Going for quiet case, need hdd ideas

Tiamat

Lifer
Nov 25, 2003
14,068
5
71
So far i have a SuperLAN boy case with antec trueblue480, and SLK947U with 92mm Enermax fan with variable resister. I plan on 7V both case fans, to make the system more quiet, but im more concerned with HDD noise. I dont care how loud it is when i use the computer, but when it is idle, it needs to be as quiet as it can be (without being off). I need an SATA HDD with high capacity (Greater than 200gig) that is fast but quiet. Im looking at Maxtor, Samsung, Seagate, but am unsure which to pick. Thx for your suggestions!
 

Cheetah8799

Diamond Member
Apr 12, 2001
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Seagate - end of story.

I'm not familiar with their SATA line, but the 7200.7 model ide hard drives currently use 80gb platters. So the 80gb model has 1 platter, 160gb 2platter, etc. More platters adds noise, but not much.

I'm pretty sure the 7200.7 sata drives are the same as the ide drives, only a different connector type.

Oh, also, most of the 7200.7 drives are 2mb cache, but there are some 8mb cache versions.
 

jpeyton

Moderator in SFF, Notebooks, Pre-Built/Barebones
Moderator
Aug 23, 2003
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End of story? Hardly.

SilentPCReview uses Samsung SATA drives as their reference 3.5" HDD. The review here names the Samsung as the hands-down winner, especially since Samsung offers user-adjustable acoustic management for additional noise reduction.
 

Tiamat

Lifer
Nov 25, 2003
14,068
5
71
Originally posted by: jpeyton
End of story? Hardly.

SilentPCReview uses Samsung SATA drives as their reference 3.5" HDD. The review here names the Samsung as the hands-down winner, especially since Samsung offers user-adjustable acoustic management for additional noise reduction.

Link please? I can use as much info as possible Thx!!
 

Cheetah8799

Diamond Member
Apr 12, 2001
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End of story? Hardly.

figure of speech. :) I've never used a Samsung, so can't comment on their noise. I've used a bunch of different Seagate, Maxtor, and Western Digital drives and I prefer Seagate 100%.

also, I hadn't read that review. It's new since I was last at their site. Thanks for the link. :)
 

Sokratz

Member
Mar 24, 2004
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to be honest, my hitachi drives are pretty damn quiet. you can feel em if you set tme on the floor, but i need to put my ear near next to them to hear them while formatting. only other exp i've had is with maxtors, which r crazy loud
 
Dec 27, 2001
11,272
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Originally posted by: Tiamat
So far i have a SuperLAN boy case with antec trueblue480, and SLK947U with 92mm Enermax fan with variable resister. I plan on 7V both case fans, to make the system more quiet, but im more concerned with HDD noise. I dont care how loud it is when i use the computer, but when it is idle, it needs to be as quiet as it can be (without being off). I need an SATA HDD with high capacity (Greater than 200gig) that is fast but quiet. Im looking at Maxtor, Samsung, Seagate, but am unsure which to pick. Thx for your suggestions!

Samsung. It will be one of the quietest things in your case so long as it's attached with some kind of dampening material like grommets.
 

Gravity

Diamond Member
Mar 21, 2003
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I like seagate for their dependability too. I don't know that our ears could tell the diff between a seagate and a sambung. However, the diff between a seagate and a Mx or Wd is audible.
 

Xeese

Member
Dec 12, 2003
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My Seagate PATAs were very quiet. I am getting head seek noise on the SATAs, though.
 

Cerb

Elite Member
Aug 26, 2000
17,484
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Samsung...unless you're bad with high-pitched noises (maybe).
Does a muted TV drive you insane? If so, you might want to just go Seagate PATA.
Samsungs use different motors. The Nidecs that are obviously labeled FDB (like the one I got, which I cannot hear all with the case closed) seem to not whine, while the JVC non-FDB do (not sure if they really aren't FDB, but not labeled as such).

I took the chance given a great price, and am very happy. The things are heavy, too...not quite 15k SCSI heavy, but pretty heavy.
Text
 

pennylane

Diamond Member
Apr 28, 2002
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Seagates are good but I HATED the 7200.7 series. It has a high pitch (I don't know if you'd notice or care) that bugged the hell out of me. I'm running a Barracuda IV and V (and I really care about quiet) and I'm satisfied. I haven't tried the Samsungs... though I might with my next HD upgrade...
 

Dman877

Platinum Member
Jan 15, 2004
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I went with a samsung 120 gb (PATA) after someone here suggested samsung drives for quiet computing. I am thoroughly satisfied with this drive, completely silent when idle even with my head about 1.5 ft from the case.
 

Davegod

Platinum Member
Nov 26, 2001
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seagate and samsung are reputed as the most quiet drives.

though, if you're not bothered about noise when actually using the PC it shouldnt matter much - I only hear anything from my Maxtor 6Y160PO when it does a lot of reading or writing. If you're talking about it being quiet during extended non-use, just go into Control Panel > Power Options and set it to turn off hard disks after X mins/hours.
 

Tiamat

Lifer
Nov 25, 2003
14,068
5
71
thanks guys for the replies. Any word that Samsung might produce a larger harddrive in the near future? I really want the quiet aspect of their 160gig, but I need around 300 gigs worth of storage space. Id also rather stay away from raid arrays or having more than 2 Harddrives per system.

BTW. Anybody know how the 300 gig Maxtor performs as a media volume (noise, speed, reliability etc)? This was the only 300 gig HDD that I found on the web...

thx
 

Tiamat

Lifer
Nov 25, 2003
14,068
5
71
Cool, thanks! Im thinking for the time being, 2x 160gig Samsung may be safer due to less mech. parts. If the 400 gig drive were to fail, thats a hell of a lot of data to try to recover.
 

0roo0roo

No Lifer
Sep 21, 2002
64,795
84
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Originally posted by: Tiamat
Cool, thanks! Im thinking for the time being, 2x 160gig Samsung may be safer due to less mech. parts. If the 400 gig drive were to fail, thats a hell of a lot of data to try to recover.

? same amount of mech parts. just half the data loss simply because you have two drives. raid 1 with 2 drives even better:)
 

Tiamat

Lifer
Nov 25, 2003
14,068
5
71
THe hitachi has 10 heads and 5 platters as opposed to the 4 heads and 2 platters the Samsung has.
 

Jhhnn

IN MEMORIAM
Nov 11, 1999
62,365
14,685
136
Just installed a samsung 80 gig pata drive in the wifey's computer, and am thoroughly impressed. very fast and extremely quiet. Samsung is the only maker to provide a three year warranty on all drives- others do only on selected models, if at all...
 

howdyduty

Senior member
Feb 21, 2001
490
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Jpeyton: nice like to the review. Excerpt below:
"The Samsung SP1614N clearly beats the Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 (ST3160023A) in both performance and acoustics. It is a far quieter drive, and faster, too!"