WD Ultrastar 8TB HDD Is Loud and Vibrates Too Much

LVoidIvory on 30/12/2020 - 17:43
Last edited 30/12/2020 - 17:48 by 1 other user

Hello everyone, first post here.

I recently bought a WD Ultrastar HDD 8TB on Black Friday. I only installed it recently and found the HDD is very loud and it makes my desk vibrate every few seconds even on idle. I wonder if this is normal? I understand ultrastar is for data centers but I was not expecting it to be this high profile.

I'm now returning it and thinking about buying another HDD that is lower profile. I was using 2*2T of seagate barracuda they are just so quite. Does anyone have a good suggestion of HDD? I wonder if Skyhawk or Ironwolf is any better in the noise/vibration level?

Thank you for your time.

edit: I don't want the new barracuda anymore because they are SMR drives, kinda looking for some CMR drives but most are for the use of data centre/nas/surveillance use.

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  Godric on 30/12/2020 - 17:51

  -1

  Mechanical Drive so yes normal

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  scrimshaw on 30/12/2020 - 17:53

  +3

  Data Centre/Enterprise HDDs are not designed with acoustics in mind, since data centres are already very noisy environments.

  I have a Toshiba MG05ACA800E which is a enterprise SKU and it's definitely much, much louder than either my Seagate BarraCuda 7200.12's and Toshiba X300's.

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  Cartman2530 on 30/12/2020 - 20:04

  Since its a 7200rpm drive then it will emit more noise/vibration than a slower 5400rpm drive. An alternative is that if it appears to be more than usual, see if you can RMA it and compare the nose to the replacement.

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  Miami Mall Alien on 30/12/2020 - 21:17

  +2

  Completely normal.

  I have a bunch of older HGST Ultrastars in various PCs as well as 4 x 10TB Western Digital Ultrastars in my NAS currently.

  They are noisy; and not just the typical seeking/writing/humming sounds either but loud grinding/thumping noises that you can hear a room or two away, hence why I had to shove my NAS in the garage. The vibrations will also definitely carry through a typical case/computer desk as well.

  Nothing to be alarmed about but they definitely can disrupt the peace of an otherwise quiet room and will be especially noticeable with an otherwise very silent PC config; you do have to sacrifice acoustics/heat when switching from 5400 RPM consumer-grade HDDs to 7200RPM enterprise-grade HDDs.