360 Disk Tray

[Myth]

Well I pretty much want to switch my 360 for one with the newer disk tray which is supposedly quite a bit quiter so I'm thinking of abusing my warrenty and just saying that my XBox has suddenly started scratching all my disks.

However I'll only really want to do this if I know that it's pretty certain I'll get one of the newer disk trays. Just wondering anyone has any idea how likely it would be.

[sj33]

My mate has a newer disc tray, and the difference isn't really worth talking about. It's a little quieter, but still a loud ****er.

[Myth]

Maybe it's not worth the bother then

[NekoFever]

I still want to know why the drive is only loud when playing 360 games. With DVDs, CDs, and Xbox games it's barely any louder than the fans (not that that's saying a huge amount) but stick a 360 game in there and suddenly the whole thing's ready to take off.

[sj33]

I shouldn't bother mate.

I don't understand why the 360 drive is louder than the average PC DVD reader o.o

[randombs]

It's louder because it's spinning at the maximum 12x speed. DVD films play at a much slower speed so it doesn't need to spin as fast. The original XBox has a 6x DVD drive in it and I'm assuming the 360's drive slows down to this speed to maintain compatibility (I've tried Ninja Gaiden on it and it doesn't load any quicker than on a regular XBox...).

My 360's drive spins as loud as my PC's DVD drive when it's doing something at maximum speed (copying a file or ripping a film), but that's not often. With the 360 it just stays loud throughout the whole time a 360 game is running, which is a shame.

[andrewfee]

Not only that, but the 360's drive is right at the edge of a very thin plastic case; there's not much to dampen the noise, or the vibrations, unlike a full-tower PC.

[SubparMario]

My experience was a loud and constant whooshing sound, as if some space was not sealed off.

[randombs]

well it's just a big cage with plastic around it

[NekoFever]

Oh yeah, I didn't think of the drive speed. DVD movies only need to spin at 1x, I believe, so I should hope that it's a lot quieter than a 360 game. Come to think of it when I'm doing something intensive (ripping a DVD, for example) my various computer drives are just as loud.

[randombs]

exactly. thing is pc drives spin up and down depending on what's happening. there must be something in the 360 that's causing it to always run at high-speed for 360 games.

thing is considering dvd drives on the pc are still pretty noisy at high speed, i can't see it quietening down any time soon. hopefully if that hd-dvd thingy arrives and can be used for 360 software aswell (instead of just working with films although considering the 360 game encryption involves the drive itself it's almost a guarantee that it won't play 360 games) then that'd be handy as the hd-dvds would spin slower

[Leon Retro]

When I got my 360 and played PGR3, it made a hell of a noise

Then someone told me it was only an issue with some early games, so I lived in hope.

Then I got RR6, and the machine did indeed run quiet. Not whisper quiet, but the same as an XB1. I was very relieved to know it wasn't my machine!

Apparently certain early games were developed without the dev having access to a utility that enabled them to control the drive-speed, so the drive always runs at full-whack. Newer titles control the speed, so you don't get a constant high drum!

[fahrenheit]

Lets establish some facts.

There is no loud or quiet model of DVD drive for the 360. There are reportedly, quiet examples of both the Hitachi/LG drives and the Toshiba/Samsung drives out there in the wild. I've compared a loud drive to a quiet one and they have both been Toshiba/Samsung drives. Playing the same discs, they showed great difference in audible character. This is most likely variation in manufacture and quality control issues at work.

Unfortunately, this makes landing a quiet drive a complete lottery. Its my number one concern with the console as I am extremely particular and sensitive toward mechanical noise, it bothers the **** out of me.

Hopefully in time, other manufacturers will come onboard and contribute their DVD-ROM drives to the production lines and hopefully some consistantly quiet drives can grace the consoles.

MS messed this up big time IMHO. They want the 360 to be a centrepiece for the home theatre experience and they go and subvert that with a hurricane of a console.

[sj33]

While I'm not really bothered about the noise, it does somewhat irk me that the drive should be so loud when it's not even as fast as many PC drives. The fact that the drive doesn't seem to spin-down in games I've played at least just seems bizzare.