5400 RPM drives quieter than 7200 RPM drives?

[Hender]

This seems like a no-brainer to me, but I thought I'd ask. I have an external 3.5" firewire case that I have a 30 GB IBM DeskStar 75GXP in, but since it's a 7200 RPM drive, it sounds like a jet engine when I fire the sucker up. I've been trying to "quiet" my PC over the last few months, and I think I found my biggest culprit. When I just turned it off, my desk was SO quiet. I've never noticed how loud it is before, but that's because it was in my case prior to the firewire chassis. I'm thinking about getting a bigger drive, though, maybe around 80 GB, and the 80 GB 5400 RPM drives are pretty darn cheap. If I get a 5400 RPM drive, will the drive or firewire be the limiting factor? I'd pick up a 7200 RPM drive just to speed up transfers on and off this drive, but if a fast 5400 RPM drive is saturating the firewire bandwidth--plus not as loud all the time--that would be cheaper and worth getting. Any thoughts?

 

[smadavid]

For noise, I'd highly recommend the Seagate Barracuda IV, a 7,200 RMP drive which is virtually silent. I have the 40 GB model in my desktop, and I literally cannot hear it. Even with the case removed, I can't hear it. I think it is available at up to 80 GB.

 

[Pariah]

The firewire bridge is definitely the performance limter. By how much depends on what bridge is within the enclosure.

 

[Hender]

I have a firewire chassis with an Oxford 911 bridge.

 

[Eug]

<< I have a firewire chassis with an Oxford 911 bridge. >>


The Oxford 911 can run at up to 35 MB/s, which means that the fastest 5400 rpm drives may saturate it on the outer tracks. But then again, most 5400 rpm drives are not anywhere near this fast so usually even with a Firewire setup, 7200 rpm will usually be faster.

I have a 75GXP in a Firewire enclosure and it's not that bad for noise, at least compared to my computer with the bazillion fans. However, if you want quiet, I'd suggest a the Seagate Barracuda IV. Almost silent as smadavid said and it's a fast 7200 rpm drive.

 

[Rand]

Typically 5400RPM drives are definitely quieter then 7200RPM drives, but if noise is improtant fto you I'd second the above recommendations on the Seagate Barracuda IV, it's the quietest 7200RPM IDE drive currently available and it's noise level approaches that of current 5400RPM drives.... though there are certainly a few 5400RPM drives that are somewhat quieter, and 5200RPM drives are quieter still.

 

[grrl]

I don't know about the other brands, but I have a 13 Gig, 7200 rmp Maxtor Diamond and I can barely hear it. My HSF is louder than it.

 

[skriefal]

The 40GB Seagate Barracuda IV idles at about 21dBA. I've yet to see any 5400RPM hard drive that claims to idle at such a low noise level.

 

[kgraeme]

<< The 40GB Seagate Barracuda IV idles at about 21dBA. I've yet to see any 5400RPM hard drive that claims to idle at such a low noise level. >>



Hmm.... I might have to check that out. My Fujitsu 5400 drive which last year was touted as the quietest drive available is rated at about 31 dB idle. I still can't hear the spin whine, but over time the read/write head noise has gotten noticeable.

 

[skriefal]

Seagate officially lists the drive's idle volume at "2.1 bels", which I believe is the same as 21dBA. I own one of these drives, and it's definitely very quiet. Can't even hear it over the case fan. And that's pretty good, considering that the case fan is a 22.5dBA Adda fan...

 

[PowerEngineer]

If you're interested in these Seagates, you might check your local Frys (hoping you have one ). The Seagate 40 Gb 7200rpm Barracuda IV is on sale for $89.95. I picked up two today.

 

[Rand]

<< Seagate officially lists the drive's idle volume at "2.1 bels", which I believe is the same as 21dBA. I own one of these drives, and it's definitely very quiet. Can't even hear it over the case fan. And that's pretty good, considering that the case fan is a 22.5dBA Adda fan... >>



The manufacturers 'official' specs seldom correlate with reality.

 

[lahockey]

Duh!
Ok ... did I really need to say that?
We are all informed here ... right?
The SLOWER the drive spins at the LESS NOISE it makes (usually)
I have ALWAYS been partial to IBM Hard Disk Drives.
The good news ... for those of you in Oregon, Sacramento, The Bay Area, LA, San Diego, Arizona or Texas ... Fry's Electronics carries ALL the hard drives.
IDE. Got 'em.
SCSI. Got 'em.
External. Got 'em.
Solid State. (RAM DISK - USB "thumbnail" drives). Got 'em.
Oh ... did you know? They purchased www.outpost.com
now they can ship ANYWHERE in the world from this site (their location is on an Airborne Express facility in Ohio)
Except for Optical Fujitsu drives (and who that is reading this can REALLY afford them?) they have them all OR CAN GET THEM.

 

[Eug]

<< Duh!
Ok ... did I really need to say that?
We are all informed here ... right?
The SLOWER the drive spins at the LESS NOISE it makes (usually)
I have ALWAYS been partial to IBM Hard Disk Drives.
The good news ... for those of you in Oregon, Sacramento, The Bay Area, LA, San Diego, Arizona or Texas ... Fry's Electronics carries ALL the hard drives.
IDE. Got 'em.
SCSI. Got 'em.
External. Got 'em.
Solid State. (RAM DISK - USB "thumbnail" drives). Got 'em.
Oh ... did you know? They purchased www.outpost.com
now they can ship ANYWHERE in the world from this site (their location is on an Airborne Express facility in Ohio)
Except for Optical Fujitsu drives (and who that is reading this can REALLY afford them?) they have them all OR CAN GET THEM. >>


Huh? 5400 rpm drives are often quieter but a fair amount of 5400 rpm drives are louder than a fair amount of 7200 rpm drives. Similarly, my 40X CD-ROM reader (a 24X CD writer actually - Teac CD-W524E) is quieter than most 32X CD-ROM drives. You really have to talk specific models of drives, not just rotation speeds.

Are you a Fry's employee by the way?

 

[skriefal]

<< The manufacturers 'official' specs seldom correlate with reality. >>



Of course. And that's exactly why I mentioned my own personal experience with the drive, which suggests that the drive really does idle at about the same volume level as a 21-22dBA Panaflo or Adda fan.