My PC is built into an Antec case with 3 fans. The CPU and the graphics card have passive heatsinks. The power supply has 12 cm fan. Believe it or not, this set-up is actually quieter than the MacPro.
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Mac Pro - Solving the resonance problem with hard disks
- Thread starter ashkanfardost
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My PC is built into an Antec case with 3 fans. The CPU and the graphics card have passive heatsinks. The power supply has 12 cm fan. Believe it or not, this set-up is actually quieter than the MacPro.
It didn't work for me either the FIRST time, but the third time I put it back it did. That's some mojo hindi voodoo for ya!
Is this a big-drive problem? I say yes
I just got a 1T Samsung SpinPoint F1 which was supposed to be very quiet in terms of vibration but nope, it is not, and it is louder than WD drivers when seeking.
Anyway, I also have a 500GB Seagate drive and a 320GB WD drive installed. These two don't make any audible noises, although the Seagate drive does vibrate MORE than the WD drive. I also have a 500GB WD drive (the original MacPro drive) which vibrates like a dildo.
I gather that the greater the storage the greater the spinning mass (i.e. more platters) which translates to greater vibration should the platters not be perfectly balanced.
I use my MacPro for audio work so I think I am going to go for the following set-up:
System drive: 320GB WD (one platter) for OS and programs
Data drive 1: 320GB WD (one platter) for multitrack audio recording
Data drive 2: 500GB Seagate for all other data (e.g. videos, photos, music...)
But certainly, if you want to be sure that you get drives that don't vibrate, go for 320GB drives because from my experience bigger drives are a lottery.
I just got a 1T Samsung SpinPoint F1 which was supposed to be very quiet in terms of vibration but nope, it is not, and it is louder than WD drivers when seeking.
Anyway, I also have a 500GB Seagate drive and a 320GB WD drive installed. These two don't make any audible noises, although the Seagate drive does vibrate MORE than the WD drive. I also have a 500GB WD drive (the original MacPro drive) which vibrates like a dildo.
I gather that the greater the storage the greater the spinning mass (i.e. more platters) which translates to greater vibration should the platters not be perfectly balanced.
I use my MacPro for audio work so I think I am going to go for the following set-up:
System drive: 320GB WD (one platter) for OS and programs
Data drive 1: 320GB WD (one platter) for multitrack audio recording
Data drive 2: 500GB Seagate for all other data (e.g. videos, photos, music...)
But certainly, if you want to be sure that you get drives that don't vibrate, go for 320GB drives because from my experience bigger drives are a lottery.
Another experiment - ONE drive only
I've just done another test: the Samsung SpinPoint F1 drive ON ITS OWN. I can still hear the buzz but this time it does not cycle up and down, and therefore one gets used to it.
The sinusoidal buzzing therefore occurs when more than one hard drive is fitted because ALL drives vibrate (to some extent) and no two drives spin at exactly identical speeds. The vibrations of the various drive get added via the MacPro case which results in a 'choir' of vibrations that we perceive as a beat frequency.
In an attempt to reduce the coupling I have loosened the screws that hold the SATA connectors to the chassis and this has significantly improved the situation but not completely.
Apple should have used generous rubber damping but they haven't and at the moment most multiple-drive users will have to live with this problem or use an external hard drive.
I've just done another test: the Samsung SpinPoint F1 drive ON ITS OWN. I can still hear the buzz but this time it does not cycle up and down, and therefore one gets used to it.
The sinusoidal buzzing therefore occurs when more than one hard drive is fitted because ALL drives vibrate (to some extent) and no two drives spin at exactly identical speeds. The vibrations of the various drive get added via the MacPro case which results in a 'choir' of vibrations that we perceive as a beat frequency.
In an attempt to reduce the coupling I have loosened the screws that hold the SATA connectors to the chassis and this has significantly improved the situation but not completely.
Apple should have used generous rubber damping but they haven't and at the moment most multiple-drive users will have to live with this problem or use an external hard drive.
Hard Drives That Work - Wd3200aaks & Wd6400aaks
In case anyone is interested, I have tried several drives from Samsung, Seagate and Western Digital. Western Digital drives have the lowest seek noise of all drives (this statement is based on an A-B comparison, not the product specs). Even Samsung hard drives, which are supposed to be extremely quiet, are easily outperformed by Western Digital when it comes to seek noise. In terms of vibration, I found that all drives having more than 2 platters had vibration issues. So I concluded that I needed a WD drive (quiet seeks) and 2 platters max. The following hard drives cropped up in my searches:
So I bought both of the above, one of each, and fitted them in my MacPro. The WD3200AAKS is in bay 1 and the WD6400AAKS in bay 2, i.e. next to each other (this usually makes resonance conditions worse). When I powered up the system I could hear nothing but the fans. WOOOOW!! No vibration, hum or buzz, and seeks are ASTONISHINGLY quiet.
I highly recommend these models to anyone experiencing resonance problems with their MacPros.
In case anyone is interested, I have tried several drives from Samsung, Seagate and Western Digital. Western Digital drives have the lowest seek noise of all drives (this statement is based on an A-B comparison, not the product specs). Even Samsung hard drives, which are supposed to be extremely quiet, are easily outperformed by Western Digital when it comes to seek noise. In terms of vibration, I found that all drives having more than 2 platters had vibration issues. So I concluded that I needed a WD drive (quiet seeks) and 2 platters max. The following hard drives cropped up in my searches:
Western Digital WD3200AAKS - 320GB, 1 platter
Western Digital WD6400AAKS - 320GB, 2 platters
Western Digital WD6400AAKS - 320GB, 2 platters
So I bought both of the above, one of each, and fitted them in my MacPro. The WD3200AAKS is in bay 1 and the WD6400AAKS in bay 2, i.e. next to each other (this usually makes resonance conditions worse). When I powered up the system I could hear nothing but the fans. WOOOOW!! No vibration, hum or buzz, and seeks are ASTONISHINGLY quiet.
I highly recommend these models to anyone experiencing resonance problems with their MacPros.
I have 2 x Samsung F1 750's, silent as a mouse.
The stock 320GB POS Apple provide though? Yeah, it makes a little noise, sounds like a crap disk rather than case vibrations though
The stock 320GB POS Apple provide though? Yeah, it makes a little noise, sounds like a crap disk rather than case vibrations though
I owned the 2.66(first gen) mac pro and the 2.8ghz (penryn) mac pro and I can say that the 2.66 model had the hdd noise problem as well.
I figured out that the first gen mac pros came with the treys with the screw(that mount the hdd to the trey itself) had no rubber fitting around the metal screws.
This is the first thing I've noticed when I received the penryn mac pros and that it keeps the hdd's whisper quiet.
I figured out that the first gen mac pros came with the treys with the screw(that mount the hdd to the trey itself) had no rubber fitting around the metal screws.
This is the first thing I've noticed when I received the penryn mac pros and that it keeps the hdd's whisper quiet.
The Samsung F1s are fairly quiet. The vibration issues are a lottery and you might have been lucky or I might have been unlucky (I always seem to get the short straw, damn!). However, have you actually compared your Samsung F1 side by side with a WD3200AAKS? I am under the impression that you haven't because the Samsungs make more noise when seeking.
The other day I used an utility called AAM to test my WD drives in my MacPro. This utility has a Test mode which sequentially reads sectors from a hard drive of your choice, allowing you to assess how noisy they are. OK, so I put it in Test mode to test my WD drives. Nothing, no noise. Seeking totally inaudible. I forgot to stop Testing and after a while the monitors went to sleep to save power. My laptop's fan, running about 2 and a half metres away from the MacPro, was as loud as the MacPro fans; since I couldn't hear the seeks and the monitors were off I wasn't sure whether it was still on or not, that's how quiet the WD drives are.
Some retailers seem to have started to discontinue the WD3200AAKS in favour of its bigger brother the WD6400AAKS, which vibrates a little more as it has 2 platters, but still very quiet.