how quiet is the Baracuda IV?

[Shide1]

I have got to get rid of my POS IBM 60bg 60gxp. The rotational noise is giving me a headache. Is the seagate the quietest.

 

[John]

Out of all the IDE HDD's currently on the market, the Barracuda IV is the quietest AFAIK. I have a pair of them on the other northwood rig, and they are EXTREMELY quiet during idle & seek. The only drawback is they run a little on the hot side.

 

[human2k]

its almost DEAD quiet

 

[BFG10K]

I can't hear mine at all even if I put my ear right next to the case. Looking at the LED is the only way I can tell if it's doing anything.

 

[Dan]

The Barracude IV is extremely quiet. (I have one in the wife's system.)

 

[chansen]

<< its almost DEAD quiet >>

 

[Jeff H]

I've installed four of the 40GB Barracuda IV's recently and all of them were stone silent. You don't even hear the disk on seeks. No clicking, no high-pitched squeals, etc. Only drawback to the BIV's in stock is they don't play well on RAID 0 configs. Seagate will replace the drives w/ units designed to RAID 0 well, but those drives won't perform as well in single setups (according to an email I received from Seagate).

 

[miken]

You can't get much quieter, unless you have a dead IBM 75GXP.

 

[prontospyder]

like others have said, it's extremely quiet.

 

[yohan]

<< You can't get much quieter, unless you have a dead IBM 75GXP. >>



true, i've been using seagate since my first pc, it still rocks

 

[Booster]

While it may be dead quiet when new, I suggest it will get louder and louder with time. That's what happened to my Maxtor D740X: when I got it 4 months ago, it was completely quiet, I couldn't hear it. But as I used it more and more it became audible and now is rather loud. I don't think that Seagate uses a completely different technology. It may get louder with time as well.

 

[DamnDirtyApe]

I've had an 80GB barracuda IV since this January, and it's now making seeking noises. No whine whatsoever, but with the rest of my machine being near-silently watercooled, I can hear "click click, click click, click". It's a little annoying, but I tried a refurbbed replacement that was worse so I guess I'm stuck with a small amount of noise.

 

[CedarTeeth135]

I really want one. My maxtor is freaking loud.

 

[DrZone]

<< I've installed four of the 40GB Barracuda IV's recently and all of them were stone silent. You don't even hear the disk on seeks. No clicking, no high-pitched squeals, etc. Only drawback to the BIV's in stock is they don't play well on RAID 0 configs. Seagate will replace the drives w/ units designed to RAID 0 well, but those drives won't perform as well in single setups (according to an email I received from Seagate). >>



Hmm. Thanks for that notice. I had no idea of that problem with the Barracuda's.. I wanted to pickup 2 x 80gb Barracudas and RAID them. Looks like that isnt happening.

 

[Shide1]

Yeah i dont care about the raid. I am just so sick of this whining.

 

[PizzaDude]

I have one and I can not hear it, and I mean at all.

 

[wluk]

how about the maxtor D740X plus L? I just ordered one from newegg. How does it compare to Baracuda IV?

 

[wluk]

by the way, which is the best hard drive around now? my 60gxp is dying, so no more ibm for me.

 

[kgraeme]

<< I've had an 80GB barracuda IV since this January, and it's now making seeking noises. No whine whatsoever, but with the rest of my machine being near-silently watercooled, I can hear "click click, click click, click". It's a little annoying, but I tried a refurbbed replacement that was worse so I guess I'm stuck with a small amount of noise. >>



Same thing happened with my Fujitsu. Started out completely silent. Now makes noticeable read/write clacking.

 

[Auric]

To answer your query, the BIV is among the quietest. However, noise perception is subjective so take the claims of silent with a hunk of salt. Its idle noise is very low relative to most other HDD's. Its seek noise is probably average to below average. The seek noise to performance level can be adjusted but you will either have to beg Seagate for the software or get IBM's. Unless you demand the highest performance the BIV is great. I guess higher density models should be due soon.

 

[Motero]

very quiet...was holding one yesterday while working on a pc and could not hear it and it hardly vibrated. I love those drives. When and i did say when my 75 gxp dies, I'm investing in a barracuda IV.

 

[DrZone]

Anyone think stacking two 80gb Barracuda drives side by side will cause any issues regarding heat? I heard these drives run a bit on the hotter side.

 

[GT1999]

When I first got my IV it was for a workstation at work. I was scared something was wrong with the drive because it was silent. People sitting right by me, or me even with my ear right by the drive can't tell when the computer is crunching away. It's really nice and quiet. It isn't as fast as other 'louder drives', but if you're looking for a silent PC I'd say this drive is a must.

It does tend to get a little warm...

 

[RalfHutter]

I have an 80GB cuda IV and a 40GB Maxtor D740X in my box. According to Dtemp and HDDTemperature the Seagate runs about 3-5C cooler than the Maxtor at idle and load. Range for the Cuda is 28-35C, for the Maxtor it's 32-40C.

 

[wluk]

just received the d740xL today. It is so loud when compare to my dying 60gxp. I am so disappointed. I should have gotten a BIV.