I've seem two different hard drives in the system profilers of different 27 inch iMacs, the WD (model WDC WD1001FALS-40U9B0) and Seagate (Model ST31000528ASQ). What are the differences between the two? Is one better than the other as far as speed, quietness, reliability etc?
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Which is the preferred 1TB HD in the 27" iMac
- Thread starter cosrocket
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That is not true. I have a Seagate and it is very quiet. I can barely hear it even during large transfers.
Maybe it's geographically decided who gets which brand of HDD. Although they're all made in China, I believe. Still, could have something to do with licensing. Where do all Seagate HDD owners and Western Digital HDD owners come from, if I may ask?
Wow, only $1,769 at Amazon, with FREE SHIPPING! I'll probably pick up a few just to keep around.
Wow, only $1,769 at Amazon, with FREE SHIPPING! I'll probably pick up a few just to keep around.
Your criteria was 1) doesn't constantly grumble and 2) 1TB. For that size you pay a premium.
Red Herring anyone
Oh darn it, how could I have been so naive? I thought: if only these people are foolish enough to let me know in which country they live I could track them down and steal their iMacs.
I see now that it was a meagre attempt.But seriously, I find it hard to believe that the new iMacs are fitted with a Seagate or WD HDD based purely on of which kind the one is that lies on top of the pile.
What I'd like to know is this: is the 2TB HD affected by the loudness or not? If not, I'd ask for a free upgrade to the 2TB HD if my 2nd imac has the same issues as the first..
Also, is the 2TB HD much slower than the 1TB versions?
Anyway, I had a seagate and am from Belgium. Now you share
Also, is the 2TB HD much slower than the 1TB versions?
Anyway, I had a seagate and am from Belgium. Now you share
So what folks are saying is that unless the hard drive is completely silent it is unacceptable? Don't most hard drives make at least a little bit of noise or are we just talking excessive noise here. Also, if you tell Apple that your iMac's hard drive is making noise do they immediately accept that as a valid reason to return or exchange the machine as long as it's still within the return/exchange window.
That's not what were saying that's what apple says. (well were saying that as well) I talked to two different support techs and they both told me the drive should be dead silent.
The noise that I have is different from say the drive spinning, or d rive writing/reading data. Its a grumbling that's totally inconsistent. It does it for a few seconds, then stops for 40 seconds then starts again for 10 seconds, stops for two minutes then starts. It does it with some programs, every program or no programs running.
OK, so bottom line is it the Seagate HD that is making the noise and the WD does not? Or is this happening on some of both brands?
Since you cannot specify which HD you get, I'm wondering if it is just the Seagate drive that is making the noise, if you receive a new unit with a Seagate drive if it's just going to be the same situation.
Hi Cosrocket,
From what I can tell from all of the posts on macrumor and apple.com, it appears to be primarily the Seagate drive, however it may be that maybe no one with Western Digital drives are saying anything..
I have the Seagate drive, and EXACTLY as Kronie described (inconsistent noise for a few seconds then goes away) is what I am experiencing. I called Apple Care today and tried to describe the problem, and they asked me if the noise is loud.. Ok, so loud is a subjective term, I told him it is not "loud" per se, but it is noticeable... I them asked him what Apple's official position is regarding any noise, but he did not know the answer and had me do a hardware test which came out fine but heated the computer so hot I thought it would set itself on fire.. (-: He would not make a statement like Kronie was given regarding that the machine should be silent...
At this point I am going to wait on trying to replace my machine.. In my honest opinion, it sounds like it is doing what a hard drive does, it just does it louder than I am used to...
The strange thing is... it did not make a sound my first few days with the computer, even after doing a migration assistant conversion of about 60 gb of data from my old mac... Then three days later I started hearing it.. Also strange is that the longer the machine is on during the day, the quieter the noise is with less frequency!
I still plan on talking to a Genius at the Apple Store, as quite frankly I had a tough time understanding the Apple Care rep (I think they now provide support from India)...
Kronie, for what is it worth, knowing that two apple reps told you the machine should be dead quiet is what upsets me the most! I would almost rather hear from them "a little hd noise is normal, no problem"... Makes me wonder if I should attempt a replacement of the machine... I sit and look at this elegant beautiful machine with minimal to no fan noise, and am surprised that the hard drive they would use would make so much noise!
From what I can tell from all of the posts on macrumor and apple.com, it appears to be primarily the Seagate drive, however it may be that maybe no one with Western Digital drives are saying anything..
I have the Seagate drive, and EXACTLY as Kronie described (inconsistent noise for a few seconds then goes away) is what I am experiencing. I called Apple Care today and tried to describe the problem, and they asked me if the noise is loud.. Ok, so loud is a subjective term, I told him it is not "loud" per se, but it is noticeable... I them asked him what Apple's official position is regarding any noise, but he did not know the answer and had me do a hardware test which came out fine but heated the computer so hot I thought it would set itself on fire.. (-: He would not make a statement like Kronie was given regarding that the machine should be silent...
At this point I am going to wait on trying to replace my machine.. In my honest opinion, it sounds like it is doing what a hard drive does, it just does it louder than I am used to...
The strange thing is... it did not make a sound my first few days with the computer, even after doing a migration assistant conversion of about 60 gb of data from my old mac... Then three days later I started hearing it.. Also strange is that the longer the machine is on during the day, the quieter the noise is with less frequency!
I still plan on talking to a Genius at the Apple Store, as quite frankly I had a tough time understanding the Apple Care rep (I think they now provide support from India)...
Kronie, for what is it worth, knowing that two apple reps told you the machine should be dead quiet is what upsets me the most! I would almost rather hear from them "a little hd noise is normal, no problem"... Makes me wonder if I should attempt a replacement of the machine... I sit and look at this elegant beautiful machine with minimal to no fan noise, and am surprised that the hard drive they would use would make so much noise!
I was on the fence about keeping or replacing. I mean aside from the occasional grumble from the drive my i7 is perfect in every way. No dead pixels, super quiet fans, even under load. But I'm worried that the grumbling drive is going to turn into some problem down the road and I don't want/cant be out a computer for days or weeks.
I can tell you my 1TB seagate external drive doesn't make this sound AND my 500GB Momentus in my Unibody doesn't either. I can hear the spinning of the drives but not the belly grumble that my i7 makes.
Hopefully my replacement will be better.
People shouldn't think the posters above are making a fuss over a little thing. I have the i5 with the Seagate drive and it is the noisiest drive I've ever heard. Not the usual clicks one expects from any drive, but a chugging, deep sound that is attention-getting and constant with every action. Terrible.
My replacement i5 is still sitting boxed as I can't bring myself to open it and go through a return process again – it seems the Seagate is in all the i5's, so I don't expect any improvement from sample to sample, judging from my experience being echoed by many others. If the i5 had an easily-replaceable drive (like the MBP), I'd simply buy another drive and switch it. But I'm not going to take off the glass and mess with all the temperature controller wiring I've read about in the new iMacs.
The best to hope for is that someone can provide a range of serial numbers that contain a drive other than the Seagate. There must be a record of which HD's go in which batch, at whichever factory, during whatever period of time.
My replacement i5 is still sitting boxed as I can't bring myself to open it and go through a return process again – it seems the Seagate is in all the i5's, so I don't expect any improvement from sample to sample, judging from my experience being echoed by many others. If the i5 had an easily-replaceable drive (like the MBP), I'd simply buy another drive and switch it. But I'm not going to take off the glass and mess with all the temperature controller wiring I've read about in the new iMacs.
The best to hope for is that someone can provide a range of serial numbers that contain a drive other than the Seagate. There must be a record of which HD's go in which batch, at whichever factory, during whatever period of time.
Hi Kronie,
Good luck... Can you let us know when you get your replacement how the drive does?
I feel the same way you did - NO other issues with my iMac: perfect screen, no fan noise, no flickering screen (yet).. I hate to take a chance with another iMac where other issues may surface. Augh!
What still bothers me is that it did not make the noise AT ALL the first few days with the machine.. it started day 3 - so strange!
Basically the only feedback I got from the Apple Care rep is that if the hardware test shows no issue, the noise is normal... nice... I will be very interested to hear how your replacement machine does...
Good luck... Can you let us know when you get your replacement how the drive does?
I feel the same way you did - NO other issues with my iMac: perfect screen, no fan noise, no flickering screen (yet).. I hate to take a chance with another iMac where other issues may surface. Augh!
What still bothers me is that it did not make the noise AT ALL the first few days with the machine.. it started day 3 - so strange!
Basically the only feedback I got from the Apple Care rep is that if the hardware test shows no issue, the noise is normal... nice... I will be very interested to hear how your replacement machine does...
I don't believe it, I think it's worth finding out. If I already believed in its truth I wouldn't have asked the question. And don't imply that it is a stupid idea, it's not.
That's weird I did NO hardware tests. Just explained the drive noise. I didnt say it was even that loud, just that I could hear it. Maybe its how you describe the problem to the rep? Also A bad drive can pass hardware tests and still be bad.
Bad Drive passing hardware tests.