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G-Drive 4TB USB3 External Drive

K

kcramer

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 13, 2012
23
0
Hi, does anyone have any experience with the G-Drive 4TB USB3 External Drive?


http://www.g-technology.com/products/g-drive.cfm

I bought a LaCie 2big Thunderbolt and it is just too noisy. The whine from the hard drives is quite audible while they are spinning and it often makes lots of loud clicking sounds. When it wakes up from sleep, it makes a sound I've never heard from a hard drive. The best I can describe is that it sounds like digital static. I assume the drive is often seeking and making the noises but I haven't even had a chance to use it, so it is making this noise just sitting around. The LaCie Raid Monitor claims the drives are ok.

I'm interested in getting the G-Drive 4TB, the non-RAID, but I'm curious on how much noise it makes and does it go to sleep along with the computer or does it stay spinning until turned off?

Thanks.
 
P

PFC15

macrumors newbie
Jan 27, 2012
6
0
Chester VA
I just purchased the G-Drive 2TB USB3 to back-up my 2012 Imac. The drive is fast, looks good but is noisy. Not signifacantly noisy, but you can hear it start up and run. It is far noiser than my Imac!

That said it is resonably fast using the USB 3 - faster than my Firewire 800 WD (subjective test, I have no analytical data).

The Drive powers down when the Imac is asleep and is therefore silent. It starts up again on wake - which you can hear. The only other issue is that the white light at the front remains on even when in sleep. It is rather bright, so I turn off the drive at night and turn it on in the morning.

I like the drive and speed, I don't like the noise it is far noiser than I was expecting and I understand it to be fanless. I hope this helps!
 
M

mawyatt

macrumors member
Aug 27, 2012
46
0
I have 2 of the LaCie 2Bigs Thunderbolt, they are somewhat noisy. I also have a pair of Hitachi USB3 powered drives, these are very quite. Being USB3 they are fast but nothing like the LaCie Thunderbolts.
 
K

kcramer

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 13, 2012
23
0
Thanks for the feedback. I'm trying to decide what to do as I do need external storage.

There are two issues with noise on the LaCie 2big. The constant noise while it is running is just the hard drives spinning. They are 7200rpm so they do make more noise unfortunately. My new iMac is almost perfectly quiet. The drive also is louder than the Mac Pro the iMac is replacing.

On the other hand, it really does make a lot of noise spinning up and just sitting around. I'm not sure why it makes the static-like noise when it spins up. It's like the hard drive head is seeking to spots all over the disk. It also makes loud clicking sounds when I'm not even using it. It has 2 Seagate Barracudas in it and I read a lot of people had noise issues with them but a firmware update fixed that.

How some of these reviews claim the 2big was quiet is beyond me.
 
peixesloucos

peixesloucos

macrumors member
Dec 1, 2012
41
2
Brussels
Hello,

A month ago I bought G-drive 2TB with USB3.0 connection for my Macbook Pro (late 2011). As my Macbook Pro is not equipped with USB3.0 I connect the drive via Firewire800. It is mainly used for Time Machine backup and a part for extra manual backup for my photography. This is my 2nd external drive, I own an old Lacie 500GB black drive. I found G-drive very noisy. First it was placed on my work table under the Griffin Macbook elevator. As my table is wood it had extreme vibration. Now I moved the drive under my table in a corner where the old Lacie (that is reserved for itunes) is staying. This move made things better as noise is a little far from my ears and also the constant bright light of the drive not seen. I do not turn the drive in the evenings, it sleeps when the macbook is sleeping. The thing I observe is drive wakes up frequently, lets say every 8 minutes and spinning noise is really loud. I hesitate to return but as I read your comment on Lacie thunderbolt big disk I guess for my limited budget all other drives will have same issues. I think for robustness and my purpose I will keep this drive.

Any more comments on your story?
 
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