Quieting down a noisy HD

[The Coolest]

Hey guys. I decided that I want to build myself a Smoothwall rig to have a real router with expansion possibilities for my line upgrade (8M/800K), and so I did.
The parts are used were stuff I had laying around unused:

CPU: P3-933MHz ES, unlocked rev B0 Slot1 CPU clocked at 400MHz (133x3), cooled by a large passive heatsink.
RAM: 192MB PC100/133 SDRAM (3x64MB)
GPU: Matrox G200 or something really old.
NIC: Realtek RTL8139 NICs (1 to modem, 1 to LAN)
Mobo: MSI MS-6163 mobo
PSU: Generic POS 300W.
And a Western Digital 4.3GB hard drive

Now the CPU has a huge passive heatsink and is clocked down to 3x133MHz for an effective 400MHz, so there's no noise problem there.
But this hard drive is making a high pitched whine that is audible and it chugs like a tractor.
As this project is supposed to be a $0.00 type of project I am now looking for ways to quiet this thing down. I'm not shooting for complete silence, but I'd like to take the noise level down a few notches if possible.

The Smoothwall is built into a pretty old Midi-ATX case.

I would appreciate any suggestions you could give me about different ways of quieting an HD down with things you can find at home or real cheap stuff you can get in stores. This does not have to be pretty, just quiet.
Also airflow should be a consideration.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Radical]

The chugging noise can probably be reduced by suspending the drive or mounting it on some soft foam (link: http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8240). The high pitched noise, on the other hand, will only be lessened by enclosing the drive (link: http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=20305). You can buy enclosures such as the Scythe Quiet Drive (~$35) or the Smart Drive 2002C (~$70), but they're more expensive than what you can make yourself, and they may not be as effective if you do a good job.

 

[MVC]

Can you take a pic of how it's mounted now... someone might come up with a real creative mounting.

The problem with enclosing the drive is that heat can build up. I don't remember how much heat those old 4GB drives put out, but you wouldn't want to seal it up completely. I do have some 1/8" and 3/8" vinyl foam sheets so if you want to try that route, give me some measurements and I'll cut you off a section.

Or, can you fit some grommets between the drive and its mounting? That's probably easier than suspending the drive or trying to insulate it--just decouple it from the case--but if the noise it's making is all internal, I don't know how much that would help.

 

[jivetrky]

I recommend cooking up a nice batch of jello jigglers and surrounding the harddrive in them.



Seriously though, I think about all you can do is try to mount it in another way. Otherwise you would just have to come up with another harddrive.

 

[stevejr]

How about this "thinking outside the box" idea...make some extra long connectors and put that hdd about 10 feet away...behind some sound insulation... Now that's what I call..."thinking outside the box"!!

 

[The Coolest]

Thanks for the responses.

Regarding the enclosers, thanks, but that's a bit expensive, I could just as well buy a used hard drive that's quiet in the first place

Radical:
Thanks for the links. I'll if I can get some of that elastic stuff or similar, I think that's a real nice way of mounting a HD w/o risk of the holders breaking and the HD plummeting to the case bottom

MVC:
Currently the drive is mounted into the 3.5" slot, as you would usually mount a drive. The case is pretty sucky, I don't think I can add anything between the drive and the case mounting unless I move it out of the 3.5" slot.

jivetrky:
Thanks, but I rather not mix food with computers

stevejr:
Its a bit impractical in my case as my room is very small and I don't have long ATA cables.

 

[MVC]

MVC: Currently the drive is mounted into the 3.5" slot, as you would usually mount a drive. The case is pretty sucky, I don't think I can add anything between the drive and the case mounting unless I move it out of the 3.5" slot.

Well, can you isolate the entire drive cage--mount it so that it doesn't come into contact with the rest of the case? That's what I did with my Lian Li PC-61, drilled out the rivets holding the runners for the drive cage and remounted it using rubber grommets and screws.

 

[The Coolest]

Thanks, I'll have to see if that's doable.
I really liked the suspended HD mod though, I'm looking for something that I could use for this right now.

 

[The Coolest]

http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=202276#202276

What do you think of this? It looks pretty easy, and no blocked air flow under the drive. You can also screen it to the foam, thus it won't fall off or anything.

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

But this hard drive is making a high pitched whine that is audible and it chugs like a tractor.

Typical Western Digital. Western Digitals are known to be loud.
Maxtors and Seagates probably are at least somewhat quieter, if not a lot quieter.

 

[Radical]

http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=202276#202276

What do you think of this? It looks pretty easy, and no blocked air flow under the drive. You can also screen it to the foam, thus it won't fall off or anything.

That's similar to what I do with the drive in my case, but I don't use the standoffs. It works very well, so give it a shot if you can. However, you should see what the difference in noise is between using the standoffs and not using them. Not using the standoffs will still allow more than enough airflow around the drive, and if it creates less noise, it should be worth it.

Most of the heat from hard drives comes from their sides, not their top or bottom surfaces, so obstructing the top or bottom from airflow shouldn't make a big difference in temperature. If you don't use standoffs, though, make sure the drive is resting upside-down (metal side down) on the foam to avoid any electrical damage to the drive's PCB. If you're worried about temps using this method, you can make crude but effective heatsinks with relatively cheap pieces of metal that you can probably find at your local hardware store (link: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article22-page1.html). That will likely require a bit of drilling, though so hopefully you have a Dremel or something for that.

 

[trodas]

They are MUCH quietier. I can't stand just ONE WD drive in room, where is 5 Mators and one Seagate...
(just beware of the noisy feature - create noise on iddly by purpose - called STIR found in some PATA Seagate drives, that suxx badly)