Hitachi/IBM Deskstar 7k250 mini-review

[larva]

Make sure to check the HGST site and see if your failed drive has any warranty left. I just RMA'ed a 40GB GXP60, and they sent me a brand-spankin' new 60GB GXP180 limited in size to 40GB. It's a lot nicer drive than the original GXP60.

 

[Csybe]

Just bought a 80Gb SATA version... every 10 minutes it makes a horrible sound like a sleeping cat Otherwise good...

 

[PyroFreak]

Got a 160 Gb SATA version as an upgrade over an old 40 gb Maxtor 5400 RPM drive....

Well, obviously it's faster.

It is about 1000x quieter and colder then that old piece of ****.

Anyways, great drive!

 

[larva]

Just bought a 80Gb SATA version... every 10 minutes it makes a horrible sound like a sleeping cat Otherwise good...

Yeah, mine started doing that after about a week of use. It is annoyging. I'm sending mine back to newegg in the hopes that another example won't do it. Some of these drives do it, some don't, judging by user reports. It doesn't really remove the value and performance of the drive, but is certainly annoying.

 

[dustybyrd]

i haven't plugged mine in yet...how loud is the sound and how long does it last?

does it happen when the drive stops spinning, or...?

 

[larva]

Plug 'er in and see dusty. Your drive may not even do it. It is not heineously loud and lasts only a few seconds but is kind of disconcerting. There still isn't another drive I'd rather have as I would get credit and buy it instead if there was a compelling alternative. When the new raptors become available they will be great, but cost and noise factors still weigh heavily on the side of the 7k250.

 

[Csybe]

In theory, the more the drive idles the more it will recalibrate.

I use my 7K250 as my boot drive so it's not as annoying, but strange.

Another sad thing is that my SATA Seagate 160Gb started started to make continous seeks every 5 minutes as well...

 

[mikapc]

I purchased the Hitachi/IBM Deskstar 7k250 80 gig and am happy with it but after seeing that I could get a raptor 36gb for only an additional $13 I'm having doubts as to whether I made the best choice. Sure it's true you're paying more than twice per gigabyte then the hitachi but given this computer is for personal use and don't know if I'd really need 80 anyways. The only concern would be the sound and heat with raptor. How loud is it?

 

[larva]

It's just a matter of capcacity. If 36GB is enough for you a raptor is great. But even for me, 36GB is kind of skimpy these days. 60GB, fine, but 36.. a deal-breaker for me. The Hitachi is fast in practice as certainly no more obtrusive than the raptor even while recalibrating (should your example do it a lot).

 

[Csybe]

Get a 74Gb Raptor, it beats the 10K SCSI drives in the most tests

Regarding to the strange 7K250 sound every 10 minutes, I've just got the reply from HGST Support:

thank you for your email.

Regarding your enquiry relating to the brief sound that emanates from our
drives.

I suspect that the occasional 'sound' you are hearing is the Idle Time
Function that has been introduced on our latest drive designs as a
reliability enhancement. You need not be alarmed by this,

This "sound" is due to a brief but deliberate head arm movement every so
often. This has been added to maximise the reliability of our disk drive
products.

This function is invoked if an extended period of inactivity is detected,
so has no impact on active performance. [It is bad to leave the heads
hovering over the same data track unnecessarily].

Even after a period of time of activity the Idle Time Function can be
implemented as the Idle Time Function is a cumulative function.

The level of sound emitted may vary from one drive to another and as such
this should not give rise to concern or be considered an impending failure.

Please be assured that this drive design is one of the quietest drives, at
this data density, in the industry.

 

[larva]

Had the 74GB raptor been available on the last day to RMA for credit, I would have probably gone that way. As good as the new raptor looks its not readily available yet.

 

[MCW]

Does Hitachi provide 3 years warrant for it(80GB/8M)???

 

[johan851]

I was looking at two of those drives myself, but I think I might be better off grabbing a Raptor. I don't need that much capacity anyway, and a 2x 36gb Raptor in RAID 0 would be awesome with my 800JB as backup.

 

[Wam]

I'm thinking of getting the 2x120 PATA 7K250 as I don't have SATA raid on my board. I can't see any reviews of this but would the PATA and SATA be around the same speed?

 

[Csybe]

Yes, 3 years of warranty and the same speed from the PATA version.