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"Sluggish Seagate Hard Drive?"

ErikAndre

ErikAndre

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 14, 2007
719
0
Florida
I read in a recent MacWorld review that the Seagate drive (EDIT: that comes with the new MacPro) slows down the system...

Quote from a Macworld Review after testing the 2.8...

However, not all the results were promising for Apple's latest pro desktop model. The eight-core 2.8GHz system lagged in some of our tests, results we attribute to its somewhat sluggish Seagate hard drive.
Click to expand...

I wanted to ask around as I'm about to make a purchase this week... is this the 320Gb hard drive or all hard drives? I plan on getting the 500Gb but am not sure if this is related. :confused:
 
The Seagate 7200.10 drives with 3.AAK firmware are slow. See this article and this related (non-MR) forum thread for comparative tests and user experience. I think this issue affects all 7200.10 HDs with the 3.AAK firmware, regardless of GB capacity.

If you do buy a 3.AAK drive, good luck getting it replaced under warranty. After buying a 500GB 3.AAK HD for my iMac and sending it back due to sluggishness, I'm on my sixth exchange with Seagate -- they keep sending out replacement HDs with the exact same firmware.

Here's another blog post about underperforming firmware.

If you ask me, I'd go with a Samsung SpinPoint. I purchased one as a stopgap after this whole exchange drama started to drag out to the third month, and I'm really pleased with it.
 
jconly said:
I'm assuming the issue is fixed with the 7200.11 drives?
Click to expand...

I can only hope. I asked that they send me a 7200.11 if they can't get the 7200.10 exchange right, but who knows what problems that will come with.

Like Cromulent, this whole experience has soured my opinion of Seagate and I don't plan on buying anything from them again. On the bright side, it got me to consider the SpinPoint, which is going to be my HD of choice for the foreseeable future.
 
am also interested to know if this was fixed on the 7200.11?
thanks in advance :)
 
Interesting. I've only heard good things about Seagate and their 7200.11 drives. Not just speed, but their reliability as well. Apparently, their warranty is also top notch (on non-OEM drives), with a full data recovery clause.

I currently own two 7200.10 and one 7200.11 that have seen no issues.

Aren't the Samsung's prone to an early hardware failure?

I'll be purchasing a LARGE amount of drives in the near future (about 10 total), and this is something I'm quite interested in hearing more about.
 
jconly said:
Aren't the Samsung's prone to an early hardware failure?
Click to expand...

Good question. This is the first I've heard of it, and after my Seagate experience, I researched HDs pretty thoroughly before buying it.

At a quick glance, this MR thread talks about SpinPoint failure rate (I just Googled "Samsung SpinPoint early hardware failure" and that was one of the top links), and this (non-MR) thread seems debates the issue. Both have posts that suggest SpinPoint problems are very uncommon. The hardware problems for users in the second link -- they were using the SpinPoints in servers -- seemed to be related more to the server than the HD.

Speaking from personal experience, my SpinPoint is still chugging along (knock virtual wood) after two months. It's quiet, fast, and it was pretty inexpensive. Reliability is only something I can comment on after a bit more time has passed.

Sorry to the OP for going too off-topic, but I suppose it is loosely related.
 
Should be in the System Profiler under S-ATA. It also says on the drive itself... should have a silver label with part no., serial no., model no., etc.
 
eji said:
The Seagate 7200.10 drives with 3.AAK firmware are slow.
Click to expand...

AAE on my two 7200.10 750gb.. That's good, and the 500gb 7200.11 with 32mb had the correct firmware-version also, as there are firwmware-issues with those also it seems.
 
I had this problem, Seagate tech support sent me a firmware update but it killed the drive and I had to send it back anyway. I recently tried a Western Digital aaks and it's the fastest drive I benchmarked on a Mac Pro.

cheers

p
 
Reach said:
That's good, and the 500gb 7200.11 with 32mb had the correct firmware-version also, as there are firwmware-issues with those also it seems.
Click to expand...
do you have a source for this? 7200.11 with firmware issues?
Thx! :)
 
eji said:
Good question. This is the first I've heard of it, and after my Seagate experience, I researched HDs pretty thoroughly before buying it.

At a quick glance, this MR thread talks about SpinPoint failure rate (I just Googled "Samsung SpinPoint early hardware failure" and that was one of the top links), and this (non-MR) thread seems debates the issue. Both have posts that suggest SpinPoint problems are very uncommon. The hardware problems for users in the second link -- they were using the SpinPoints in servers -- seemed to be related more to the server than the HD.

Speaking from personal experience, my SpinPoint is still chugging along (knock virtual wood) after two months. It's quiet, fast, and it was pretty inexpensive. Reliability is only something I can comment on after a bit more time has passed.

Sorry to the OP for going too off-topic, but I suppose it is loosely related.
Click to expand...

Very interesting to read.
This does throw me a bit of a curveball with my drive purchases, however, I'll probably be sticking with Seagate RETAIL drives, as I believe the firmware on those is problem free, and the retail version comes with a 5 year warranty against drive failure.

Which brings me to a point I wanted to add to the thread. Pay attention to wether or not your are purchasing OEM drives or RETAIL drives. OEM drives frequently come loaded with firmware different than that on the drives sold as RETAIL. I don't know if the firmware issues are due to OEM specific firmware, but I can tell you that my RETAIL Seagate 7200.10's and 7200.11 are both issue free. RETAIL drives also generally come with a much better warranty from the manufacturer itself (like I said, 5 year from Seagate). OEM on the other hand is usually up to the retailer themselves.
 
Wait...

dot.gif


I may have not communicated myself clearly (or I may be reading the responses wrong), but I started this thread to address the hard drives that come with the new MacPro's (which seem to be the Seagate hard drives). I've read others are getting a WD instead of the Seagate. MacWorld stated the results were off (quote in the thread starter) due to a "sluggish Seagate drive."

Does anyone know if this is just the 320gb or should i upgrade to the 500 when ordering to avoid this.
 
jconly said:
Very interesting to read.
This does throw me a bit of a curveball with my drive purchases, however, I'll probably be sticking with Seagate RETAIL drives, as I believe the firmware on those is problem free, and the retail version comes with a 5 year warranty against drive failure.

Which brings me to a point I wanted to add to the thread. Pay attention to wether or not your are purchasing OEM drives or RETAIL drives. OEM drives frequently come loaded with firmware different than that on the drives sold as RETAIL. I don't know if the firmware issues are due to OEM specific firmware, but I can tell you that my RETAIL Seagate 7200.10's and 7200.11 are both issue free. RETAIL drives also generally come with a much better warranty from the manufacturer itself (like I said, 5 year from Seagate). OEM on the other hand is usually up to the retailer themselves.
Click to expand...

I spoke directly to Seagate last week as I am too, considering the 7200.11 drives. I was told that Seagate OEM drives sold by reputable companies like Newegg have the exact same firmware and other guts as the "retail" versions. They said the only difference is the pretty box and mounting hardware/cables which the Mac Pros already have. He said to not waste my $ if I don't need the accessories. As for firmware, he also said that there were issues early on with the 7200.11 but all drives recently shipping are now recognizing the full 32mb of cache. Finally, he confirmed that warranties on OEM Seagate drives are identical - 5 years.
 
snagitseven said:
I spoke directly to Seagate last week as I am too, considering the 7200.11 drives. I was told that Seagate OEM drives sold by reputable companies like Newegg have the exact same firmware and other guts as the "retail" versions. They said the only difference is the pretty box and mounting hardware/cables which the Mac Pros already have. He said to not waste my $ if I don't need the accessories. As for firmware, he also said that there were issues early on with the 7200.11 but all drives recently shipping are now recognizing the full 32mb of cache. Finally, he confirmed that warranties on OEM Seagate drives are identical - 5 years.
Click to expand...

Well this is very good to know. I guess it was just a matter or luck then that my very early 7200.11 came with the right firmware. I've also recently read that all recent "retail" drives shipped by Seagate have been labeled as OEM regardless of the fact. I suppose this goes to explain why.

To the OP: forgive me, I'm afraid I'm the one who took your thread off topic.
To answer your question to the best of my knowledge, I would say yes, you should upgrade to the 500gb version, as it has a larger cache, and should be faster for this reason alone. However, from what I have read on these forums, the MP is shipping with various HDs, and it seems a gamble as to what you get.
 
Seagate also covers ALL OEM hardrives with a 5 year warranty.
So if the firmware is the wrong one, once I have the correct one, how do I install it in macosx?
 
faumble said:
Seagate also covers ALL OEM hardrives with a 5 year warranty.
So if the firmware is the wrong one, once I have the correct one, how do I install it in macosx?
Click to expand...

I just bought two 7200.11 drives from NewEgg. Both had the latest firmware. I recommend you just order OEM from NewEgg.
 
So then I assume the only reason to avoid OEM is if I was purchasing the drive from a computer manufacturer, in which case it would probable have their third party firmware? (whereas someone like newegg is still gauranteed to have seagate's original firmware?)

I don't know. Call me paranoid, but there is still something about OEM that scares me. I may be stubborn, but when your putting your entire life, profession, and passion onto a little disk that spins at 7200 rpm, I can't help but be a little cautious
 
Jconly, I undertand and had the same thought, but found the only difference btw retail and OEM is the cables and manual, nothing else. For that cable and manual you can buy for 4 buck they are charging you 30 or 50 bucks more. The packaging and shipping is just the same for the hd (at least at newegg).
 
ErikAndre said:
Wait...

dot.gif


I may have not communicated myself clearly (or I may be reading the responses wrong), but I started this thread to address the hard drives that come with the new MacPro's (which seem to be the Seagate hard drives). I've read others are getting a WD instead of the Seagate. MacWorld stated the results were off (quote in the thread starter) due to a "sluggish Seagate drive."

Does anyone know if this is just the 320gb or should i upgrade to the 500 when ordering to avoid this.
Click to expand...

Two things : the seagate that was in the tested mac pro by macworld might be a disappointing performer compared to the previous generation, but in normal use (not benchmarking for example) the difference might not be that important.

And as you say, it is impossible to know in advance which harddrive brand/model your mac will be configured with, except its size of course.

Neither the 320Gb, nor the 500Gb I guess. Adding to that the fact that the extra 180Gb would probably cost more than a brand new 500Gb, of which you could choose the exact model you want, the choice is really a no brainer...

My advice is to stick with the stock configuration, and you'll decide when it is time if it is worth it to buy a 500Gb, faster, drive.

My stock seagate 320Gb is not anymore in my mac pro, except it is not for speed reasons, but for noise, as there was some slightly disturbing resonance with that drive and the samsung spinpoints I added...

phjo
 
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