27" iMac Seagate 1Tb HDD Noise NORMAL!!

[frenchie0101]

rite as some will already know i have took back my 27" iMac a total of 6 times and now i am on my 7th (4th one had screen issues), after actually accepting the "belly rumbling" "popping" noise and just getting on with the i5 experience, i thought i would actually contact Seagate direct on the actual matter for the rest of people on here who have doubt about there seagate hard drives..
So i ring the operator i told him the whole story his first reply was sorry we dont support apple hardware! my response was "respected but the hard drive used is a seagate product"! he then replied saying sorry sir i misunderstood and quickly responded how can i help. I then repeated the problem and he asked for the HDD serial number, i was then very specific on the the noises we are all hearing and he made me repeat what i said a good 3 times so he had a very good understanding (in other words he did take this all seriously) he then said he was going to talk to the relevant person and put me on hold....10 minutes later he's back on the phone and he again asked me a final time! (ffs) to explain the noise he then quickly said in response the hard drive is supposed to make that noise. he named it the barracuda in seagates terms. i then replied saying i know of other people with the same model number who are saying they cannot hear there hard drive working, his response was it all depends on enviroment, but the guy did say the noise i was describing means the HDD is very healthy and doing a great job! i then just quickly asked in time would the noise subside he says no way! because of the 1tb there is multiple heads and that particular seagate drive is supposed to make a more loader noise then any other of there models...

my final thoughts for you guys you can take that with a pinch of salt, and think well i rang seagate of course they are going to say all that. But i am now quite happy i rang cause the operator really did go beyond the call of duty spoke to a tech guy and replied in a very optimistic and quick way.... so there we go, from me thats case closed

 

[wesleyh]

So you're saying that all the people who have the mythical "quiet" segate 1TB are just not hearing well enough? ..

Anyway, it may be normal for seagate, but I doubt it's normal for apple standards. We pay a premium for that extra quality, for that silent system, etc..

 

[spcdust]

Thanks to frenchie0101 for looking into this - I know it's become a bit of an obsession for you. Also, might I suggest that this thread should be MERGED with the original thread so to keep all the info in one place?

So you're saying that all the people who have the mythical "quiet" segate 1TB are just not hearing well enough? ..

Anyway, it may be normal for seagate, but I doubt it's normal for apple standards. We pay a premium for that extra quality, for that silent system, etc..

I'm inclined to agree, I didn't pay close on £2000 for a system that sounds like someone with a bad case of belly rumble or, not so politely, the sh*ts. It kind of doesn't make sense for Apple to invest so much R&D in ensuring the fans are near silent only to then shove a noisy HDD in the mix. Also, hasn't this drive been around for a couple of years - surely HDD technology has moved on from then - or did Apple pick up a job lot at some technology auction

 

[53x12]

This is not normal. I had a i5 with the Seagate that made the noise. Brought it back to Apple and the Genius took it to the back room. Said there was a loose fan/bushing close to the HD that was obvious when the drive was put under load. This is not normal as my new i5 is dead silent.

 

[jddar]

.....This is not normal as my new i5 is dead silent.

Mine is silent too--something must be wrong if it is otherwise. Also, my hearing ability is excellent.

 

[53x12]

Mine would really be noticeable when the fans kicked in. I would recommend some of you to install SMCfancontrol and actually increase the speed of the fans. It didn't take much for me 15-20% increase in the fan speed for the sound to be unbearable in a quiet room. Sounds like a fan isn't installed properly, or the drive isn't secured properly.

 

[GadgetAddicted]

My iMac's HD is VERY quite! I hear really well and even when the fans kick in, I the HD is very very quite. Even when I am writing large files to the HD so I do not know what you are talking about.

 

[mdewberry]

This is not normal. I had a i5 with the Seagate that made the noise. Brought it back to Apple and the Genius took it to the back room. Said there was a loose fan/bushing close to the HD that was obvious when the drive was put under load. This is not normal as my new i5 is dead silent.

What an interesting quote!!! And I was wondering if maybe the drive was loose or something associated to the drive was loose! That would explain why some folks hear it and some don't..

As mentioned in the larger HD noise post, I am taking mine to a Genius where they are going to do an intense evaluation.. I will mention that your Genius found a loose fan/bushing...

The big question is - were they able to fix this, or did they have to give you a new machine? Thanks!

 

[53x12]

The big question is - were they able to fix this, or did they have to give you a new machine? Thanks!

They just replaced it on the spot. The Genius did not open up the iMac. They did a test on my screen since I had some bleeched out areas on black screens (LED bleed maybe?). During that test he said the hard drive made the sound I described and they brought out a new iMac for me to take home. I guess he made the assumption it was the fan or some bushing based on his professional experience. This is my 3rd iMac now and they opened it up and we made sure it was working before I left the store. Just hope I don't have the intermittent loss of power I had with the first one. If I have to send this one back again, I really think I will be calling AppleCare and making a complaint as driving 45min each way to hall a 40lbs box is getting old.

 

[SOLLERBOY]

My stomach is rumbling it must be faulty. I thought this to be the case all along but it seems some people create problems. Glad you can finally give everyone closure. Great thread.

 

[Sir Cecil]

The original post contains a lot of drivel. There is a night and day difference between the first, noisy i5/Seagate I had, and the very quiet-running replacement. I urge anyone plagued by the rumbling noise not to accept it because my experience shows it is definitely avoidable.

 

[53x12]

The original post contains a lot of drivel. There is a night and day difference between the first, noisy i5/Seagate I had, and the very quiet-running replacement. I urge anyone plagued by the rumbling noise not to accept it because my experience shows it is definitely avoidable.

Yes I agree. My first Seagate's drive was fine (had issue with computer powering off randomly). My 2nd Seagate drive was very loud with that vibration noise. My 3rd Seagate is yet to be determined since I have just received it a few hours ago. Hope this one is okay.

 

[plasticphyte]

*Sigh* All hard drives make noise - hearing the heads move across the platters is very normal, as is hearing the platters spin up. Depending on the manufacturer and how they've designed the drive will determine how noisy it is. I have several WD's that I swap in and out of an external drive caddy, and they are all fifteen times louder than the Hitachi in my iMac, which by the way, I can hear at startup as the drive spins up and the heads unpark.

Hearing clicking noise (aka IBM Click of Death), grinding or whining & vibration noises isn't normal.

 

[Kronie]

*Sigh* All hard drives make noise

Do you own the new 27" iMac?

*Sigh* If not then your post is worthless. Have a nice day.

 

[i7QuadCoreMania]

no offense, but are you folks being overly nit picky? on the 7th iMac, and the other dude 53x112 or whatever had his replaced 3 times???

I'm glad you folks got your stuff sorted, but Is Apple's QC gotten that god awfully ****ty??? I'm still on my 1st i7 which I ordered on Oct 21st and haven't noticed those noise problems, loss of power, screen bleeding, yellow tinge, stuck pixels, etc, etc... and I'm a Tech guy by trade.

By the time you guys find your mythical Unicorn, there will be a ****load of Refurbished machines on the market, lol!!!

And yes, I understand the whole, I paid good money for this argument.

 

[C64]

To everyone who feels the need to state that mechanical HDs make noises: I think everyone here has had enough experience with HDs (I mean, they've been around for a while, ya know) to know the difference between normal seeking sounds, and constant grinding and ticking.

 

[plasticphyte]

Do you own the new 27" iMac?

*Sigh* If not then your post is worthless. Have a nice day.

Thanks! It has gone quite well. And my 27" i7 is going quite nicely too.

I just pointed out that all hard drives are noisy & that the amount of noise they make is dependent on the manufacturer.

Of course, most computers are generally a little further away from people than an iMac is, and any HDD noise can generally be hidden by other system noise, such as fans.

As I've already pointed out, noises similar to the old IBM Deathstars, grinding noises, etc, are not normal.

Anyway, I'm off to enjoy the rest of this beautiful day. I hope you have a nice one too.

 

[Kronie]

Thanks! It has gone quite well. And my 27" i7 is going quite nicely too.

OK, so your post isn't quite worthless. -Sorry. BUT your speaking from the perspective of a machine that "is going quite nicely" and doesn't the the problem.

Or does it?

Do you sit in a dead quiet room with your dead silent iMac and hear grumbling coming from the machine where everything else is quiet?

 

[SaSaSushi]

Finally took delivery of my i7 tonight and it's beautiful!

I got the standard 1TB HDD (Seagate ST31000528ASQ) and it's next to inaudible. There's certainly no grumbling, growling, crunching or any other abnormal noise going on. I too have very good hearing (I'm a musician) and long experience with computers, the last 4 years with iMacs.

I'm not saying some of you don't have bad drives but it's definitely not a universal issue.

 

[ryan.hayes79]

Does anyone know if this issue follows the 2TB drive?

What make is the 2TB drive Apple is shipping?

 

[frenchie0101]

Does anyone know if this issue follows the 2TB drive?

What make is the 2TB drive Apple is shipping?

Hitachi

 

[mdewberry]

Hi all,

Have an appointment after work to bring my iMac to the genius where they are going to do some hard drive testing... I will let you all know how that turns out.. It is pretty noisy today as I go from webpage to webpage (and even while I type this)...

I am glad to hear that there are folks with quiet Seagate drives.. Sounds more and more like it is either a noisy batch of drives, or that as posted earlier in this string something may be loose. My suspicion is that they will replace my machine.. If that happens, I will keep my fingers crossed!

By the way to Plasticphyte, this is a real issue, the noises are not normal, and as much as we appreciate your feedback, the "*Sigh*" was not warranted and candidly aggravated those of us that have the issue. Some of us (including myself) have been told by Apple reps that you should NOT hear the hard drive spinning in the iMac.. It should be a quiet experience (albeit I agree that quiet and noisy can be subjective)... If a thread about a noisy hard drive bothers you that much, simply don't select the thread to read it. No need to make yourself look like... well, never mind..

 

[Spinnetti]

So you're saying that all the people who have the mythical "quiet" segate 1TB are just not hearing well enough? ..

Anyway, it may be normal for seagate, but I doubt it's normal for apple standards. We pay a premium for that extra quality, for that silent system, etc..

LOL.. It may also be that everyone has different standards of "Quiet"... My machine is somewhere in the middle. I have the i7 2.8, and my machine is very quiet, but not quite silent. The drive doesn't "pop" at all, but under heave load you can hear the drive a lot more than my 20" core duo iMac.... Its not intrusive to me though (although I'd prefer total silence out of it)

 

[spcdust]

Does anyone know if this issue follows the 2TB drive?

What make is the 2TB drive Apple is shipping?

The impression I have got is that this issue is restricted to some 1TB drives. Comments I have seen regarding the 2TB Hitachi drives is that they are very quiet indeed and do not grumble away at you.

 

[mdewberry]

LOL.. It may also be that everyone has different standards of "Quiet"... My machine is somewhere in the middle. I have the i7 2.8, and my machine is very quiet, but not quite silent. The drive doesn't "pop" at all, but under heave load you can hear the drive a lot more than my 20" core duo iMac.... Its not intrusive to me though (although I'd prefer total silence out of it)

Hi Spinnetti, many of us with the issue being discussed are being presented with the noise as we surf the web (go from page to page) and sometimes just type (I hear it now as I type this)... Is yours producing noise other than downloading?