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Best HDD for macbook pro replacement - 500GB

I think we have to be realistic: a fast drive like this does make some noise and is not totally silent like a solid state drive. The WD scorpio did something I really didn't like which was that it sounded like a fan revving up and down. Besides that, it was very quiet. I can hear the hitachi too but the sound doesn't change, just a very faint sound from the actual spinning -- I don't hear any clicking or any other noises. All in all it's a very quiet drive, but I can't say that it's silent.

I suppose it's all subjective, but I am very sensitive to sounds.
 
Hitachi Travelstar 7k500

I have a Macbook Pro early 2009 and have recently upgraded the HDD to a new hitachi travelstar 7k500. This drive initially was 90% quiet with the occasional faint click, nothing major but enough to annoy me.

I then installed this package:

http://www.haque.net/software/hdapm.dmg

And hey presto!! Complete silence!! and I mean 100%!! This drive is great on battery life, and I have noticed an increase in speed as well. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

xbench result:
 

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From the readme

hdapm is a Mac OS X command line utility for setting the power management (APM) level for ATA hard drives.
Why?
Some models of laptop hard drives exhibit annoying “clicking” or “clunking” noises, due to the drive heads (or “sliders”) being repeatedly loaded and unloaded when the drive is idle. This behavior can often be alleviated by setting the drive to the “maximum performance” APM level.
Alternatively, in some environments it may be desirable to set a low APM level to save power and spin down the drive more aggressively than with the default OS settings.
Click to expand...
 
MagicBoy said:
I've not seen it mentioned before. In "PC land" this sort of utility is usually provided by the manufacturer of the drive and updates the drive firmware.
Click to expand...

Asking as a new Apple convert. How are firmware updates for drives handled in OSX? Say you have a Hitachi in your MBP and Hitachi releases a new firmware. Will Apple Update automatically pick up on that and list it as something you can download and install?
 
Libertine Lush said:
Asking as a new Apple convert. How are firmware updates for drives handled in OSX? Say you have a Hitachi in your MBP and Hitachi releases a new firmware. Will Apple Update automatically pick up on that and list it as something you can download and install?
Click to expand...

If Apple deem it necessary then it appears on Software Update. The only drive update I've seen on Software Update was for the Panasonic Superdrive in my 2006 MBP. They've patched for drive compatibility issues but that appeared to be an OS X patch IIRC.

In 15+ years of supporting PCs and Macs I've only seen two HDDs that needed a firmware update - the 250Gb Samsung (that was really cheap!) I bought for the MBP. That had an issue with the intel chipsets (useless!). It was a DOS based update but worked fine via Boot Camp. The other one was the infamous batch of bad firmware on Seagate 7200.11s that afflicted my Windows 7 gaming box.
 
MagicBoy said:
If Apple deem it necessary then it appears on Software Update.
Click to expand...

Good to know. I don't wish to divert too much, but I imagine this'll only take up a post or two.

When there are driver updates for any hardware component (sound card, printer, Logitech mouse, etc), is it handled similarly? Will I ever need to manually download and install by going to a manufacturer's site, like in Windows?
 
Libertine Lush said:
Good to know. I don't wish to divert too much, but I imagine this'll only take up a post or two.

When there are driver updates for any hardware component (sound card, printer, Logitech mouse, etc), is it handled similarly? Will I ever need to manually download and install by going to a manufacturer's site, like in Windows?
Click to expand...

any apple software is updated through system update. Apps from 3rd parties are updated separately, and won't show up in system update.

app update is a dashboard widget that automatically checks for updates to 3rd party apps installed on your machines. It can be downloaded free here
 
Libertine Lush said:
Good to know. I don't wish to divert too much, but I imagine this'll only take up a post or two.

When there are driver updates for any hardware component (sound card, printer, Logitech mouse, etc), is it handled similarly? Will I ever need to manually download and install by going to a manufacturer's site, like in Windows?
Click to expand...

Apple don't tend to issue driver updates for components as they get rolled into the OS X point updates eg (10.6.2). Urgent fixes for bugs eg the early 27" iMac graphics problems will get a software update.

Printer updates do get bundled up by Apple, everything else is down to the 3rd party peripheral manufacturer.
 
jat80 said:
I was looking for a way to have a completely silent HDD like my stock hitachi 250gb drive that came with my macbook when upgrading to the 7k500 and found the below discussion link:

http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=10081798#10081798

That's where I read up on the HDAPM. Worked a treat!
Click to expand...

Thanks. I googled HDAPM and it seems that there's a lot of issues related to 7200rpm HDDs and this clicking/beeping noise.

Does anyone know if there any disadvantages to using this program? One disadvantage I found: forcing the drive heads to park less may reduce noise but it seems it can also raise the temperature of the HD, which can't be good for HD reliability: https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/8915199/ And since the drive heads park less, it consumes more battery life ( https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/7326977/ ).

Also, the readme for that program states, there are instances where you may wish the drive heads to park more, but I don't know enough about this stuff to understand what instances those would be, which makes me wonder if I should mess around with the drive's behavior with this program.

Now I'm not so sure if I want to get a 7200rpm HDD for my future MBP purchase. If you you google "HDAPM" or search this forum, this issue appears common to many 7200rpm drives in Apple laptops. It goes back to at least 2008 ( https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/5094464/ ) and judging by the post above, it hasn't been addressed yet.
 
Libertine Lush said:
Thanks. I googled HDAPM and it seems that there's a lot of issues related to 7200rpm HDDs and this clicking/beeping noise.

Does anyone know if there any disadvantages to using this program? One disadvantage I found: forcing the drive heads to park less may reduce noise but it seems it can also raise the temperature of the HD, which can't be good for HD reliability: https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/8915199/ And since the drive heads park less, it consumes more battery life ( https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/7326977/ ).

Also, the readme for that program states, there are instances where you may wish the drive heads to park more, but I don't know enough about this stuff to understand what instances those would be, which makes me wonder if I should mess around with the drive's behavior with this program.

Now I'm not so sure if I want to get a 7200rpm HDD for my future MBP purchase. If you you google "HDAPM" or search this forum, this issue appears common to many 7200rpm drives in Apple laptops. It goes back to at least 2008 ( https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/5094464/ ) and judging by the post above, it hasn't been addressed yet.
Click to expand...

I haven't noticed any increase in heat for the HDD (watching the temp via istat pro) and battery life hasn't really changed much for me to notice. I will let you know if I have any negative effects from using the program. I haven't found any yet.
 
Fuchal said:
Unlike the other poster, I strongly recommend the Hitachi. Have it running in 2 machines and has performed flawlessly. Had a bad streak of WD + Seagates lately.

My Hitachi 500gb 7200 is cool, quiet, and fast.
Click to expand...

Hi there I am also planning to get that drive, however after reading this forum I have some doubts about the HDDs not being tuned for Unix based machines such as MBP and that they may show a high LCC parameter as described in the link below:

http://mymacfixes.blogspot.com/2009/06/how-do-i-stop-clicking-noise-from-hard.html

Apparently hdds installed new in the MBP are Firmare tuned so I am wondering if the Hitachi 500 7200 rpm also has this problem.

are you aware of this issue and have you experienced it in your MBP?

I would presume that 7200 rpm hdd would be less sensitive to this as the high LCC issue appears in green/blue HDDs such as the Samsung 500JI or the WD 640 Blue Scorprio.

Can anyone help me on this?

Thanks
 
I just buy Wester Digital Scorpio Blue 500GB. It will delay 1 - 3 seconds when i open/save file. Why? How to solve it?
 
I too had the faint click on my 7K500, instead of HDAPM, I just downloaded the Hitachi Feature Tool and set the Advanced Power Management dial to max 254 (ie. no power management) which lets the OS decide when to park the drive, and not the drive itself.

http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm

The downside is that to use the HFT ISO image, you must install the drive into a PC and boot up using the CD ISO image. Won't work on a Mac.
 
neteng101 said:
I too had the faint click on my 7K500, instead of HDAPM, I just downloaded the Hitachi Feature Tool and set the Advanced Power Management dial to max 254 (ie. no power management) which lets the OS decide when to park the drive, and not the drive itself.

http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm

The downside is that to use the HFT ISO image, you must install the drive into a PC and boot up using the CD ISO image. Won't work on a Mac.
Click to expand...

I just ordered that drive to replace my WD 7K320 HD. Any chance you could walk me through that process? My old Fujitsu drive would park all the time and it drove me nuts! Also, is your hitachi totally quiet now? My WD faintly sounds like the ocean, and it bugs me in quiet situations.
 
Lurchdubious said:
Any chance you could walk me through that process?
Click to expand...

Its not hard to do, download the ISO image from the link, and burn to a CD.

Install drive in a PC (not your Mac!), boot up using the CD, then have it scan the buses till it finds the drive. There's text based menus, select the Advanced Power Management option, change it to 254 (slider all the way right). That's about it really, but just a bit tedious.

I did it with my work laptop.

Also, is your hitachi totally quiet now?
Click to expand...

I'd say so - only thing I notice now is the fans faintly humming in a quiet room (SMC fan control at 3200 rpm, the SMC default of 4000 is too loud, the stock without control at 2000 is way too low). Even the parking in the past wasn't bad, but now that's gone.
 
neteng101 said:
Its not hard to do, download the ISO image from the link, and burn to a CD.

Install drive in a PC (not your Mac!), boot up using the CD, then have it scan the buses till it finds the drive. There's text based menus, select the Advanced Power Management option, change it to 254 (slider all the way right). That's about it really, but just a bit tedious.

I did it with my work laptop.



I'd say so - only thing I notice now is the fans faintly humming in a quiet room (SMC fan control at 3200 rpm, the SMC default of 4000 is too loud, the stock without control at 2000 is way too low). Even the parking in the past wasn't bad, but now that's gone.
Click to expand...
Cool! Thank you! I assume that I can just plug in the HD to a PC via external casing and USB. I'll have to do it w/my friend's desktop, as I have no PC's at all.
 
Lurchdubious said:
Cool! Thank you! I assume that I can just plug in the HD to a PC via external casing and USB.
Click to expand...

At the Hitachi link, it says: "Does not support Travelstar 8E, 10E, or C4Kxx series HDDs, or drives mounted in external enclosures."

So perhaps not.


neteng101 said:
I too had the faint click on my 7K500, instead of HDAPM, I just downloaded the Hitachi Feature Tool and set the Advanced Power Management dial to max 254 (ie. no power management) which lets the OS decide when to park the drive, and not the drive itself.
Click to expand...

How do you know that doing so will ensure that OSX will decide when to park the drive? Thanks.
 
Lurchdubious said:
Cool! Thank you! I assume that I can just plug in the HD to a PC via external casing and USB. I'll have to do it w/my friend's desktop, as I have no PC's at all.
Click to expand...

NO!!! It has to be a SATA connection for this to happen, if not the Hitachi tool will not detect the drive. Its a bit of a pain unfortunately. :(

But you can't even tweak this in some other drives, so this is a huge plus for the Hitachi... I believe people have seen lots of the clicking/parking from Seagate drives.
 
Serious problems with pinwheel/freezing

MDemm said:
The WD 640gb HDD without a doubt was the loudest Hard Drive I have ever dealt with… I had another issue, which I considered worse... This was a constant 1 to 2 second lag / delay while spinning up / seeking… Do yourself a favor, time / money wise... Get the Hitachi 500gb 7200 HDD... It works great on my MacBook Pro 15" !!! Tiger direct sells them for $ 75.00 / free shipping after rebate... http://tinyurl.com/ycuda29 I've just installed the Hitachi 500gb... Its fast, its silent... IT WORKS !!!
Click to expand...

YES - I had this same lag/delay with the same drive, the SECOND "upgrade" drive that MicroCenter recommended. Sadly, I don't remember which brand I bought from them initially (Seagate, maybe?) but in my MBP 2.53/4gb, both of these supposed upgrades had serious lag issues.

With both of the drives I tried, I'd be working along and suddenly the machine would hang (hello, beachball) for 10-60 seconds, many (10+) times per hour. I had to put the original drive back in to get it to work (I was thinking it was Apple's fault and I had a defective MBP, no) and started reading this thread in an effort to determine whether I can even put a bigger drive in. But this is encouraging info. Going to try to the Hitachi.

**Note, the first drive I tried was a 7200rpm, the second drive I tried was the WD Scorpio Blue at 5400 rpm. BOTH DRIVES exhibited the same erratic freezing issue. Only the original drive has worked flawlessly. **

Do NOT buy the WD Scorpio Blue 5400rpm 640GB.

Cheers,
Mel
 
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