Cheap, quiet, OS drive?

[Brother Ali]

I am currently using a WD 1tb caviar black taken from my HTPC (upgraded). I am using it as an OS drive and all is well. One thing I am alittle annoyed by is both the normal drive spinning sound and the seek sound. I was wondering if there was a drive with good performance that was also quiet. I know SSD sounds good but its too expensive for me at this point (college student).

 

[Rifter]

take a look at silentpc storage section http://www.silentpcreview.com/section13.html

Thats the place to go when you want really good audio/noise testing results.

From what ive herd the samsung drives are very quiet.

 

[BTA]

the 320gb Samsung F4 drive is cheap, fast, and quiet.

Great OS drive.

 

[nanaki333]

what's your budget? i know you said SSD was too expensive, but if it's just an OS drive, you can get a 32GB corsair nova for $79 shipped on newegg. perfect for an OS drive for an HTPC, and doesn't break the bank.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820233122

 

[Concillian]

suspend it. There's a sticky thread at scpr that discusses it and has lots of pictures. I've been doing that for years and it cuts the noise of mechanical drives by a TON. Cost is minimal, but it takes space.

Rubber washers and most aftermarket trays and such have limited results. Things are still coupled pretty rigidly to the case and noise transmits well. You need more isolation and suspending via shock cord / bungee or industrial / thick rubber bands. I use 1/8" shock cord from REI, costs like 15 cents a foot or so. If you have a free 5.25" bay, that's the best place to suspend a 3.5" drive.