Humming in New Wester Digital WD5002AALX

[Harryoo]

Hi,

I wanted to upgrade my system and bought a Western Digital WD5002AALX 500GB (capacity) SATA 6GB drive. It is fast but the drive produces a continous irritating humming sound. When I touch the drive the vibration is very noticeable. Is this typical in this drive or should I RMA it and exchange it for another one or exchange it for another model?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[dmcomputerguy]

Hi,

I wanted to upgrade my system and bought a Western Digital WD5002AALX 500GB (capacity) SATA 6GB drive. It is fast but the drive produces a continous irritating humming sound. When I touch the drive the vibration is very noticeable. Is this typical in this drive or should I RMA it and exchange it for another one or exchange it for another model?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I am not familiar with this particular drive but I am very familiar with the WD black line of drives. They are extremely quiet. In fact, I sometimes have a hard time telling if the one I am working with at the time is actually on or not.

You should first make sure it is really the drive that is making the noise and it is not just being transferred from something else, like a fan. One why to do that is to press the handle end of a screwdriver to your ear and touch the outside case of the drive with the screwdrivers point. Obviously, you touch the drive case a long ways from the electrical contacts or the board. Do not even get close to the back end, where the contacts are, or the bottom of the drive, where the board is. If the drive really is what is making the noise, RMA it.

 

[dmcomputerguy]

Hi,

I wanted to upgrade my system and bought a Western Digital WD5002AALX 500GB (capacity) SATA 6GB drive. It is fast but the drive produces a continous irritating humming sound. When I touch the drive the vibration is very noticeable. Is this typical in this drive or should I RMA it and exchange it for another one or exchange it for another model?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I posted an actual reply already, but I would like to tell a joke if I may. Q. Why do hard drives hum? A. Because they don't know the words.

 

[Harryoo]

I am not familiar with this particular drive but I am very familiar with the WD black line of drives. They are extremely quiet. In fact, I sometimes have a hard time telling if the one I am working with at the time is actually on or not.

You should first make sure it is really the drive that is making the noise and it is not just being transferred from something else, like a fan. One why to do that is to press the handle end of a screwdriver to your ear and touch the outside case of the drive with the screwdrivers point. Obviously, you touch the drive case a long ways from the electrical contacts or the board. Do not even get close to the back end, where the contacts are, or the bottom of the drive, where the board is. If the drive really is what is making the noise, RMA it.

Hi,

Thanks for the helpful reply. I removed the drive from my case to physically isolate it from any other vibration but kept it connected to my motherboard. It is still vibrating so I will RMA ASAP.

 

[Harryoo]

Best answer selected by Harryoo.

 

[Harryoo]

Things even got worse, the day before I returned the drive, it started making mid-frequency grinding noises. I've had a WD IDE drive for 3 years without any problems but these new 6GB SATA drives ain't too impressive in their reliability.I returned the Caviar drive and got a full refund. Beware of anything that is named after prestigious fisheggs!