27" iMac, who makes your drive (particularly 2TB drives) and is it noisy

[Scott6666]

Trying to see which drives are quiet and which are noisy.

Please list size, maker, and if noisy or not.

I'll start:

1TB, WD, low buzzy, vibration-like sound. Most noticeable when NOT accessing data. Bad enough to return it. No clicks or drive parking noises though.

 

[TheBearman]

2TB Hitachi. No problems, no noise.... at least not yet.

 

[anywhere08]

I seem to be getting a lot of noise from my fan. Is that normal?

 

[Scott6666]

I seem to be getting a lot of noise from my fan. Is that normal?

Not in my experience. The fans should dead silent (my experience with the C2D), each at about 1000rpm.

Try installing iStat to see what speed they're running at; also open the activity monitor to see if you have one core running full out (it's a airport connector bug).

 

[Michaelgtrusa]

2TB Hitachi. No problems, no noise.... at least not yet.

Same HD's as the last model with high failure rate.

 

[anywhere08]

Not in my experience. The fans should dead silent (my experience with the C2D), each at about 1000rpm.

Try installing iStat to see what speed they're running at; also open the activity monitor to see if you have one core running full out (it's a airport connector bug).

Optical Drive: 3414 rpm
Hard Drive: 1097
CPU Fan: 3861 rpm

thats not normal, is it? and how low should it be? how can i make it slower? thanks for the help

 

[googdot]

Same HD's as the last model with high failure rate.

Not true. The 2TB Hitachi 7200RPM drive was announced in August 2009 and has only been available (retail) for a couple of months.

 

[jzn21]

OK, I just made a extensive research and came out by the Samsung Spinpoint F2 5400 rpm drives. I have chosen the 1 TB one: the HD 103 SI

This drive is almost inaudible! I have this one currently in my Mac and it's a pleasure for my ear. I am very very selective. I swapped this one for a stock Hitachi which sounded too loud for me.

I have compared many reviews and was active at the silentpcreview.com forum.

The good news is that there is 1,5 TB Spinpoint F2 available, but if that one is just as silent as the 1 TB variant?

An SSD is ideal for sound and speed, but you will miss the space...

 

[Scott6666]

Some more results please....

Surely some of your new iMacs came with hard drives didn't they?

Whaddaya got? Or was I the only one who got a noisy one? I would like to know if this is common or rare.

 

[Scott6666]

Optical Drive: 3414 rpm
Hard Drive: 1097
CPU Fan: 3861 rpm

thats not normal, is it? and how low should it be? how can i make it slower? thanks for the help

Very not normal. Exchange.

 

[Besk one]

2TB Hitachi HDS722020ALA330

Not noisy at all, my fans all sit at about 900 - 1000 rpm, even after 10 straight hours of data transfer from my old MacPro

 

[Buzz Bumble]

OK, I just made a extensive research and came out by the Samsung Spinpoint F2 5400 rpm drives. I have chosen the 1 TB one: the HD 103 SI

This drive is almost inaudible! I have this one currently in my Mac and it's a pleasure for my ear. I am very very selective. I swapped this one for a stock Hitachi which sounded too loud for me.

I have compared many reviews and was active at the silentpcreview.com forum.

The good news is that there is 1,5 TB Spinpoint F2 available, but if that one is just as silent as the 1 TB variant?

An SSD is ideal for sound and speed, but you will miss the space...

There are reports (AppleInsider.com's review) that the new 27" iMacs use hard drives with temperature sensors, and they say if you are going to upgrade the drive you need to use the same manufacturer as your existing drive so that it has the same temperature sensor design (i.e. if your iMac came with a WD drive, then you have to replace it with a WD drive).

 

[weeyao]

2TB Hitachi HDS722020ALA330

Not noisy at all, my fans all sit at about 900 - 1000 rpm, even after 10 straight hours of data transfer from my old MacPro

Did you upgrade the drive yourself? Or bought it with the 2TB option?