Thinking about Dumping my Atlas 10K III (36GB)

[Clocker]

I'm thinking about selling my Atlas 10K III and possibly even my X15-36LP and moving back to the IDE world.

The whine of the 36GB Atlas is a bit annoying (the 18GB 15K Seagate is much quieter).

THe simplicty and quietness of a modern IDE system is tempting.....thoughts???

KCH

 

[timwhit]

I'll take those off your hands.....

Have you used a system that is pure IDE since you got those drives? There is a difference, it is quite small if all you're doing is web browsing and MSOffice. If you do anything disk intensive then I would hold onto them.

Have you considered a rubber absorbtion type of drive insulator?

https://www.chillblast.com/productsdetail.asp?PGID=3&PGSID=6

They are supposed to work pretty well, since most of the idle noise is vibrations from the drive against the metal of the case.

If you do sell your drives I doubt that you will get back what you paid for them. It might be worth it to try to figure out a solution that would allow you to quiet the drives and regain your sanity.

 

[timwhit]

I forgot to mention something.
My Cheetah 36lp was driving me nuts while trying to sleep So, I bought a Cool Drive enclosure made by Cooler Master. It is supposed to cool the drive while dampening it's noise.

I wasn't all that impressed when I first got it. The fan noise was unacceptable, but I converted the 40mm fan to 5V and installed a rheostat on the fan, so the fan is still doing it's job (kinda) but it's not too loud anymore and drive is definately quieter and cooler.

I can still hear it a little while I'm trying to sleep but it is 75% better than before.

 

[Tea]

You'll be sorree!

 

[The JoJo]

Sounds like you are shooting at your own leg

 

[Handruin]

If timwhit doesn't want one, I'd be interested. Let us know! I could always use some more room and another atlas 10KIII would keep my current one company.

 

[Clocker]

Well, since the Maxtor Atlas is the noisly whiney little bitch, I think I might get rid of it. I only really use it for storage and swap disks etc. A big, non-whiny IDE drive can di that I'd guess.

I will definitely keep the X15 though. It is VERY quiet IMO and runs cool.

Really, my system is pretty damn quiet, it just seems like the Atlas whine is more noticeable today.

Anyone wants to make me an offer for it, e-mail me...shipping to USA and Canada only.

C

 

[Splash]

I'm thinking about selling my Atlas 10K III and possibly even my X15-36LP and moving back to the IDE world.

THe simplicty and quietness of a modern IDE system is tempting.....thoughts???

Yes. Wait untill S-ATA. Then you won't have to upgrade yet again.

 

[timwhit]

Yes. Wait untill S-ATA. Then you won't have to upgrade yet again.

That could take awhile, and then he would need a new controller/motherboard/cable converter.

Most of us here buy drives often enough that there is no point in waiting. If all you are using the 10K III for is storage why not just put a cheapo 60GB drive in your machine for $120. I doubt that you will ever notice a huge difference just for swap and storage.

For just storage I can't tell a difference between my Barracuda IV, 1000BB, and Cheetah 36LP.

Sell the 10K III on eBay, it will probably go for $250+ and if you miss it that much you can buy another 10K SCSI drive in a few months when prices have gone down more.

 

[James]

I thought the 10K IIIs were supposed to be quiet? (We have 650 or so of them in a room and it's a bit hard to tell .) Is it really louder than the X15-36LP?!

 

[Clocker]

Well, I've come back to my senses. I'm keeping it!!

I don't know if I have a really good X15-36LP or a bad Atlask 10K III but the X15 is definitely quieter than the Atlas at idle. The Atlas has a whine to it that the X15 does not.

The Atlas seems louder during seeks too. During seeks the Atlas 'grumbles' at lot where the X15 just 'ticks'.

Maybe the fact that the Atlas is a 36GB and the X15 is an 18GB is making a difference.....? I think it could, what do you think? More platters=more bearing noise (IMO)....

C

 

[Groltz]

I thought the 10K IIIs were supposed to be quiet?

The one in my rig is very quiet, IMHO. It is an 18 Gig model, though.

 

[flagreen]

Kevin,
I have three 10K IIIs running at the same time and hear no whining noise at all. They grumble but even with three at once it is not loud enough to bother me. What is the model number on your 10K III? Someone at SR had a problem with two 36gig 10K IIIs that were also whining. He returned them to the vendor and the replacement drives he got in return did not whine at all. It might be worth checking out.

 

[Clocker]

Kevin,
I have three 10K IIIs running at the same time and hear no whining noise at all. They grumble but even with three at once it is not loud enough to bother me. What is the model number on your 10K III? Someone at SR had a problem with two 36gig 10K IIIs that were also whining. He returned them to the vendor and the replacement drives he got in return did not whine at all. It might be worth checking out.

Bill-
The model number is KW036L4 .

Ring any bells??

C

 

[Cliptin]

Bill, They say the upper frequency range is the first to go.

 

[flagreen]

Kevin,
The model number looks right (not like the ones I mentioned). I would RMA it anyway as I don't believe the whine is normal.

Clipton - That's what you think!

 

[Clocker]

Thanks for the info Bill. I just sold it for $234 so I guess I won't worry about it.

I'm sure my 80GB Baracuda ATA4 (coming Tuesday) will be much quieter and more appropriate for the purpose (just mass storage)....extra cash left over is going toward dual Athlons...

Clock

 

[GIANT]

. .

I'm sure my 80GB Baracuda ATA4 (coming Tuesday) will be much quieter and more appropriate for the purpose (just mass storage)...

The Barracuda IV is w-a-y quiet compared to any 10kRPM SCSI performance hard drive and just about any other hard drive currently in existence as well. Performance is also much better than the Barracuda III, but not quite even with the latest Western Digi hard drives.

I use a 60 GB model and it is significantly quieter than my 30 GB IBM 75GXP. I did recently disable the Barracuda IV's acoustic management to see how much of an increase performance it would produce, and it did bring up throughput by a notch. However, it also made seeks audible, whereas they were basically inaudible before, unless you literally put your ear up near the chassis.

By the way, I have my Barracuda IV installed in an Antec ATA-100 drive carrier for cooling and ease of drive mechanism swapping along with some other ATA/IDE drives in the same Antec drive carriers: An older Conner 1.2 GB drive with RedHat Linux, an IBM 75GXP with Windows 2000, and another older Conner 60MB drive setup with DOS 6.22).