Storage Solutions New 7200.12 HDD failed

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Reallocated sector count is a sure sign of impending HDD failure. Get rid of the Seagate. I RMA'ed 2 seagate drives, albeit 7200.11's because of the reallocated sector count error and finally switched to a WD Caviar Blue 500gb.

p.s.: sig remains unchanged. will update it soon.
 
One of the HDDs (the old defective one I am presuming) is clicking away as I type, so I am thinking of sending both back and going with WD if it is possible. WD Black and one Green (for dump)?

But Bikenstein did put up the PSU question which I need answered. If the PSU is old and perhaps not up to the mark, which PSU to go for? Corsair 450vx? Or something better?
 
Running a couple of 500GB disks, one 7200.10 and another Hitachi (!) at just under 60 degrees due to the horrible cooling of the NZXT Zero (is = zero cooling for the hard disks). No problems in the drives, both of them are >2 years old. Had a 7200.7 40GB that always ran at 55 degrees, and is still functional, 8 years on. The things that kill disks IME usually are bad controllers (rare), bad connections with the power supply connector, or the power supply itself. Heat, as long as it's under 60 degrees, is not a problem. Heat related failures in hard drives is rare, and usually the actual killer is somewhere else.

I don't think it's the PSU. The TP480 (not the TPII, that was a far worse supply) was one of the better CWT PSUs. It ran hot because Antec had tuned the supply for silence, so there were issues with heavily overclocked setups causing primary capacitor failure, but running at reasonable (<50%) loads would not cause any issues.

The TP480 is a 5 year old model. It was one of my first decent pieces of hardware, bought from Prime in 2003 when I moved to Mumbai. AFAIK that is still doing duty in someone's rig, and it handled everything I threw at it till I needed a SLI setup and later, the 4870X2. It did have two native SATA connectors. On the same cable is no issue, I run three hard disks off a single connector and there's not been any issues.

However, I would heed Bikey's advice and check the voltages. If the 12V line is below about 11.7, you have an issue. Anything above that and you're fine (allowed tolerance is till 11.4, but the TP480 maintains a 3% regulation). A quick look at the BIOS will tell you whatever you need to know. VX450 is a good supply, albeit a little pricey now, but is a terrific alternative for almost any PC save the really hungry ones. Be aware that a few have sporadic issues themselves out of the box, though rare it is not unheard of either.

On the disk failures, it does seem worrisome that a new drive would show up bad sectors, but entirely possible. Just request a replacement. As a practice, I always format a new drive in DOS mode in slow format mode. The bad 'uns usually show up here, so I can start using the drive reassured that it is fine. And this is not a issue of chance, it happens all the time, and not only to Seagate drives. A brand new WD640AAKS drive did the same thing to me, just would not spin up or initialise, new out of the box. WDs fantastic RMA scheme saw to it that I was up and running, with a 750AAKS no less, in 5 days' time. And this was a twin purchase too, bought two disks together. So don't worry, the quality of quality control has gone to the dogs, that's the real answer. And not just for Seagate or WD or computers, life in general has much less QC overall ;) Where possible, RMA and don't worry about it, and always keep a backup.
 
cranky said:
However, I would heed Bikey's advice and check the voltages. If the 12V line is below about 11.7, you have an issue. Anything above that and you're fine (allowed tolerance is till 11.4, but the TP480 maintains a 3% regulation). A quick look at the BIOS will tell you whatever you need to know. VX450 is a good supply, albeit a little pricey now, but is a terrific alternative for almost any PC save the really hungry ones. Be aware that a few have sporadic issues themselves out of the box, though rare it is not unheard of either.

On the disk failures, it does seem worrisome that a new drive would show up bad sectors, but entirely possible. Just request a replacement. As a practice, I always format a new drive in DOS mode in slow format mode. The bad 'uns usually show up here, so I can start using the drive reassured that it is fine. And this is not a issue of chance, it happens all the time, and not only to Seagate drives. A brand new WD640AAKS drive did the same thing to me, just would not spin up or initialise, new out of the box. WDs fantastic RMA scheme saw to it that I was up and running, with a 750AAKS no less, in 5 days' time. And this was a twin purchase too, bought two disks together. So don't worry, the quality of quality control has gone to the dogs, that's the real answer. And not just for Seagate or WD or computers, life in general has much less QC overall ;) Where possible, RMA and don't worry about it, and always keep a backup.

Thanks a lot cranky, I checked and I am getting 11.78 volts on the 12volt rail, steady, so I should be okay I think. Also, I will try and send back both HDDs because I am not sure why the "Okay" disk should show "failure" on the HD Tune Health check.

PSU, I think, like you said may be okay, but I would not mind spending on a new *better* PSU. Maybe something better then the Corsair VX450 perhaps?

Lets see where this goes. First day all I did was install the OS and kept is a bit OCed using the preset settings in the Biostar bios, no fancy manual overclocking. It was only when I copied files from my old HDDs (and this time the processor was running at the plane Jane 3.0 Ghz speed that the errors came up.

Frankly, I would love to get rid of Seagate now. It is a confidence issue more than anything else. I mean just look at it, I have not been able to use the PC yet! Just trying to troubleshoot my way out with help of you guys.

Thanks once again.
 
few yrs back i remember reading about nvidia boards having issues with sata controller.

A friend of mine (with not much technical know-how) having seagate .11 series 1TB drive... and i repeatedly warn him of that drive having a black history in recent days. When .12 series drives launched, i though at least new drives must be good and going to tell him that get his drive replaced (even though it has no problems atm) and looking at this episode, its hard to predict and recommend what to do...... (other than getting WD drives)
 
Its strange... load sof hdds failing. I sold my 320gb to Waseem and WD640 to TE member which i am using now. Have to ship both hdds on monday and give Seagate 250gb (Dead) drive for RMA :lol:
 
I just did a check on the voltages using Hardware Monitor which came with the motherboard CD.

Noticed the following:

1. +12 volts - fluctuating between 11.78 and 11.84. Stays at 11.74 and occasionally jumps to 11.84.

2. +5 volts - fluctuating between 4.95 and 4.97 (stays at 4.97 and then drops occasionally to 4.95.

3. CPU VCore - 1.3 (and occasionally drops to 1.28 volts)

BIOS voltages are about the same. Also, on OC'ing to 3.4Ghz using preset BIOS settings, voltages remain the same.

Are these fluctuations indication of a PSU problem?
 
These are normal. The variation is to the tune of 1%, which is within the margin of error, and well within the tolerance of all software (which obviously don't directly measure voltage/temperature, but depend on sensors and their calibration). You would have to worry if the voltages dipped under overclocking, the fact that they are stable is indicative of the fact that the supply is capable of meeting the needs of the overclocked PC as well.

Again, just get the drives changed. No need to worry about anything else. If you want a new power supply, it is hard to recommend anything other than a VX450. A larger supply will be overkill, and in that power and price range nothing comes with the reputation and performance of the Corsair. I got one running a rig for 9 months now without being turned off (except for hardware maintenance) and it's solid as a rock. Mind you that rig has been with a 9950 130 watt processor for 6 months now, so it's not a flimsy little rig either.

However I don't see the Antec as a source of the issue. Bad sectors show up when being used, so format the drives in DOS mode without the -q flag, it'll take about two hours for a 500GB drive but is worth it.
 
Doc- I am not saying that yours is definitely a psu or temp issue.
But some TLC to the pc components really doesn't hurt anyone afaik.

It's good of you to have shared your issues here adn we geuninely feel fo your loss.
But one needs isolate the cause and keep a tab on each issue till one can concretely state that this is some bug/epidemic with the 7200.12 series.
What's ridiculous is how some people will start screaming "wolf wolf" at the drop of a hat. :no:

Where are you from?
If you are running the only 2 HDDs in the correct bays of the CM690 and the front stock fan is running, you should see temps barely into the higher 40s.
Unless you are in some hot part of India where ambients are 40+ already. :(

Check all voltages with a DMM if possible- while cpu is under load using Orthos.
Check the 3.3v rail too- that's what is needed to be tested when using native SATA connector.
Voltages are preferred steady than fluctuating often iirc.

Last but not the least- iball/intex/mercury/colorsit/zebronics generic/ zebronics platinum/... = :death:

Cranky sir- temps don't matter to you much or rather you can't be bothered about them too much but those HDD temps are surely very very high. :(
Hope your good luck continues:thumb:- especially considering the diminishing
standards of pc h/w quality these days. :(
BTW, you would have been better off with the NZXT Tempest case imho. :)
 
Hi Bikeinstein,

I am from Siliguri, West Bengal. It does not get that hot here (and so my worry seeing/feeling the temps on the HDDs).

My vendor has agreed to change them for Western Digital if that eases that mind. I am no fanboi of either (different story between Intel and AMD he he). I need something that works.

I might ask him to order me WD Caviar Black 500gb. But.....I really need to know if my power supply is shot. Going by the way it holds its own under overclocking would lead me to believe in its capabilities rather than not. I have an analog multimeter. Should help with checking the voltages, no?

Because it would be sad if it did the same thing with WD HDDs as well. But right now I would tend to believe in the PSU.

Regarding the HDD swap, given the option of going for WD, should I go for WD Black?

By Orthos, you mean this one right?

Edit: Early results using Orthos Beta. +3.3 volt holding steady at 3.26 so far, normal 3Ghz CPU speed (not oc'ed). When not under load, remains at 3.28 (sometimes fluctuating to 3.26v). No DMM with me, just using hardware monitor as of now).

Edit: Edit: 3.26 volts stable after 90 mins stress test, so I don't think PSU is the culprit here. Also, the PSU has a 20-pin connector instead of 24. Should not be an issue right?
 
Check 12v under load too and 5v too. :P

As of now, i still find the WD Caviar Blue 6400AAKS a bit more vfm wrt cost per GB (overall and not usable) and 5 yrs warranty over 3 yrs of new Seagates and also think it's not as noisy as a Seagate even if it can't be termed silent maybe.
Speed is almost up there with the 7200.12s- not much of a sacrifice for a not so demanding user like me.
Home pickup and delivery for rma is a bonus.
Quite a few people i know, upped their budgets a bit to get the WD 6400AAKS over the 7200.12 500GB for the same reason, the Seagte still being a tad overpriced in these parts.

well- 24-pin native psu has been preferred, especially for high load and definitely while OCing since nf4 days but 20pin psu with 20>24pin convertor also does ok for most rigs.
i.e if one can't really afford a new psu i.e. :P

Most psus, when run under a fair amount of load for fairly long periods, kind of run out of steam by 3 years of usage.
Anything more is a bonus imho and one cannot say when it may go kaput.

Speaking in general,
A new gen rig definitely demands native 24in, SATA and PCIe connectors and APFC and 80+ efficiency too imho. :P
IMHO, if one cannot afford atleast 10-15% of new rig price towards a good psu, something that will be almost 100% responsible for the proper running, stability, reliability of the same, they don't deserve a pc imho. :ashamed:
 
Bikeinstein,

Thanks! I have the option of getting WD Caviar Green 500gb. I know they are not as fast, but I read in many places they are not too bad for speed. Are they a worthy replacement? Or should I go with Caviar Blue?

I have been pondering the PSU issue. Well, it is old and me thinks my new rig deserves a new PSU. Is it going to be VX550 for Rs 6032/- or VX450 for 4368/-. The old one can continue to serve my older rig (AMD Athlon XP 2500+, Barton, 1.5 gb DDR, Geforce 6200, etc etc). I can afford both PSUs - which one to pick?

Edit: The 12 volts and 5 volts also remained fine under stress, so the PSU passes I guess :-), need your advice regarding Caviar Green Vs. Blue and PSU
 
^ do you have any major upgrades planned in the near future?

IMO get the vx 450, it is enough for your rig, and leaves some room for some upgrades as well
 
dude get the wd5000aaks (blue)

am on one for arnd two months now running rock solid..

its my main os as well as gaming drive...does a very good job...good loadin speeds and a few seconds here there at startup really dont make much difference...

these too are really hard to find these days..get one asap..

my last seagate a 7200.10 is also runnin good ....but the recent spate of the .11s and .12s goin kaput made me to switch to WD which is nothing less than impressive....write speeds arnd 75 mbps avg ..hd tune score....decent enuf..and stable and quiet as well
 
Doc Holliday said:
Guys please help me choose the HDD now, between WD Blue and WD Green. And the Corsair 550VX vs. 450VX.

If you get a WD Blue then go for it. If not then WD Green will do. Anything is better than Seagate these days!
 
Thanks guys.

Edit: Going with VX450 for now folks. I think it will suffice for now.

Edit: Edit: VX450 not available, only VX550 and Tagan (500 and 600watts) available. How is the Tagan brand? Which Tagan one is good?
 
Hi folks,

Dug up this old thread to tell you all that my replaced 500 gb 7200.12 HDD has again crashed. Please avoid this HDD like plague.
 
^ change your SMPS in the first place. I am using same seagate 7200.12 500GB since last 4-6 months without any single issue.
 
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