Any opinion on Seagate (ST3160023A-RK 160GB) Hard Drives?

My measuring stick is almost exclusively maxtor. So far this computer has used / is using

Maxtor 6L040J2 (40GB 7200 RPM, 2 MB Cache)
Maxtor 6Y120L0 (120-7200-2)
Maxtor -dead---(160-7200-
"------dying----(160-7200-
Maxtor Ext (250-7200-16)


(No, not happy about the dead drives, i guess "8" + ")" = )

hmmm, 8(

I recently heard something that was news to me. Drives with large writeback cache sizes (8 MB and up) tend to generate more heat. This seems to agree with my observations. the 120, and especially the 40 gb drives stay quite cool, even though the 40 is the system drive.

Both the 160's were external drives (with no fan, and non-metal housing). They started out noisy and hot and only got worse with time. They never had near the workload of the older 40 and 120 GB drives but had very short lives. (i sort of count the other 160 as dead since by the sound, it will not be long)

I may as well share this lesson, if its not already obvious. Get a heat conducting metal hard drive enclosure. From what I've heard a fan is not necessary if you have an aluminum enclosure, but someone else may feel differently about this.

--------

Okay, the question:

Seagate has a 160 GB drive with 8 MB of cash that can be bought for about $50. it is ATA 100 (compared to Maxtor's ATA 133). its a 7200 RPM drive that is supposed to be very quiet and durable.

....But...are they


- HandsOff

 

Nothing is durable with heat. My Seagate SATA 250Gb 7200rpm died within 7 weeks of computer purchase, after "free" replacement, the company emailed me saying that according to their test HD died because it was subjected to excessive heat (above 70 degree Celsius). So I searched the net reading about heat, I found a little free prog "speedfan" (this not only shows you the HD heat but how hot the processor is in digital form on your systray(notification area) and how fast fans spinning). I was surprised to see the replaced HD is 72C hot. So, I decided to do some thing easy and cheap without adding extra load or junk inside the CPU case. I threw HD casing away to make free space and fixed the HD vertically (to minimize the total surface area) on CPU base with removable”rubber like glue”. The HD temp now is 37 degC when idle; it reaches 48 degC during adaware or NOD32 scanning.

 

Hadi,

sorry i didn't get back with you. ISP problems.

That was quite an interesting solution! my only misgiving would be the noise factor, but by using rubber glue you are already damping alot of the sound. That is how better hard drive enclosures do it.

I've heard about that program but haven't tried it yet. sounds great!

- HandsOff

 

What don't you just install a cooler? Can get one of the best free of cost. Takes just seconds to install.....very little resources used......no need for any hard drive to ever get over heated.

 

Okay, I'll bite, how do I obtain this free cooler. will it work in and external drive enclosure?

Also, for all you no-commenting-lurkers, I know somebody out there must have the goods on Seagate drives. Seagate claimed to be the quietest, and most durable of home computer hard drives. That struck me as quite a claim. Sounds good, though, if true!

-HandsOff

 

Am not suggesting this product. The link is ONLY TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA OF WHATS OUT THERE. You know your computer and what will work with it..I DO NOT....so, please do some research pn this an do not install just anything.


http://www.stepwiki.com/view/Projects/CpuEnC


note that this product will SLOW DOWN your compute....its a new approach. Never tryed it myself

 

The Seagate you talk of seems to be a nice and quiet drive, judging from a user review here (you might as well read all the user reviews so you can make a good purchase decision):

http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/prod...BV_EngineID=ccceaddejhmhimmcfngcfkmdffhdffo.0



Maxtor drives perform good, but are quite noisy. Samsung drives are very good, you should try one of those...

 

Western Digital is very good from my personal experience..the maxtor I have makes a lot more noise then WD...speed differences aren't noticeable except when copying large files and stuff...

 

Noise from HD!!!! is nothing compare to the two small cooling fans of my ATI 9800XT. Actually the glue is not rubber glue (I dont know its name in english) it is easily removable in case you want to take out the HD yet is fixing it firmly. Adding cooling fan means adding extra load on power supply+fan rotation noise+adding extra junk inside the box+minimising the total space inside the box (CPU) meanings less room for air to circulate this implies more heat than cool.

speedfan very nice free proggie try if your mobo support it
http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php

 

Hehe....the two small fans on my FX 5900 non-Ultra, non-XT are quite cool

But honestly, if you think that the fan noise of an ATI 9800XT is loud, then you wouldnt be able to bear the noise of the incredible FlowFX found on the GeForce FX 5800 Ultra.

The FX 5800U has a fan that sounds like a vacuum cleaner.

 

you'r lucky

I'll say thank god for ATI

 

I have a Seagate like the one described in one of my computers and it is the quietest drive I've had so far with no problems.

 

This is a very quiet drive. I have an Antec SLK3000B case with one 120 mm intake fan in front of the hard drive bay. Also have a rear 120 mm fan and a Zalman 7700Cu CPU cooler (120 mm). The Enermax EG495P-VE SFMA V2.0 power supply comes with two fans (80 mm and 92 mm).

The system is almost noiseless, even when overclocked to 3700 speed (Abit AX8 with 1GB Corsair DDR400 RAM and AMD 64 3000 Winchester).

 

HandsOff is talking about the relation between HD size and heat problem not noise, noise came up as an issue when I described a method of attaching HD directly to the CPU unit base to minimize HD temp (I achieved a drop of almost 30 Celsius with the method), Then he was suspecting that this type of fixing HD to base may increase noise (resonance) I assured him no resonance occur.