WD Black 4TB Very Loud

havenrl · 24 Jul 2019 at 15:34

I've just finished cloning my hdd, switching from an old 2tb seagate green to wd black 4tb.

However, on operation, it is very loud.
Is this usual?

Hotwired · 24 Jul 2019 at 15:41

I dunno about "very" loud.

The seagate green drive spins the platters at a maximum of 5900rpm for lower power usage.
The WD Black is a performance HDD so it spins the platters at 7200rpm

That's the obvious difference and might be all it is but could be a bunch of other things.

Mounted loosely without dampening so its vibrating against metal. Damaged drive.

havenrl · 24 Jul 2019 at 16:00

Aye, I will monitor it.
Maybe just re mount as well.

I'm not really bothered about the noise, but worried if it is a bad hdd etc.

MassiveJim · 24 Jul 2019 at 16:06

upload a video/sound clip ?

havenrl · 24 Jul 2019 at 16:32

Not yet.
The cloning period, quiet ish.

I'm going to change a steam directory onto one of my ssd's.
I'll see then.

havenrl · 24 Jul 2019 at 17:10

Re mounted the hdd.
Still loud, so it's okay.
I understand the difference from 5900 rpm to 7200 rpm.
That's the reason why I got the WD Black.

Time to get used to it, and move on.

Also, the difference between the Define R4 being on the ground and the Define C TG being on the desk, makes it louder etc. That's fine.

Smok3y · 8 Aug 2019 at 13:59

I have a 3tb wd black in my gaming htpc and its loud. Its mounted in a bracket lined with foam tape to dampen it but it's still noisy. You get used to it.

IT Troll · 9 Aug 2019 at 23:57

I had a 4TB Black for a short while. I tried to live with it but it was way to noisy and so I swapped it for a 6TB Blue, which is massively better. It is not the spin noise which is the problem, but rather the thunks and clunks you get as part of the drive access chatter. Really not worth it for the tiny performance increase if just using it as a storage drive.

PC777 · 10 Aug 2019 at 00:50

IT Troll said:
I had a 4TB Black for a short while. I tried to live with it but it was way to noisy and so I swapped it for a 6TB Blue, which is massively better. It is not the spin noise which is the problem, but rather the thunks and clunks you get as part of the drive access chatter. Really not worth it for the tiny performance increase if just using it as a storage drive.

I did exactly the same but got a a WD Blue 4tb. A bit slower but almost silent operation compared to the WD black making thunk sounds every few seconds which was the noisiest thing by far in my PC at that time.

Hotwired · 10 Aug 2019 at 00:51

If you can get a SSD for the operating system and ~~games~~ important programs the value of 7200rpm drives really falls off.

I dropped black drives for blues in my desktop and I use them for backups and storage. Have one large enough SSD for all regularly used programs.

I'm sure 7200rpm drives still have value but in a desktop the noise is a factor worth thinking about.

IT Troll · 10 Aug 2019 at 08:52

Hotwired said:
I'm sure 7200rpm drives still have value but in a desktop the noise is a factor worth thinking about.

Prior to the WD Black I had a Seagate FireCuda which was also 7200rpm. It was pretty much silent. I don’t know what WD are doing to make their Black drives so noisy.