Seagate 7200.7 high pitched whine is annoying me...

[pennylane]

Is there anything I can do to reduce the whine?

*UPDATE* (somewhere down)
cliff notes:
Replaced hard drive. I still hear the high pitch. Must be the hard drive. I can't stand it. I must be sensitive to high pitches or something. Now what?

 

[Jeff7181]

RMA it

 

[pennylane]

It's not supposed to sound like that? I've heard reports of the 7200.7 having some high pitched squeal or something. My Barracuda IV is completely silent. Is this something to RMA?

 

[Slatz]

bad bearing, RMA the sucker.

 

[pennylane]

Alrighty. I ordered it from compussr online... can I return it to any compusa store?

 

[Slatz]

Yes, as long as you have a receipt .....

 

[Rob G.]

The 7200.7 drives with the 8mb cache have a louder idling noise than the 2mb versions.

 

[pennylane]

That's what I thought too. The noise I get is a high pitched squeal.

 

[johnjkr1]

the 7200.7 is not the same as the barracuda IV...its missing the seashell cover....thats part of the extra noise..also, many of the 7200.7's have multiple platters whereas many of the barracuda IV's had one platter, and one platter drives are far quieter than multiple platter drives..less moving, less heads, etc.

 

[pennylane]

So is it defective or is it just the 7200.7 being the 7200.7?

 

[Sunner]

My 120 GB 7200.7 doesn't make any noise at all, it's too quite for my tastes really, I like to hear when my computer is working

It's an 8 MB version too by the way.

 

[tomstevens26]

Originally posted by: Sunner
My 120 GB 7200.7 doesn't make any noise at all, it's too quite for my tastes really, I like to hear when my computer is working It's an 8 MB version too by the way.

Glad I'm not the only one that thinks it's too quite! In the past, I've always used Maxtor's and WDs. I put the same drive (7200.7, 120GB, 8MB) in the machine I just built and I have never heard the drive. It's either super quite or the case (Antec SLK3700) is sound proof!

Tom

 

[Dug]

high pitch = bad.
RMA it.

The only thing you should hear is when it seeks.

 

[Mem]

You can also try the SeaTools software from here .

 

[cockeyed]

My 120gb 7200.7 is virtually silent. Me thinks you have a defective one. RMA it!

 

[Tab]

Originally posted by: Rob G.
The 7200.7 drives with the 8mb cache have a louder idling noise than the 2mb versions.

How is having a large Cache going to increase the noise level?

 

[Rob G.]

The cache itself isnt' the cause, obviously, but Seagate probably made some other changes to the drive for the 8mb version.

I had two 8mb 120mb drives a few months ago but noticed the sound was noticeably louder than the 2mb version.

 

[Tab]

Yes, you certainly noted that in your previous post.

 

[pennylane]

*UPDATE*
I'm now terribly frustrated. I replaced the 7200.7 at CompUSA (B&M).... and the new one also has a high pitch that annoys the hell out of me. I heard that the 7200.7's have a high pitch of some sort but usually the case prevents the high pitch from bothering others.

Someone from this board mentioned the possibility that I'm sensitive to high pitches when I said that I could hear a high pitch whenever my tv tuner was turned on.

So now I'm going to try and sell it. And try to get a Barracuda IV again or something.
How do Barracuda V's sound? Any reports of high pitches there?

I only want something quiet. Speed is not a factor. It will be used for storage as a secondary hard drive.

 

[Sarobi]

Not that it should matter, but some ppl are saying here that the 120 GB is very quiet -- is that the same size you had with the noise?

 

[Atlantean]

My 120 gb 7200.7 sata drive makes noises when it is reading and sometimes it makes this whistling sound probably the same sound yours is making, maybe mine is defective as well. I am gonna install the seatools and see what happens with that though.

 

[Oyeve]

I know it's late in the game but I run 2x 7200.7 160 giggers w/8meg cache in my system and barely hear them at all.

 

[Ionizer86]

I'm guessing your ears are just really sensitive to high-pitched sounds. Just for kicks, if you get the trial Realtime Analyzer on Cnet downloads, you can have your speakers generate sounds of various frequencies to listen to.

 

[Drizzy]

I just bought a 120 GB Barracuda. I hope it doesnt have a high pitch whine cause I bought it cause I heard they were really quiet drives...

 

[LiekOMG]

I had a similar experience with my Seagate 7200.7 drive. I was using it in a fanless system, so any sounds the HD made would be really obvious. While overall the idle sounds were very quiet, they had a decent amount of high frequencies. I wouldn't exactly say it annoyed me, but it was very obvious. Btw, i'm also very alert of high frequency sounds - I can "hear" when a TV is turned on from several rooms away, and i'm not talking about its volume. I think its the photon gun that i'm hearing. Anyway...

I returned the drive and bought a Samsung one instead. My initial impressions were very positive. Besides it being a cooler drive, the drive was also much quieter. Although its maybe a *tad* louder on idle compared to the Seagate, there are much less high frequencies on the Samsung drive. Seeks are no contest - the Samsung drive is a ton quieter. I can barely hear them above the idle noise. The Seagate sounded like a loud rattling sound in comparison.

Keep in mind that I'm running a fanless system, so any noise the HD makes would be noticeable. However, both would probably be inaudible in a normal system with a power supply fan, HSF, video card, etc.