RMA Options - Dodgy Hard Drive?

I bought a Samsung Spinpoint as part of a build about 6 months ago. After about a week it got slightly noisy (gentle humming sound) which didn't bother me too much.

Last night after about 4 hours on the PC it started to sound like someone was using a chisel on it during read / write operations. Disabling acoustic management made it much worse.

Today it is back to normal, but as it is the only drive in my system I am a bit concerned that it's on its way to premature failure - I'll be keeping an ear on it to see if it comes back or starts getting worse.

Big issue is that this is the only drive in my system. I have some more much smaller capacity drives, so I could not fully back-up my data in the event of an RMA.

If I was to purchase a second drive now, could I get a refund for the faulty one following a successful RMA. I really have no need for 2 x 200Gb HDs.

Finally, I'm kicking myself for not going with Seagate - never had a problem with them in 8 years of computing. 6 months of Samsung & I have a problem!!!

Interested in this - our samsung 160jj has started making intermittant horrible noises only a few days after purchase.

you can RMA drives based on excessive noise, i have done it with maxtor drives before, maybe someone can answer if samsung offer a advanced RMA service so you get a new drive shipped to you so you can clone the faulty drive to the new one b4 returning the faulty one.
Maxtor ask for credit card details to ensure they can get paid if you dont return the drive within the specified time.

if not a phone call to scan to explain the problem, and using the free shipping service you can pay for a new drive and ask for refund on return of the faulty one.

see if it gets loud after a few hours again, if you can recreate this, then scan should be able to.

Could be worth running a diagnostic scan on the drive, in case it is actually failing. After backing up any essential data of course. :)

Also could try running Speedfan and check the SMART status of the drive.

Confirmed the fault last night - it starts to get noisy after about 4 hours of use.

I should add that I ran a full diagnostic when it first got noisy - no issues. Temperature isn't an issue either - shows a maximum of 32C when very noisy which is well within spec.

To be honest, I'd rather not RMA to Samsung - I'd rather get a Seagate from scan & RMA this for my money back - I'm very disappointed by this drive which was supposed to be the quietest on the market, but clearly is not.

Another concern on an RMA would be that scan wouldn't find the same fault, as it requires 4 hours of use to replicate it.

Thanks for the replies guys, but it would be nice if someone from scan could chip in too...

well if you word it right and insist they test for a minimum of 8 hours to recreate the fault

Which model is it?

scrandman after 6 months we would only be able to action a replacement for you we would not be able to offer a refund, again we cannot really have a technicians test bench testing your item for 8 hours thats a full working day.

It may be easier for you to return to Samsung directly as in this case thats what we would do on your behalf anyway.

OK, thanks for the update - not really what I wanted to hear, but fair enough.

@ kalniel - it's a Spinpoint SP2004C 200Gb SATA II. It has the supposedly quiet Nidec fluid dynamic bearings.