MacBook Pro :: Upgraded HDD To Hitachi 7k500 7200rpm Annoying Noise/vibration Levels?
Oct 3, 2010
A couple days ago I upgraded my mid 2010 MBP 13 stock hdd(Hitachi 5400rpm 250gb) to a new one (Hitachi 7200rpm 500gb 7k500). I am still amazed by how much faster and more responsive system has gone.
Some change in noise/vibration was expected, but now I am starting to get a bit annoyed by vibration and HDD noise.
Vibration gets on my nerves- the levels are nowhere high, but there was no vibration in my stock HDD. In addition, the noise of the system on idle has roughly doubled- both fan and HDD are humming at the same level.
The system is still very quiet, but I could not help noticing it anyway. Is this normal?
I tried replacing the old HDD and found out that the problems were not present with it (=I am not likely to have made some awful mistakes putting the hard drive in).
Then I tried tightening all the screws as hard as possible and putting some rubberized washers on the corners of the HDD to ensure snuggly fit. All efforts rendered no change. Are there any other methods to reduce noise and vibration?
Furthermore, I still have one day to return the 7k500 without any loss. Should I get WD Scorpio Blue 500gb instead?
I have read user reports of similar problems with WD SB 640gb drives as well. Since these drives are essentially the same, I would expect similar problems with 500gb as well.
P.S. Is there any chance that the stock HDD is slightly "downclocked" by Apple? It does vibrate a lot inside external cradle. Furthermore, I tested a couple laptops in the local Apple store. Both MBP 15" and MBP 17" where equipped with 500gb 5400rpm drives.
However, MBP 17" was vibrating much more than the MBP 15" (maybe MBP 17 HDD runs at its native speed to increase the performance. The increased size of 17" makes the vibration effects less annoying).
The stock HDD vibrates just like the current one until after 1-2s after the power button is pressed- as if some sort of regulation kicks in after that point.
I am contemplating upgrading my stock 250GB drive in my 13" uMBP(June 2009) with a 320GB 7200rpm WD Scorpio Black:
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I was reading and some users have experienced unbearable vibration and increased noise, while some have not. I would live to be able to increase my HD speed, and am too poor for an SSD at the moment.
What are some experiences people have had with putting a 7200rpm in a 13" uMBP and would you recommend the upgrade?
But he asked me to find out if it had the G sensor or not. Obviously Macs have there own sensor so he wants to get one without the sensor so it doesnt interfere.
I currently have the seagate 7200.4 500gb but i noticed my load cycle count is already at 8000 after only 3 weeks of use. So I think Im going with the hitachi 7k500. if this has the g sensor built in? if so does this interfere with my macbooks g sensor?
Ok so recently I got a 500gb seagate 7200.4 and I loved it except for my high load cycle count. So I exchanged it for the hitachi. Now with this hitachi I am also experiencing high load cycle counts, more power consumption than my seagate and it's louder. Except the seagate did have a faint clicking sound while booting up where the hitachi doesn't. My seagate also seemed a bit faster.
Can someone sway me to either stick with the hitachi or go back to the seagate based on your own thougts and experiences as well as my input.
15" i7 macbook pro to arrive, and I'm looking at which 7200 rpm hard drive to buy to replace the 5400 rpm one with.I've narrowed it down to the Seagate momentus xt and the Hitachi Travelstar 7k500.Not only speed is important, because from what I've read the Seagate is a bit faster. But what i'm more worried about is noise, vibrations, heat and battery life.
I recently replaced the hdd in my 13" MBP with a travelstar 7k500. It's fantastic: quiet, cool, fast, energy efficient. Really happy.
However, I did noticed yesterday when I was moving my laptop with the body at an 80 degree angle to the floor that the drive makes a strange noise that I haven't heard in other drives. It sounds almost strained. it's only at that angle - if it's completely vertical the drive is silent again.
I doubt this is anything to worry about, but I'm curious what is actually happening and whether there is something I can do about it? Anybody else with this drive have the same experience?
Just received the new Macbook Pro 17" with I7 option as well as the 7200rpm HD 500gb. The machine works great so far. However, there is a slight vibration I can feel on the aluminum in front of the keyboard and basically across the machine, though when I moved it from a glass table to a wooden desk it was much decreased. The machine is also much noisier than I thought it would be, though I did know when I went for the 7200 option that it might be noisier.
Is this normal because of the HD or I7 chip? I can return the machine and exchange it, but the anti-glare screen seems ok with no pixel problems, etc., so I don't want to look for trouble without a benefit. Is it possible this is not the HD? (vibration and noise does seem to emanate from the left side-I believe it is a Seagate, ID starts with ST)
I have a mac book 2 GHz Intel core 2 Duo with Memory 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3. I also have MAc osx version 10.7.4. It is the 13 inch aliminium late 2008. Recently when I start up after 5 minutes it makes a annoying noise. I think it is the fan. Does any one know what the issue is here.
its a 500gb @ 7200rpm just installed it and runs great some ppl complained of vibration and noise from the HD but i have NONE of those complains its super fast and quiet the installation was very easy and after installation i put in the SL dvd and restored from previous backup on my time machine, and it was like i never switched HDs.
I noticed from the start that there is a noticeable noise to it, not loud. But noticeable. I can feel some vibration under both my hands when typing. I have used one of my friends white mabcbook and this does not have any such noise to it. I did opt for the 7200 RPM HD and now my question is is the sound coming from the HD or the fans? The sound has been on constantly since I first turned it on. Downloaded SMC Fancontrol and it's showing 2000 RPM on both fans, but that's normal isn't it?So is there anything I can do? Is this normal or did I get unlucky?
I have an early 2008 Mac Pro with an EVGA 8800 GT installed. When I bought the computer the EVGA 8800 GT was almost silent even when under max load.
Now 15 months later the EVGA 8800 GT fan is making so much high pitch noise under load that I try not to use it for heavy 3d. The noises started after about 6 months after purchasing.
Monitoring the fan speed under Rivatuner shows that it goes to 100% performance under almost any load in order to keep it at a steady 80 degrees celcius.
I concluded that the fan was becomming less efficient over time and that it had to spin more and more in order to keep the temperature down.
Dust Cleaning
I try to clean the computer for dust every 4 month, blowing air backwards into the components of the computer to remove all the dust.
I normally use my mouth (trying not to spit) and a hairdryer. This seem to work okay for the most part, but not much for the EVGA 8800 GT.
After cleaning the fan is still quite audible and hovers at 85-90% under loading producing the annoying high pitch noise.
After only a few weeks its back at 100% under load. I tryed getting Apple to replace the video card, but they refuse to since it is still working. ( I hate this kind of deffinitions. )
- Would buying a can of compressed air and blowing it backwards into the EVGA 8800 GT remove more dust than the method I normally use?
- Would anyone recommend taking of the fan in order to clean it better or should the can clean enough? - trying to compare the risk of not being able to assemble the card again.
- Has anyone had any luck reducing the high pitch noise of the EVGA 8800 GT fan, and if so how?
Aftermarket Cooling
I did buy an aftermarket cooling system called Accelero S2 without the turbo module (fan) which recieves top reviews.
Despite having build some computers in the past I am a bit reluctant to install it by removing the fan completely because I am affraid that I will somehow break the video card in the process or accidently install it in a way that fries it when temperature rises under heavy load.
It sure is tempting to try the Accelero S2, but with the EVGA 8800 GT Mac going out of market I would have to dig deep in my pockets to get a replacement if something happends to the video card.
I think I also read somewhere that the instant you take of the EVGA 8800 GT fan you cannot put it back again. Which also makes me a bit nervous if the aftermarket cooler is not able to keep the card cool.
- Has anyone had luck installing the Accelero S2 without the turbo module (fan) and if so is it easy?
- Would anyone recommend installing the Accelero S2 without the turbo module? - I am not familiar with the success rate of aftermarket cooling and how skilled you need to be to be successfull.
- Has anyone had any problems not being able to keep the video card cool with the Accelero S2 and in that case was force to reinstall the default fan again?
I really wish I could reduce the noise of the fan so I can stand using it for 3d heavy stuff again.
My Powerbook has been making a static-y sound from the back of it at random times. It sometimes won't do it all day, and then it will randomly start, and won't go away for a while. It's actually doing it right now! I've tried putting it to sleep for a few minutes, but it started back up again when i woke it up. There, it just stopped again! It can last from a few minutes to an hour, completely randomly! This problem started when I had Apple replace the logic board on the Powerbook a few months back, and numerous repairs later, nothing has changed, so I'm hoping someone here has an easy fix!
My iMac 27" i7 with a 2TB Hitachi disk seems to vibrate. It is so strong that it also makes my desk vibrate a little. If I hold tight on the desktop, it stops. However, the noise/hum is clearly audible when I put the iMac on the floor, for example.
Apple is happy to replace it, but am I too picky? Anyone else with the same?
(FWIW, I'll describe the noise as if you mount a hard drive in a cabinet, and it isn't really fastened/isolated well enough.)
I tried the smcfancontrol and checked the fans, and its not them, the noise is constant even if I set them to max or min. And it disappears completely when the disk has spun down.
My Macbook Pro, Macbook, or other apple hardware I got with a HDD does not make this kind of noise.
How silent is your iMac compared to your macbook/macbook pro?
I know it might be nothing, but just thought I'd make sure. I've been using an Aluminum Macbook for a few months, and it's been working super great, well, until yesterday, I'm not even sure if it's been this way the whole time, but it's been driving me nuts since this morning. The problem is, I've been feeling a little vibration around the entire trackpad area, especially on the right side, it's probably coming from the HDD (Factory drive 160GB), but I really don't like it. It's nothing noticeable, I mean you can't tell the difference until I've told you about it or unless you've been resting your hands on it for a while, but the point is, it does exist. Now my question is- is it normal? Was it there the whole time? If it's not normal, should I be taking it to the store? I've never even opened up the bottom, ever, it's been as it was on day 1. I tried listening to it carefully while giving it a little shake but nothing seem to out of place in there, it still feels as solid as new, but the bottom line is, I'm going crazy. What should I do?
P.S. It's got nothing to do with electricity cuz the vibration remains when I run it on battery.
I recently upgraded my macbook pro 2.16 to a western digital scorpio (WD3200BEVT). The first day I did not notice the noise at all.. Now it seems to have a clicking noise every 5-10 seconds. I also have a kernal panic today which is the first in 2 years..
I recently installed the Hitatchi 7k500 in my new White Unibody. Istat pro is showing a HD bay temp of 25 degrees C. When I had the original 250gb HD in, istat showed a HD bay temp and a HD temp. Now I only have a HD bay temp.
first time post here and a noob question. I've had my MBP 2.4 i5 since early June and I noted a noticeable vibration. I'm not quite sure if it's the fan working or the HDD spinning. istat shows my fan running at 2000 on average both left and right, GPU and CPU temp around 38 on normal operation such as browsing on safari. The reason I asked is because my older MBP 2.16 C2D (3 years old) seem to not have this issue or characteristic. I would even notice the vibration with my hand resting on the desk the new MBP sits in. This happens even with waking-up the MBP from cold sleep. As stated, no intense app or tasks are involved, just plain browsing thru safari.
Whenever my screen is not turned up to the maximum brightness, a really high pitched sound is emitted from the laptop. If you've ever heard the "mosquito ringtone", that's basically what it sounds like. Really odd. It's definitely got something to do with the screen brightness, and I basically can't use my laptop at medium brightness because the sound drives me a little nuts. Turning the brightness to the lowest setting makes the sound less intense, but it's still audible.
I have posted previous about the my experiences with the annoying sound sound that results from the frequent (every 20 seconds or so on my machine) parking of the C2D MBP HD (120 GB, 5400 in my case.) I have read all that I can find on the web about this "issue." Some sources report that the issue is normal while others seem to feel that some defect is present.
I have contacted Apple (1st tier Apple care reps.) twice about the HD parking and both occasions they had never heard of such an issue. They prompted me to take my MBP into an Apple store or an authoized service provider for inspection. I did so and the ASP told me that they would need to send the computer to Apple (don't know why that's just what the man said.) However, I cannot at this time part with the computer for an extended period of time so this is not an option for me.
So, I have read about this link to a program that claims to stop the HD parking of these notebook drives by writing small bits of data that is enough to keep the drive from sleeping/parking and thus removing the sound.Has anyone with my issue had any experience with this program and can testify to its effectiveness and legitimacy?BTW, I have already tried the mirror widget as a fix for this issue and, for whatever reason it does not work for me so please don't bother with the suggestion.
I currently have version 10.6.2 update for my macbook pro and after updating the EFI firmware update to 1.8 I get an annoying pop up every time I start the computer. I checked for any additional updates to see if it will go away, but I seem to have all the updates. Is there anything I should do to get rid of this pop up? Pop-up window reads: your computer's firmware is up to date with version 1.8 of the macbook pro EFI firmware update.
I was wondering if any of you with the New Aluminum Macbooks feel any sort of vibrations from the hdd, or the fans. Especially, do you feel it near the trackpad, on the lower half of the computer?
What I want to know is that if I replace my 160 GB 5400 RMP HDD with a 7200 RPM 500 GB HDD in my MacBook Pro 13' the noise level and vibration become much stronger ?
I recently changed the stock Hitachi 250 GB 5400 rpm drive to WD 500 GB Scorpio black 7200 rpm drive.
Now it was perfectly fine, no vibration or noise, just like the previous one. However now about a week past, I can feel it vibrating and that equals to the vibrations i get when I put a cd into my drive. It is kind of annoying. IS this normal? I know the drive is faster in RPM but as WD said it equals to 5400 by noise and vibrations and it was fine just a week back. (BTW Im running on a battery).
There is one thing though that bothers my mind, when I changed the drive, there were those 4 mounting screws which I didnt have screwdriver for. I took it from my friend but I think I did not screw one of the mounting screws to the very end. Can that be a reason?
I have the new 2.4 aluminum macbook and today for the first time I started burning cds and I noticed the whole computer vibrates pretty strongly. Is that normal? Also if i pick up the macbook and move it slightly while its burning it makes a weird noise. Is that normal also?
