Maxtor "Quiet Drives" really quieter?

[CrazySaint]

I'm gonna buy a new HD soon, and I need to know if Maxtor's quiet drives are really quieter than the "regular" Maxtor drives.

 

[FrostyFlakes]

go seagate. maxtor quiet drives aren't as quiet as the seagate barracuda IV

 

[CrazySaint]

Thanks for the suggestion, the Barracuda looks like a nice drive, though it falls quite a bit short of the DiamondMax Plus 40 series, its not usually too far behind.
I'll definitely consider it. Btw, do you know how much quiter it is? Or know of any websites that compare the noise levels of various HDs?

 

[FrostyFlakes]

u hear a slight whining noise with the maxtor. with seagate i can't hear a thing.

 

[John]

The fluid bearing Maxtors are about 2 - 3db quieter. I opted for a pair of them in raid0, and they are extremely quiet. I have a pair of Barracuda IV's in my other box, and they are definitely quieter during seek, however they are not as fast.

 

[CrazySaint]

I may stick with the Maxtors then...how noisy are they during seek? Can either drive be heard during non-seek? My current drive (some old 11GB drive), is pretty near silent. The only time I ever hear it is when its really working hard (like when my anti-virus full drive scan kicks in). I would like my new drives to be that quiet, or as close as possible.

 

[Eug]

The Seagates Barracuda IV's are the quietest IDE drive I've ever (not) heard. Speed is fine. Remember you're comparing to the fastest drives out there so just because they aren't number one doesn't mean that they're slow. Hell I still use an IBM 34GXP for my boot drive and the Seagates are WAY faster, yet it's not as if I'm ripping out my hair because of the slightly slower boot up times, etc.

That said, the drives aren't the problem in my system. I have so many fans, that most of the drive noise gets drowned out anyway. (The Seagates are more relevant at work. It's nice to have a nice quiet and COOL drive in my quiet PC there.)

 

[corkyg]

Maxtor drives have a "quiet" setting. What that does is lower the speed, etc. The tradeoff is quiet for performance. Funny - I have a large floor fan in my computer room to keep ME cool - and it masks all drive sounds.

 

[CrazySaint]

Thanks for the help guys, I think I'll definitely go for a Barracuda IV. I'm also gonna get case & CPU fans that are as quiet as possible (thinking about Panaflow 24CFM/21Db fan paired with SVC Golden Gate for the CPU and Vantec "stealth" fans for the case).

 

[Maki]

The maxtor drives are whisper quiet until they do a seek. *THWACK* *THWACK* *THWACK* *THWACK* *THWACKITTY* *THWACK* *THWACKITTY* *THWACK* *THWACK*

Very fast and very nice tho. But you'd have to be on crack (or in marketeering) to label it a "Quiet" drive.

 

[Athlex]

Seagate must've made some big changes with the Barricuda IV. I have a Barricuda III in one of my machines and it's a noisy sumbitch...
I remember that Fujitsu was one of the first HD manufacturers to sell quiet drives with fluid bearings. Anyone know how theirs stack up to Seagate/Maxtor?

 

[Shanteli]

My fluid Maxtor is exceptionally quite as compared to my old IBM Deskstar 75

 

[Tranquility]

Usally, drives from different manufacturers sounds quite unlike each other but Barracuda ATA IV's operating noise is almost identical to those of Fujitu drives (both seek & idle). Personnally, I think Seagate copied the Fujitu drive design and improved upon it. and maybe because of this Fujitu is now going out of HDD business.

 

[herbage11]

I know I am most likely gettiing a Maxtor w/ Fluid bearings soon for my new system. Looks like a quiet drive that performs excellent.