My Seagate 7200rmp 1tb Barracuda passed all seatools tests but is noisy

FirstTimebuilder777 · Dec 1, 2015

Is it normal for a hard drive to be noisy? should I worry if it passed the tests. This hard drive has been making noises since I first installed it, it is now about 1.5 months old. I am not good at describing noises and honestly I couldn't if I tried. Thank you

Ps. I posted about this in a similar thread but I wanted to change it up a bit
and sorry for bad english

Darkbreeze · Dec 1, 2015

Make sure the drive sled is securely fastened and maybe temporarily try running it out of the case, laying on the work bench. If it's no longer noisy then it's probably a mounting/vibration problem. Otherwise, RMA the unit. If vibration is not the cause then it's likely a mechanic problem related to an internal moving part. No drive should make unusual noises that don't seem normal. Some noise is normal, but you should be able to tell the difference.

nukemaster · Dec 1, 2015

It is hard to know what you consider to be noisy.

My old Seagate 1TB was dead silent. In fact the only drive I found loud was my WDC Black 2TB, but it was FAST too.

Most drives have a seek noise(kind tk tk tk, but not a loud click click click.). These noises happen when the drive is in in use seeking(moving back and forth) data to read or write. It many cases it sounds like a low rumble sound.
Lucky enough drive seeks are quieter on many drives than they used to be.

Seeking sounds like this. Please note this site uses flash and has advertisements. I need to find a better option for hosting. This was uploaded a while ago.
http://tinypic.com/r/10or11u/5

Some drives will park the drive heads when not in use. This is a much louder sound sometimes and sounds like a drive that is powering up or down. The motor does not tend to stop so it is just a single noise without the revving up sound of a normal startup from power off. I do not have a recording of this.

If a drive goes click click click, many users refer to this as the click of death. I highly doubt you have this, but it is something to know about.

Darkbreeze · Dec 1, 2015

^^^Much better explanation. Additionally though, if it is an obnoxious click or any kind of grinding noise, it's probably not normal.

nukemaster · Dec 1, 2015

I had a grinding drive once(defect from the factory). It also has slow transfers and and access times.

I was surprised it even worked to be honest.

Darkbreeze · Dec 1, 2015

I got two Hitachi "deathstar" drives in a row, one new, the other the RMA for the first drive, that both had grinding problems. Finally ended up getting a good replacement, sold it off and never bought Hitachi 3.5" drives again. Now their 2.5" drives I've never had any issues with. Both had, as you say, clear problems with performance so it wasn't much of a guess when it came to diagnosing.

jsmithepa · Dec 2, 2015

The problem is, if you don't know what is suppose to sound like, how do you know it is not normal?

Darkbreeze · Dec 2, 2015

Well, I don't know what trains in Africa sound like, but if one ran off the tracks, I think I could tell something was wrong by the sound due to the fact that I've heard normal sounding trains in the US. Maybe not the greatest analogy, but you get the idea.

Usually, when in doubt, if you can eliminate vibration as the cause, and it still doesn't sound like any drive you've had before, there's at least a better than average chance something is wrong. Most normally functioning drives don't make enough noise of any kind to make the average person even question if something is wrong or not.

jsmithepa · Dec 2, 2015

Some people seem super-sensitive. One fellah over here a while back swears he can hear a high pitch produced by his SSD!

Darkbreeze · Dec 2, 2015

It does happen, sensitivity to frequency that is. It's weird, but every so often I can hear some similar high frequency noises when nobody else can. And other times I cannot. But I can usually tell the difference between that, and something clearly "wrong". I agree though that it might depend on the person as to what is audible and what's not, just, they still ought to be able to at least speculate as to whether what they hear is in line with what they've heard before or is something clearly "not right". Still, it's probably speculative to assume what I will know is not normal, will be assumed the same way by others.

FirstTimebuilder777 · Dec 3, 2015

nukemaster :

It is hard to know what you consider to be noisy.

My old Seagate 1TB was dead silent. In fact the only drive I found loud was my WDC Black 2TB, but it was FAST too.

Most drives have a seek noise(kind tk tk tk, but not a loud click click click.). These noises happen when the drive is in in use seeking(moving back and forth) data to read or write. It many cases it sounds like a low rumble sound.
Lucky enough drive seeks are quieter on many drives than they used to be.

Seeking sounds like this. Please note this site uses flash and has advertisements. I need to find a better option for hosting. This was uploaded a while ago.
http://tinypic.com/r/10or11u/5

Some drives will park the drive heads when not in use. This is a much louder sound sometimes and sounds like a drive that is powering up or down. The motor does not tend to stop so it is just a single noise without the revving up sound of a normal startup from power off. I do not have a recording of this.

If a drive goes click click click, many users refer to this as the click of death. I highly doubt you have this, but it is something to know about.

http://tinypic.com/player.php?v=2dv031i%3E&s=9#.Vl_VF7iDFBc here it is but the video is a bit silent and has background noise from my siblings

Darkbreeze · Dec 3, 2015

Aside from the shuffling sounds of you moving around, I really don't hear anything there that would concern me. However, that doesn't mean there isn't anything to be concerned about, just that it isn't coming through in your audio. Better would be to get a directional microphone up near the drive when the house is silent, or nearly silent, and not move around. A directional microphone should help to eliminate external noises. Seems I heard fan noise as well, and that seemed to be the loudest noise. If your case fans are louder at idle than your hard drive, and nothing is clicking, then it's probably fine.

If you're hearing something loud enough to concern you, I probably wouldn't take chances. I'd back up all my data to another location just in case, which you should do as a matter of course anyhow, so that if it fails or starts really having problems you can immediately RMA the unit. Or just RMA the unit if you think something just isn't right.

What is the model number of your drive?

nukemaster · Dec 3, 2015

I also did not hear anything that sounded way out of place from the drive.

If you can get the drive out of the system and place it on the desk maybe it will work better. Another option is to place your camera or phone right in near the drive. When I did a seek recording I just placed my recorder on the table next to the drive so my own moving around would not effect the recording.

FirstTimebuilder777 · Dec 3, 2015

nukemaster :

Is it normal for a drive to seek so much it does it a lot and I ran HD tune no errors adter a full test and an average of 170 mbs read

Darkbreeze · Dec 3, 2015

You might try reinstalling the most recent chipset and storage controller drivers for your motherboard as listed on the manufacturers product page, and making sure you have the absolutely latest bios firmware installed, as those can all affect function.

FirstTimebuilder777 · Dec 3, 2015

Darkbreeze :

how would I do that go to gigabyte? i have dont that but I dont know what drives to select
GA-B85M-Gaming 3 this is my mobo

Darkbreeze · Dec 3, 2015

What is your motherboard model number?

FirstTimebuilder777 · Dec 4, 2015

Darkbreeze :

GA-B85M-Gaming 3
from gigabyte
socket type 1150 B85 chipset

Darkbreeze · Dec 4, 2015

What is your OS version and bit depth? 32 or 64?

FirstTimebuilder777 · Dec 4, 2015

Darkbreeze :

windows 8.1 64

Darkbreeze · Dec 4, 2015

Ok, sorry it took so long to get back to you on this. I'd install both of these, in order.

Intel management engine interface: http://download.gigabyte.us/FileList/Driver/mb_driver_intel_me_8series.exe

Intel .inf installation files: http://download.gigabyte.us/FileList/Driver/mb_driver_chipset_intel_8series.exe

My Seagate 7200rmp 1tb Barracuda passed all seatools tests but is noisy

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