Are WD hard drives still loud?

[Afro000Dude]

I was wondering because I bought a new 200 gigger at Fry's today. It was a semi-impulse buy, so I'm looking for reasons not to keep it.

I remember reading that the WD's use ball bearings that develop a whining sound. Do they still? Or was that just certain drives/drive sizes/people? I have a Maxtor 160 gig in my pc now, and it's definitely quiet. Will it be substantially louder than that?

I obviously didn't do my homework before buying this, so I have a couple more questions. Will this drive be faster than the Maxtor? Should I make it the boot drive? Also, just to feed my curiosity, is there a way to determine the platter density? Hmm, more questions than I intended to ask, but I know I can get answers. Thanks!

 

[DaveSimmons]

You can probably look it up at www.StorageReview.com

 

[MrCodeDude]

I bought a 160GB WD HD a month or so ago and it still has the old WD whine and squeel when it is being accessed.

 

[AristoV300]

The 74gig raptor I bought was very quiet, unlike the the 36gig that whined and screamed. I have always been pleased with the Maxtor drives I have used.

 

[Afro000Dude]

Hmm, guess I'll have to crack the seal and see for myself...

 

[CaMSpoon]

my 74 gig raptor is hella loud!

 

[ALstonLoong]

I bought 2 WD 160G sata drive ... it was solid and quiet. Better then seagate sata drive.

 

[Zucarita9000]

WD is using FDB on all their drives now.

From WD's website:

Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB) technology ? improves hard drive reliability; reduces heat, vibration, and noise.