# WD Caviar Black SATA3 HDD grinding noise



## Wulfgar (Sep 10, 2010)

Hey guys, I recently installed a Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA3 6GB/S 7200RPM 64MB Cache HDD in a Coolermaster CM 690 II Advanced. I installed Windows 7 without any probs and everything is working fine. However, the HDD is making a loud grinding noise whenever it's in use and I'm not sure why. Is there a chance it might be defective or maybe I should change the drive bay ?


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## erocker (Sep 10, 2010)

Well, if it's making the noise due to the way it's mounted in the drive bay then yes. If the noise is coming from inside the HDD itself it's defective. Back up your data and ship it out.


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## Kantastic (Sep 10, 2010)

My old Seagate .9 made a loud grinding noise, it worked fine for 2 years and now theonedub has it & he hasn't complained.


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## 95Viper (Sep 10, 2010)

You do keep a back-up, right.  
My WDs are sorta noisy sometimes.

On a new install you gotta to give it a while to settle.  
Run WD diagnostics on it, if you are worried.

Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for DOS (CD)
Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows

Use Acronis True Image WD Edition Software for your back-ups, it is free.


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## Raovac (Sep 10, 2010)

I have 2 Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA3 6GB/S 7200RPM 64MB Cache HDD in my system and they both make the noise you are discribing. I really think it's the nature of these drives and I guess time will tell.


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## Wulfgar (Sep 11, 2010)

Thanks for the replies. I will do those tests on Sunday and I'll probably record the noise and post a short video on youtube. My back-up consists of an external drive. It's also a Western Digital and you can barely hear it.

The problem is that if I return it, I have to pay shipping and a 15% restocking fee. It doesn't bother me once I put my headphones on but it's definitely noisier than my other 250GB WD internal HDD as well as my 1.5TB external HDD.


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## LAN_deRf_HA (Sep 11, 2010)

I believe this is a result of the drive lottery. Most people get really fast pretty quiet versions of this drive, but an unfortunate few get a very noisy, not quite as fast version. It's infuriating because you paid the same price for it.


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## Soylent Joe (Sep 11, 2010)

The refurbished Seagate 320GB in my second rig is a grinder and has worked fine for about a year. Though, you pay good money for a drive like that, you expect it to not be obnoxious and to work well. I'd go ahead and send it back for a replacement unless you really can't be botherered.


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## PVTCaboose1337 (Sep 11, 2010)

I once heard that there were two types of drives.  

1.  The drive lasts for less than 3 months and breaks.  
2.  The drive lasts for 3 years+ with no problems.  

I have had high end drives die in 2 months, and Maxtor hard drives still kick past 10 years.  

You have the first.  

Now I have had a few drives run like a woodchipper, and they last, and it is usually just luck.  My WD 1TB external drive, (bare drive, BlacX Duet mount) runs quite, but at first was NOISY as hell.  It will settle, or it will break.  Send it back for a replacement if worried.  15% restocking fee is better than no drive at all.


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## LAN_deRf_HA (Sep 11, 2010)

I've had the shitty variant of this drive for awhile, I really don't think it's going to fail. Was probably just made at another factory (think samsung lcds). Smart stats are perfect.


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## PVTCaboose1337 (Sep 11, 2010)

BTW here is the setup.  That 1TB in the back was giving me trouble at first, fine now.


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## leemerlord (Sep 16, 2010)

mine do that noise too but i have WD 500gb and a 1tb, cant tell which one is doing it but after a lil while it will dide down but sometimes it gets louder when i use my g500 mouse, is there a way i can get it to not do it when using my mouse


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## Reventon (Sep 16, 2010)

Raovac said:


> I have 2 Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA3 6GB/S 7200RPM 64MB Cache HDD in my system and they both make the noise you are discribing. I really think it's the nature of these drives and I guess time will tell.



Are they noticeably faster than Black 3Gb/s drives?


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## Bo$$ (Sep 16, 2010)

mine are an un-matched pair, neither makes the noise...


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## Raovac (Sep 17, 2010)

Reventon said:


> Are they noticeably faster than Black 3Gb/s drives?



To me personally...no.
This is a new rig, so everything seems fast 
To someone who can tell....maybe.

Sorry I don't have an (un)educated answer for you.


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## Wulfgar (Sep 20, 2010)

I ran the diagnostic and everything was ok. The drive is also faster than my other WDs. I noticed a difference when installing large software such as games. I hope it will become less intrusive in the long run and maybe I'll go for a SSD in the future if prices fall.


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## LAN_deRf_HA (Sep 20, 2010)

Looking into other top wd drives, the new 1.5 tb black and the 2 tb black, all of them are noisy and inconsistent. Idk what's happened to WD's quality this gen... I'd switch to the F3 for my main drive but it like many samsung's are prone to write/read errors, if only a few that's still too much for my taste. Seagate is just off the radar, worst performance and no better in reliability. Feels like all the sudden there are no good drives to choose from. If they could just make the new blacks as quiet and reliable as the 640 gen we'd be in business. I mean those 1.5 tb ones get up to 65c in a regular case, wtf is this shit? You have to go out of your way to double temps like that. Just awful.


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## Bo$$ (Sep 20, 2010)

they have moved their some manufacturing to another country i think..


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## dr emulator (madmax) (Sep 22, 2010)

my two 640 gb and my two 1 tb harddrives are ok no noise as of yet


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## erixx (Jan 27, 2014)

I have 2 WD Green and they are silent (green is energy efficient, slower) but a Black one (Black is Speed and fast reaction) is a little too noisy.
As I have gone SSD I wonder if you can config the Black drive to be a bit slower/silent....


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## 95Viper (Jan 27, 2014)

erixx said:


> I have 2 WD Green and they are silent (green is energy efficient, slower) but a Black one (Black is Speed and fast reaction) is a little too noisy.
> As I have gone SSD I wonder if you can config the Black drive to be a bit slower/silent....



He/she ain't posted recently... probably has problem solved in around three years since.

Just my opinion.


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## erixx (Jan 27, 2014)

95Viper said:


> He/she ain't posted recently... probably has problem solved in around three years since.
> 
> Just my opinion.


And if someone, like me or you, has the same problem, would a little bit of additional info be helpfull. You know, in internet everything is stored!


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## sttubs (Jan 27, 2014)

My WD Black 1tb & 2tb drives are louder that my 1tb Seagate Hybrid drive, it's the nature of the beast.


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## 95Viper (Jan 27, 2014)

erixx said:


> And if someone, like me or you, has the same problem, would a little bit of additional info be helpfull. You know, in internet everything is stored!



I agree with you...  However, I was just pointing out that the thread was three years old and that the OP probably has solved their problem; and did not know if you noticed it was three years old.
It was not like I posted some stupid necro pic and remark.




erixx said:


> I wonder if you can config the Black drive to be a bit slower/silent....



A few HDDs can be configured (per certain apps) to control certain speeds & noise produced.

Some apps that claim such... if your hard disk supports it:

HDDScan – free HDD diagnostic utility

*Additional features*
The program allows changing some parameters for ATA/SATA/USB/FireWire HDD:

AAM – this function changes drive’s acoustic. If this function is enabled drive’s noise may be decreased by smoothing HSA’s seek operations. HDD could lose some performance.
APM – this function allows power savings by temporary decreasing spindle’s rotation speed (including complete stop) when drive is in idle.
PM – this function allows setting spin-down timer. If drive is in idle spindle will be stopped after the time set in the timer. If any program requests HDD access timer will be reset and spindle will spin up.
Disable Seagate PM – theoretically should turn off some Seagate drives spin-down timer but I was unable to find drives where this command would work.
The program can also start or stop spindle immediately. If any program requests HDD access drive’s spindle will spin up.
CrystalDiskInfo  AAM/APM Control for HDD

Hard Disk Sentinel

Ashampoo HDD Control 2


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## erixx (Jan 27, 2014)

Hey man thanks for the contribution. And don't feel harassed or a guilty child eater, but ... hey,  when we learn from or contribute to threads it is never only for the "OP". The title and thread is still useful after years. We live not only from the "latest news of the day" either. Just attended Euripides' _Hecuba_ in the theatre... 2300 years old and fresh as new, go figure 
 Thanks! .

Personally I just fixed the noise with some drops of Superglue at the right places. The higher vibrations do not NEED to cause noise, but can if there is metal with the tiniest  room that facilitates reverberations.


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