7200 RPM Hard Drive... Noise = Vibration?

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ibig82 · #1 Post by **ibig82** » Wed Dec 21, 2005 3:11 pm

Hello.

I'm trying to upgrade my standard 40GB 5400RPM to 80 or 100 GB 7200

RPM Hard drive. I see there are two options, Hitachi 7K100 or Seagate

7200.1. My friend told me that when he used 7200 RPM, his thinkpad T41

was vibrating so he changed it to 100GB 5400 RPM. I heard about there is

some noise on 7200 HDs but not vibration. I could see that why he's

saying that because T41/42s (don't know about T43) have hard drive

underneath the right hand wrist. Does anyone having this problem?

Too much Vibration so that your wrists feel funny?

RS_003 · #2 Post by **RS_003** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 6:37 am

E7K60 in a X31.

Noise... well I got used to it.

Vibration... yes sir! but thats in the nature of the E7k60 series... should have bought an 7K60 instead...

(virbration kinda feels like a weak current.)

wolfman · #3 Post by **wolfman** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 8:12 am

I have an E7k60 (40 gb) in my R40 and a friend has a 7k60 (60 gb) in his R40 and they act about the same in terms of heat, noise and vibration when in use...

This might be a case where the slimness of the X31 and/or T series causes more of an issue than with the R40 series...

leegaard · #4 Post by **leegaard** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 5:03 pm

Vibration ... Yes .. at bit more than with at 5400 RPM drive.

I think that 7K60 drive might vibrate a bit more than my 7K100, but that might also be individual differences.

stevepre2005 · #5 Post by **stevepre2005** » Fri Dec 23, 2005 7:17 pm

Vibration: it depends.

I had a 2373M3U with 7K60 60G, and it vibrates the first day I received it. Due to bad pixel, I returned the T42 and ordered another one (exactly the same model).

There is no vibration at all for the new one and I have been using it happily.

Noise: Yes.
The sound is just there....not loud at all. But since I used CHC to control the fan, so a lot of time the fan is off, and the only noise coming out from the laptop is the noise of the hard drive.

I am thinking to get a seagate 7200.1 100GB. Has another compare the noise between this and the Hitachi 7K60?

juntao · #6 Post by **juntao** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 3:39 pm

I have the Seagate 7200.1 in my X31. The drive is extremely quiet. I have to put my ear close and listen to hear it. I replaced the original 4200 rpm drive immediately, so I can't really say how much difference there is in noise. You do need to be sure to mount it tightly. The first time I installed it the screw was slightly loose and I did get quite a bit of noise. I've never noticed any vibration, but the X31's hard drive is under the keyboard instead of the wrist wrest.

christopher_wolf · #7 Post by **christopher_wolf** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 3:50 pm

I replaced the drive in another laptop with a Hitachi 60GB 7200RPM and you have to essentially put your ear to the case and listen for awhile for any noise or vibrations.

sonoma · #8 Post by **sonoma** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 5:45 pm

I've recently replaced the default Hitachi 40GB 5400 rpm HDD with the following:

Hitachi HTS721010G9AT00 Travelstar 7K100 100gb 7200rpm 8mb cache 2.5" Hard disk (WTY - 3 year)

And I must say that I'm really satisfied with the upgrade. It was absolutely worth the investment (AUD 350). Please see my summary below. Needless to say the comments below are my own assessment, therefore, gotta be subjective. However, they are my honest feedback.

- Noise: a little more than the previous 5400 rpm drive but doesn't bother me at all. It's no where near a noisy desktop hard drive! However, it is definitely noisier than 5400 rpm drives. Actually, I expected much worse as I had seen so many posts talking about how noisy Hitachi drives were in general. However, I now can safely ignore what others said. This new drive is just fine for me.

- Heat: a little less than the previous. I was actually surprised that the heat level was slightly reduced by upgrading to a 7200 rpm drive.

- Speed: definitely faster than the previous. When I first bought my new T43, I was so, so disappointed about slow performance. It took nearly 2 times longer to boot up compared to my desktop PC. I expected much more from a Dothan CPU with 1 GB RAM with 533 MHz FSB. After upgrading to a 7200 rpm, the situation has changed. I can now compare its performance to a desktop PC. It's that quick! It's comparable to a desktop hard drive.

- vibration: a little more than the previous. But again, this doesn't bother me at all. It's not like a drive spinning maddly. It's very light, gentle vibration. You cannot notice at all unless you put your laptop on your lap. If you use it at your desk, there's no vibration whatsoever.

I've gained so much by upgrading from a 5400 rpm to a 7200 rpm. Just imagine what improvement you can get by upgrading from a 4200 rpm to a 7200 rpm, then. Merry Christmas, all!!

fbrdphreak · #9 Post by **fbrdphreak** » Sun Dec 25, 2005 3:40 am

Hitachi drives in general are rather loud. You can lower this noise using Acoustic Management. Either DL a utility from Hitachi's website or use Notebook Hardware Control, it supports noise management on the Hitachi's.

Personally I find Seagate's to be super quiet and they have 100GB 7200RPM drives. Fujitsu's are even quitere than Seagate's, but they don't have any 7200RPM drives.

Check out my 2.5" roundup:
http://www.laptoplogic.com/reviews/detail.php?id=92

tripper · #10 Post by **tripper** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 9:43 pm

Without wanting to start a long discussion I find Fujitsu's have a high pitched whine that's significantly noisier than the Seagates. Hitachi has more a low piched typical Maxtor-like crunch. Seagate rules supreme.

fbrdphreak · #11 Post by **fbrdphreak** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 9:53 pm

I would agree Fujitsu's have a higher pitched sound. The ones I tested though were very quiet, just higher pitched if you listened closely

tripper · #12 Post by **tripper** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 9:57 pm

<shudder> I recently bought a 60GB Fujitsu to upgrade my friend's T20. What's that noise?, he asked me a few days later, can you hear it? Is that the hard drive?

At least we all know the Maxtor/Hitachi crunch. Better the devil you know. "Oh my God, not the high pitched whine!" I could imagine Homer yelling!

fbrdphreak · #13 Post by **fbrdphreak** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 10:02 pm

Interesting! Do you remember what model it was?

tripper · #14 Post by **tripper** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 10:10 pm

God knows! It was lower end though. It was simply one of those things you just don't "expect" to come and get you. I'm a bit miffed about my 7K100 being slightly noisier than my old 7K60 but at least I can live with that 'cause it's the good old crunch.

fbrdphreak · #15 Post by **fbrdphreak** » Thu Dec 29, 2005 11:20 pm

Be sure to turn on Acoustic Management with your 7K100

Esben · #16 Post by **Esben** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 6:25 am

IMO the Fujitsu 40 GB drive was more quiet.
Using acoustic management will reduce performance, which was my main reason for upgrading to the 7K100 - speed.

It's a bit odd to me, why one would purchase a new drive sporting very fast seeks and high performance, and then choose to reduce seek speed and its great performance.
Most of the time, the drive is idle, just spinning the motor. Acoustic management cannot reduce that noise, only turning it off will do that.
I have found no way to have it turned off for more than 5-10 minutes, surfing the internet etc.

fbrdphreak · #17 Post by **fbrdphreak** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 5:48 pm

Esben wrote:IMO the Fujitsu 40 GB drive was more quiet.
Using acoustic management will reduce performance, which was my main reason for upgrading to the 7K100 - speed.

It's a bit odd to me, why one would purchase a new drive sporting very fast seeks and high performance, and then choose to reduce seek speed and its great performance.
Most of the time, the drive is idle, just spinning the motor. Acoustic management cannot reduce that noise, only turning it off will do that.
I have found no way to have it turned off for more than 5-10 minutes, surfing the internet etc.

I tested a 7K60 with Acoustic Management on & off, no real performance loss. A few % difference in some tests, but within margin of error.

dino · #18 Post by **dino** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 12:22 am

I just got a seagate 80 gig 7200.1 ST980825A. Although the performance rocked, the vibration was too much for me. (The sound was a bit too much too) I ended up putting it into my girlfriend's old Armada e500. It wasn't a problem there because the e500 is a brick (by today's standard) and the hard drive is located on the bottom. Unfortunately Hitachi's AAM software said this drive didn't support it.

7200 RPM Hard Drive... Noise = Vibration?

7200 RPM Hard Drive... Noise = Vibration?

7K60

Hitachi Travelstar 7K100

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