Loud Seagate 250gb - RMA?

[gumbald]

I've got a Seagate ST3250824AS which I've had for a year or so, and recently taken it out of my PC to put in my IcyBox, it was replaced internally by a 500gb.

I always thought it was noisier than my other Seagate 250gb, slightly older than it, but since having it on my desk I've now realised it's REALLY noisy! HDTach showed similar benchmarks when they were both internal, now that it's external, I can't really compare them fairly anymore.

My question is, is that worth an RMA? It makes more noise at one end of the disk compared to the other, so I'm guessing it is actually a fault?

 

[touch]

Shot in the dark: the end with the motor makes more noise?

(I'v never tried to RMA a noisy hdd, but i'd imagine you'll have a hard job convincing them its faulty - especially if they hook it up and see that it works fine)

 

[rpstewart]

My question is, is that worth an RMA? It makes more noise at one end of the disk compared to the other, so I'm guessing it is actually a fault?

You'll not be able to RMA on noise alone, if the drive passes the diagnostics it's fine as far as the manufacturers are concerned.

The drive is noiser at one end because all the moving parts are at one end.

 

[gumbald]

Any way I can do diagnostics in the external? Or do I have to get inside my computer again?

EDIT: Just found the WD tools will work on it, running some tests now