How are Maxtor drives in terms of noise?

[suszterpatt]

Been planning to get a 200GB Samsung SATA drive, and I just came across the homepage of a local computer store that sells rebated 250GB Maxtor drives at just a tad higher cost.


Problem is, I chose Samsung because I've heard that they are pretty silent, and I'm trying to minimize the noise level of my rig (within reasonable limits). How do Maxtor drives compare to Samsung when it comes to noise?



Bonus question: in what areas does 8MB vs 16MB cache make the most difference? I mainly game, will it cut down on load times much?

 

[Fresh Daemon]

How do Maxtor drives compare to Samsung when it comes to noise?

Samsung drives are the quietest, period. I got a 200GB SATA version, it came with the Nidec motor and it's inaudible except when seeking, which is pretty quiet. I still have it hard-mounted, I'm going to suspend it in elastic and apparently that makes it silent. I will say that the seek noise mostly seems to be vibrations transmitted through the case right now.

Bonus question: in what areas does 8MB vs 16MB cache make the most difference? I mainly game, will it cut down on load times much?

Not really, no. Even RAID-0 Raptors only makes a second or two difference in Far Cry load times. Anandtech tested it.

 

[suszterpatt]

Originally posted by: Fresh Daemon
Samsung drives are the quietest, period.

I know that.

My question is if the extra 50GB is worth the noise difference. Longevity is my main concern when I buy new stuff, and 50 extra gigs do sound convincing in that aspect.

 

[Fresh Daemon]

It really depends on how noisy everything else is. If you love silence like me, get the Samsung. But if you're running a relatively noisy PSU, cooler, and case fans, get the Maxtor. The difference isn't night-and-day, but in a system that's otherwise well-silenced it can be noticeable.

 

[amdskip]

No, they are not that quiet compared to seagates and samsung drives. I've found they get noticeably louder over time too.

 

[suszterpatt]

Guess I'll stick with the Samsung then. Thanks.

 

[johnnqq]

seagate for all around performance.
samsung for absolute quiet.

 

[klah]

Yep, SpinPoint + elastic suspension is tough to beat.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article152-page1.html

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: suszterpatt
Been planning to get a 200GB Samsung SATA drive, and I just came across the homepage of a local computer store that sells rebated 250GB Maxtor drives at just a tad higher cost.


Problem is, I chose Samsung because I've heard that they are pretty silent, and I'm trying to minimize the noise level of my rig (within reasonable limits). How do Maxtor drives compare to Samsung when it comes to noise?



Bonus question: in what areas does 8MB vs 16MB cache make the most difference? I mainly game, will it cut down on load times much?

In a recent test on StorageReview.com Maxtor was one of the quietest drives reviewed. I think the whole Maxtor Noise issue is bologna. And all of the drives were with in about the same noise range of 39.5 to 41db, thats just a small differance of about 1.5db between the high and the low. That is not much if you ask me.

http://www.storagereview.com/articles/200504/20050414ST3400832AS_1.html