Noisy Idle HDD

[Locustears]

Hello.

I have a WD Black 1TB HDD that I'm using as a storage drive in a hybrid system, having previously used it for about 2 years as boot drive until I got an SSD. I've been upgrading my computer for audio recording, fitting it with Noctua fans and the aforementioned SSD as boot drive to make it as silent as possible, and for the most part it has worked, the computer is almost silent.

The problem is that the Hard Drive (which is in an enclosure) sounds like a loud fan, even when idle. I didn't notice this before because the fans I had in were noisier, but it is audible from any part of the room, and when I boot with the hard drive unplugged, the computer runs quiet as a mouse, so that's definitely the problem.

My question is, is this particular hard drive always this noisy and I just didn't notice? Or is the HDD in need of replacement? I'd expect a replacement to last longer as I'll only be using it for file storage.

Thanks

 

[digitaldoc]

It is amazing after getting an SSD, how loud those old mechanical hard drives sound. I would look at your hard drive's SMART data to see if this HDD is in need of replacement because it is about to fail, or just seems to be a little too noisy.

http://www.howtogeek.com/134735/how-to-see-if-your-hard-drive-is-dying/

 

[D_Know_WD]

Hi there Locustears,

You can test the drive with WD's Data Lifeguard Diagnostic tool. The results will show you whether there is something wrong with it. Though, my guess would be that there is nothing wrong with the drive. It is just not one of the quietest ones .

WD's DLG tool: http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=OkAGP3

Cheers,
D_Know_WD