Any suggestions for a Fast & Quiet Hard Drive?

[Showtime]

I have 3 rigs: 1 for game, 1 multimedia, 1 as a server.

The gaming rig has a raptor that is fast, but loud at times. The multimedia and the server both have seagate 7200 drives. The server runs pretty quiet 7200.7 IDE drives that could be faster, but runs silent. My multimedia rig runs a Seagate SATA 7200.9 160 gig drive that is quiet, but not fast. I wanted to replace it with a 250 or 320 gig 7200.10 because of the price/performance of the drive. While researching, I read that the 7200.10 drives are noisy, and that isn't going to work for my application. Are there any quiet drives that will be noticeably faster than my 7200.9 drive? Size isn't an issue since it will be mostly for the os/programs and not for storage. How loud are the smaller seagate 7200.10 drives or does it not make a difference?

Any help will be appreciated.

 

[bob4432]

most of the drives are going to be pretty equal in speed (give or take a ms or MB/s), so i think you need to just worry about noise since they are all 7200rpm hdds.

i have read, but not used personally, the samsung drives being quiet. you may want to search over at silent pc review website

 

[MegaVovaN]

I am quite sure 7200.10 drives are quieter than your Raptor.
I own a 7200.10 320gb SATA drive, and can't hear it over my case fans at all. (Two 120mm, one 92mm, and PSU: 92mm+80mm).

Besides I think there is no reason to buy older .9 series when you can get .10
After all, .10 should have some improvements over .9

 

[Showtime]

bob,
The Samsungs are nice and quiet, but I haven't read anything about them being any faster than other 7200 drives. I think the 7200.10 is the quickest of the bunch.

Mega,
Yeah, the 7200.10 should be much more quiet than the raptor in my gaming rig, but I am not replacing that.
I am trying to upgrade the 7200.9 drive, in my 2nd rig, to something faster and as quiet for watching movies and stuff.
I might have to wait for the spinpoint 16mg cache drives to get here or for seagate to quiet down their current/future drives.

 

[Cheezeit]

In benchmarks, the new WD KS series seems to be the fastest. Honestly, you won't be able to tell the difference in everyday usage between different 7200rpm drives.
There have been quite a few complaints about the 7200.10s clicking when they seek. Because of this, I'm going to get a WD for my rig.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: Showtime
bob,
The Samsungs are nice and quiet, but I haven't read anything about them being any faster than other 7200 drives. I think the 7200.10 is the quickest of the bunch.

Mega,
Yeah, the 7200.10 should be much more quiet than the raptor in my gaming rig, but I am not replacing that.
I am trying to upgrade the 7200.9 drive, in my 2nd rig, to something faster and as quiet for watching movies and stuff.
I might have to wait for the spinpoint 16mg cache drives to get here or for seagate to quiet down their current/future drives.

like Cheezit says - you probably won't be able to tell the small differences except in a benchmark as real world is so close. imo, you really can't tell the difference much if the rpm is the same.

 

[Operandi]

Since all drives use fluid bearings now just about every drive is going to sound about the same, the Raptor is actually one of the quietest drive SPCR tested.

 

[Modular]

Originally posted by: Showtime
While researching, I read that the 7200.10 drives are noisy, and that isn't going to work for my application.

Just my opinion on the matter...

I've never understood why people say that the 7200.10's are noisy. I have a 400GB 7200.10 in my HTPC and I can't hear the thing at all (in an Ultra Wizard case) so it's not the best case for noise dampening.

I'm betting that if you are going for really quiet, your best options are going to be to go with a 5400 RPM drive.

 

[Showtime]

Originally posted by: Cheezeit
In benchmarks, the new WD KS series seems to be the fastest. Honestly, you won't be able to tell the difference in everyday usage between different 7200rpm drives.
There have been quite a few complaints about the 7200.10s clicking when they seek. Because of this, I'm going to get a WD for my rig.

Some of the reviews I had read made it seem like the 7200.10 was noticeably faster than the 7200.9. I assumed it would be as quiet as the previous one, but after reading the reviews on newegg... How loud are the WD KS drives? I'll go look for some reviews.

It would be nice to find something faster, but I am happy with the amount of noise this seagate doesn't make. I just read that Samsung has some hybrid drives coming out that should be pretty fast and hopefully as silent as their current drives. If it doesn't cost too much, that might be worth the wait.

 

[sjandrewbsme]

The samsungs are very quiet but slooooow. They're recommended all over the TiVo forums as they're perfect for expansion hard drives (cool and quiet is paramount and performance isn't).

I have a seagate in my work machine and it's very loud (Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS). It rivals my Raptor for seek noise - it needs a muffler.

I would say as far as brands are concerned, WD tends to be the quietest (in my experience).

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: sjandrewbsme
The samsungs are very quiet but slooooow. They're recommended all over the TiVo forums as they're perfect for expansion hard drives (cool and quiet is paramount and performance isn't).

I have a seagate in my work machine and it's very loud (Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS). It rivals my Raptor for seek noise - it needs a muffler.

I would say as far as brands are concerned, WD tends to be the quietest (in my experience).

please quantify slow. like i said, the performance is pretty close between 7.2k hdds, same gen 10K scsi and same gen 15K scsi. i think you splitting hairs over the performance issue as you will get what a 7.2k hdd is capable of.

i recently picked up a maxtor maxline pro 500GB and i can't hear it over a 2000rpm 120mm fan if that helps, nor can i hear any drive in that machine over the fan - all 7.2k hdds - 30GB, 60GB, 80GB and then the 500GB

 

[sjandrewbsme]

I don't have real world PC personal experience. But, in looking at pretty much any hard drive performance chart, the samsung will pretty much always be in last place.

Will you notice it? I don't know. What I do know is that Samsung would not be my first choice for a main drive on any home/work PC. I would use it for a storage drive or something else where the reduction in speed wouldn't be that noticeable.

 

[dyna]

Originally posted by: sjandrewbsme
I don't have real world PC personal experience. But, in looking at pretty much any hard drive performance chart, the samsung will pretty much always be in last place.

Will you notice it? I don't know. What I do know is that Samsung would not be my first choice for a main drive on any home/work PC. I would use it for a storage drive or something else where the reduction in speed wouldn't be that noticeable.

I'm not sure where you get your information but this model samsung has had as good performance as the other brands.

samsung HD501LJ

I have the drive above and a new WD and the samsung is quieter, fast and runs about 10 degrees C cooler.

 

[yosuke188]

Another vote for Samsung.

 

[Matthias99]

My media server/HTPC uses four of the Samsung 160GB FDB drives. They're very quiet. I have a Maxtor I got on a crazy rebate in my main rig, and it's significantly louder and hotter. I haven't personally used the newer WD drives, so I can't comment on them.

I wouldn't really worry about relative performance of various 7200RPM drives, as long as they're all from the last couple years. Any real-world differences will be pretty minor.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: sjandrewbsme
I don't have real world PC personal experience. But, in looking at pretty much any hard drive performance chart, the samsung will pretty much always be in last place.

Will you notice it? I don't know. What I do know is that Samsung would not be my first choice for a main drive on any home/work PC. I would use it for a storage drive or something else where the reduction in speed wouldn't be that noticeable.

i think you are over-analyzing the charts. just look at gpu charts say for 8800gtxs, somebody always comes in first and last, but when you look at the actual numbers they are so close it is not even funny. the charts, visually on a quick glance, because they will make 1fps seem like a lot when you will never see that difference. or hdd str - 60 vs 65MB/s - they can make it look like a lot on a chart but in reality it is basically all the same.

 

[ayabe]

I am running a couple of Hitachi's and I think they are reasonably quiet, moreso than my previous Seagate.

 

[Showtime]

Thanks for all the info and help.

The htpc/multimedia rig w/ the 7200.9 is always on when I am home and is used for everything. It has a quiet samsung dvd burner, 3 yate looms 120mm case fans and a 80mm panaflo (cpu cooler) on a rhoebus controller. The only thing I hear with the door open is the fan on the 7900gs, and the hd when starting up and seeking, but both are surprisingly quiet. I'll probably replace the stock cooling on the gs if I still hear it when the case is sealed. I think I can live with the faint seek noise of hd and I can dampen it more if I need to.

I initially wanted that 7200.10 because some reviews that I had read, said it would almost be as fast my raptor. If there isn't any noticeable speed differences between my 7200.9 and any other 7200 rpm drives, I won't upgrade. If the 7200.10 is noticeably faster and the WD KS is silent and slightly faster than the Seagate 7200.10, it might be worth trying out. Surprisingly there is not a lot of reviews on the newer < 500gig WD KS drives. It mostly looks decent at newegg reviews, but not much speed comparison info. It is silent and fast, but runs hot and that could force me to turn up the fans. I guess the only answer is to test one out and see.

 

[bob4432]

again, splitting hairs here. many drives will be as fast as your raptor, but none will be as quick (seek times - they can't be - diffferent rpms). there is no way i would change out a .9 to a .10 unless your .9 was incredibly loud. you are not going to notice a thing you will benefit from unless benchmark, and even the it will be a small %. stay with what you have and enjoy it

 

[bigsnyder]

Open ended question, but I will ask anyway:
How does Samsung's durabilty rate vs Western Digital (not including the YS drives)?