Hard Drive Recommendation

[ForgetCassettes]

I am looking to replace my 80GB Hitachi boot drive. Last week I upgraded my data drive to a WD 500 GB drive and I love it. It's barely audible at all. The drawback is, I've started noticing how loud and obnoxious my Hitachi is in comparison. I'm not looking for anything with a super large capacity, just something that's quiet. I tried one of the 74GB raptors recently but it was probably louder than my Hitachi. From what I've heard, the 150GB raptors are quieter but I'm not sure if they'd be quiet enough.

Bottom line : I want a quiet drive with a capacity around 80-250GB

 

[ch33zw1z]

the newer WD's are all pretty quiet. I have 2x250 RAID 1, barely makes a sound. opposed to my raptors, but the old 36GB is louder than the newer 74GB.

Grab another 80-250GB WD. Some of the Seagates are pretty quiet also..

 

[secretanchitman]

the 320GB seagate from newegg is $94.99 (sata or ide) and its incredibly quiet.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

Originally posted by: secretanchitman
the 320GB seagate from newegg is $94.99 (sata or ide) and its incredibly quiet.

i'm looking into the 7200.10 series as a boot drive also, but i've read around that they're not quiet and click during write/seek

 

[secretanchitman]

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS

Originally posted by: secretanchitman
the 320GB seagate from newegg is $94.99 (sata or ide) and its incredibly quiet.

i'm looking into the 7200.10 series as a boot drive also, but i've read around that they're not quiet and click during write/seek

really? mine is actually pretty quiet and i have the 400GB version...

 

[ForgetCassettes]

Thanks for the advice. I'm probably going to go to Best Buy and pick up one of the WD 250 GB drives with the 16mb buffer ($99) and hope it's as quiet as it's big brother.

 

[w00t]

Originally posted by: secretanchitman

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS

Originally posted by: secretanchitman
the 320GB seagate from newegg is $94.99 (sata or ide) and its incredibly quiet.

i'm looking into the 7200.10 series as a boot drive also, but i've read around that they're not quiet and click during write/seek

really? mine is actually pretty quiet and i have the 400GB version...

according to silentpcreview.com Seagates 10 series drives are louder compared to other drives

I decided on the Western Digital SE16 320GB I'd say look into that series they are way too quiet considering the only time I hear it is when I first turn on the PC than when it gets to the bios screen it's done. There also pretty fast I ran a HD benchmark today and my burst speed was significantly faster than a 74GB Raptor I compared it to.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

how's WD's RMA process? my friend has a WD caviar drive for less than 6 months and has smart errors.. worth the RMA?

 

[Howard]

Seagates are NOT quiet. WDs are fairly quiet, Samsungs are generally quieter than WDs with the possible exception of the WD5000KS, and then the quietest of all are the 2.5" 5400RPM laptop drives.

I suppose you're excluding solid-state storage, right?

 

[Varun]

Originally posted by: Howard
Seagates are NOT quiet. WDs are fairly quiet, Samsungs are generally quieter than WDs with the possible exception of the WD5000KS, and then the quietest of all are the 2.5" 5400RPM laptop drives.

I suppose you're excluding solid-state storage, right?

:thumbsup:

I think most people are confused because the old Seagate Baracuda IV's were very quiet and they think that has carried through to today. Samsung or the WD5000KS would be the only drives I would consider.

to quote SPCR:
The Legendary Barracuda IV
Designed specifically with low noise as a primary goal, the 7200 RPM Seagate Barracuda ATA IV hard drive was introduced in 2001 to acclaim by noise-conscious PC users everywhere. Idle noise for the single platter 20 and 40 GB models was cited at 2.0 bels (sound power) and 2.4 bels for seek, with AAM engaged. It was by far the quietest 3.5" hard drive of its day, and one of the first to sport FDB. Several samples still at work in various systems at SPCR sound at least as quiet as (if not quieter than) the quietest 3.5" drives we've reviewed recently. It remains active in our collection of reference quiet hard drives.

Seagate replaced the IV with the very similar V, but by the time the 7200.7 was introduced, their fascination with low noise seemed to fade. None of Seagate's current drives support AAM, and, although their drives are often quiet when idling, they have earned a reputation for exceptionally noisy seeks.