitioning problems?
The drive seems to be fairly fast but the scratching noise during seeks kinda annoying me since I have a fairly quiet p4 computer.

Thanks for the response Rand. I have a couple older Maxtor Diamond 60+ right here and this 80GB is definitely louder during seeks.
I'm fairly convinced now that something might not be functioning at 100% in this drive. Maybe I'll go swap it tomorrow. 🙁
DOH!
 
Get the Seagate Barracuda IV 7200 RPM 40/60/80 GB versions. I have 1 80GBand 1 60 GB I CANNOT hear them at all. I sometimes think the computer is not on. I use an old system so there' s
1 fan and 2 HDD I cannot believe how quiet it is. You wont be dissapointed. Its fast and cool as heck. Maxtor is using Quantum "quiet" technology for those "quiet" drives. You gusy ever heard Quiet Quantum drives NO!! So this is useless.. bring the Maxtor BAck. Even a Western Digital could be better.
 
Sorry, I don't mean to cr@p on your thread! There is a discussion here that u might be able to help me with.

Cheers. 😉
 
I have used 4 D740X's in my system and they all had the same seek noise. Kind of a "crackling" sound. I think it only stands out because the idle level of these drives is pretty quiet. From what you're describing I'd say your drive is normal.

Like several people have suggested, if you want a really quiet drive you have to get a 'cuda IV. I have 2 80GB 'cudas and they're dead silent. Quietest drives I've ever (not) heard.
 


<< No I didn't do anything special to the drive to get it to install.
What kinda problems are you having? Drive recognized by the bios at all? Partitioning problems?
The drive seems to be fairly fast but the scratching noise during seeks kinda annoying me since I have a fairly quiet p4 computer.

Thanks for the response Rand. I have a couple older Maxtor Diamond 60+ right here and this 80GB is definitely louder during seeks.
I'm fairly convinced now that something might not be functioning at 100% in this drive. Maybe I'll go swap it tomorrow. 🙁
DOH!
>>



Maybe because the drive isn't whining from the paltters spinning you are noticing the seek sound more?
 
Like I said:



<< I think it only stands out because the idle level of these drives is pretty quiet. >>



I'd keep the drive if I was you, unless the noise really bothers you. Your only other choice is a Seagate Barracuda IV.
 


<< It's kinda like a scratching noise during seeks >>



I`ve the normal version of that HD(non-fluid) and the scratching sound does quieten down with time after use,I remember I had that at first but now it`s virtually gone.
 
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