How can I slow HDs down? *PLEASE HELP!*

G

Guest

Guest
This is rather simple question, but the answer might not prove to be as simple.

My girlfriend has a computer, which I built. It is almost a couple of years old and contains a now old Maxtor 7200 RPM 12 gigs HD. The problem is that this was a long time ago (for the PC industry, anyway) when people didn't seem to care about noise. Now, it's all the rage and companies are promoting how silent their HDs are.

I wish to silence the sucker by bringing the speed at which it spins the platters down. The noise this drive makes is so painful to the ear (mainly because it's so high-pitched) that my girlfriend either has to put some music on to mask the noise or just turn off her PC altogether.

I personaly own a Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 40 (46 gigs) HD and I know that there is a utility that was released by Maxtor in order to spin down or up the HD, depending on whether people wish to have the quiet (slower) version of the drive, or the performance version.

How can I slow down the HD in my g/f's PC? Is there any way?

Strat991
 

icxcnika

Distinguished
Apr 7, 2001
17
0
18,510
Sorry, but im almost sure ya can't. Ya might be able to do it by messin with the motherboard, else ya just got ta get a new hard drive. Sorry.
 

randomly

Distinguished
Apr 7, 2001
8
0
18,510
There is no way to slow it down. You can buy a 'silent' replacement for $100 though. The IBM 75GXP's are fairly quiet, the Fujitsu MPG3204AH's are even quieter but a good 20-30% slower (performance wise, they both are 7200rpm models). You probably won't be able to hear the Fujitsu over the power supply and CPU fans. The IBM will be barely discernible.
 

Arrow

Splendid
Dec 31, 2007
4,123
0
22,780
IBM offers software that turns the volume of the sound of the drive down, but of course, loses performance at the same time. I tried it, and it works quite well.

Rob
Please visit <b><A HREF="http://www.ncix.com/shop/index.cfm?affiliateid=319048" target="_new">http://www.ncix.com/shop/index.cfm?affiliateid=319048</A></b>
 

machow

Distinguished
Dec 31, 2007
855
1
18,980
The way IBM does it is to mess up the seek times. I do not know whether his drive offer such capability.

-------------
This site is cool.
 

Arrow

Splendid
Dec 31, 2007
4,123
0
22,780
Actually, I was more of adding to the post immediately above mine, but I directed my message towards the original poster so that he would get it if he had turned notification on. I doubt other drives would support IBM's software anyway.

Rob
Please visit <b><A HREF="http://netcomp.cjb.net" target="_new">http://netcomp.cjb.net</A></b>
 

Lars_Coleman

Distinguished
Feb 9, 2001
1,020
0
19,280
To tell you the truth, if it makes that much noise that she has to mask it, you may want to get it replaced. They shouldn't be that noisy.

Maxtor has a Acoustic Management Utility on there web site, but only works with certain series of there drives.

<font color=green>"Your call will be answered by the next available Tech Support representative"</font color=green>