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    How is a hard drive supposed to sound?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Chango99, May 3, 2009.

  1. Chango99

    Chango99 Derp

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    On my refurb E6400 i just got, I can't hear some ticks/clicks every couple of seconds. Is this normal? It's slightly audible when in a quiet room. My desktop is very loud compared to my laptop, but nonetheless, I expected the laptop to be quieter and better.
     
    Chango99, May 3, 2009
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  2. jackluo923

    jackluo923 Notebook Virtuoso

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    It's normal. You can adjust the level of noise of hdd seek by changing the settings of AAM on your hdd.
     
    jackluo923, May 3, 2009
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  3. Chango99

    Chango99 Derp

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    Hm? I went into the BIOS and found

    HDD Acoustic Mode:

    Bypass = Do nothing (I don't get it, but it was set to this at default?)

    Quiet = Drive slower, quieter.

    or

    Performance = Drive faster, possibly noisier.
     
    Chango99, May 3, 2009
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  4. jackluo923

    jackluo923 Notebook Virtuoso

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    Try choosing the quiet mode. AAC can also be changed within windows.
     
    jackluo923, May 3, 2009
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  5. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    HDD noises vary considerably between brands. The recent WDs make a wooshing noise, some Seagates hake a lot of noise (there is a firmware update to address this), my new Hitachi makes a slight ticking noise and the Samsung HDDs are usually fairly quiet.

    Which make / model do you have (Device Manager will give the model number)?

    John
     
    John Ratsey, May 3, 2009
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  6. Chango99

    Chango99 Derp

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    I have a Seagate 250GB 7200 RPM HDD 7200.3.

    ST9250421ASG
     
    Chango99, May 4, 2009
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  7. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    OK. Dell have a firmware update for that HDD.

    John
     
    John Ratsey, May 4, 2009
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  8. Chango99

    Chango99 Derp

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    Thanks for that. So I have to dl the driver, burn the ISO, then boot up from it?
     
    Chango99, May 4, 2009
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