Quiet Hard Drives?

[ButaneBlender]

I'm in the process of needing to build an ultra-quiet PC. I've had experience with Antec's True Power and Temp Sensing Fans, and like them for their low noise output. I'm still not 100% sold on a processor fan yet, but have one that will do until a better one comes along. (Cooler Master, FYI)

The real trick is finding very, very quiet hard drives. I have used the Seagate Barracuda's before, and like the tests on this site confirm, the drive isn't the best performer out there. I'm looking for suggestions for a relatively quiet drive. I haven't yet been convinced that hard drive styrofoam cases are the way to go (My #1 battle is heat, #2 is noise)

So have at it - what suggestions do you guys have, and do you have real world experience with them?

 

[dzt]

mine seagate barracuda is quite quiet, I hav'nt found any drive better. what you might have is an unsuitable casing.

 

[ButaneBlender]

My apologies, I meant to say it's not the best *data* performer out there. The drive I have is ultra-quiet - as a matter of fact, the only thing I can hear in my firewall is actually the CPU fan. I was wondering if there was a better performer out there that was also a quiet drive.

Thanks for the input though - I have to agree, the 'Cuda is the probably the most quiet drive I've heard.

 

[RalfHutter]

Nothing out there is going to touch the cuda IV and V for quiet.

The new Maxtor 9+ (or whatever it's called) is pretty darn quiet (but still somewhat louder than a cuda) and very fast. It runs hotter than the cudas though.

 

[HumbleFish]

My 80GB UDMA100 Deskstar 120GXP IBM (IBM invented the HDD) is very quite... I'm not sure if I have ever heard any sounds from it: the only way that I can tell it's working is to watch the HDD led... From now on, it's IBM for me... You might want to check IBM out.

 

[dzt]

never used IBM, so I have never compared.
but once read their deskstar benchmark result, it was great performer.
had anyone compare IBM's with Seagate,s

 

[Doh!]

I have both IBM and Seagate Cuda IV in several of my pc's at home. I used to think that IBM's are quiet hard drives but Cuda IVs are definitely more quiet. In terms of performance, IBM gets the lead in most benchmarks but who can really notice the micro-second performance difference? All my hard drives are running at UDMA-5 and if I were to build a quiet system, I would get a Cuda over IBM.

 

[Acts837]

I've been using the Cuda IVs (20GB & 40GB) for awhile now. Needed another 40GB drive so I bought a WD at Bestbuy. It is noticably faster than the Cudas; however, after two weeks with the new WD I'm ready to sell our trade for a Cuda.

I hear your quest but honestly think that if you want the noise reduction its gonna have to be Seagate.

 

[Wez]

I have an IBM 75 GXP and a cuda IV running at the same time. The IBM is much louder and was considered quiet when it first came out. The Seagates are the quietest drives on the market, but it is noticibly slower than the 75 GXP.


if you want to quiet your drives down, try these...

http://www.silentpcreview.com/modul...ns&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=23&page=1
http://www.siliconacoustics.com/driven.html

 

[newbiepcuser]

My seagate cudda IV in my other rig is pretty quiet.

 

[Kipper]

www.storagereview.com has looked at the Barracuda V and although it is VERY quiet, it lacks in performance. They liked the IBM Deskstar 120 GXP, apparently. I've had horrible experience with IBM drives in terms of stability and reliability, however, so I think I might still go with the Seagate. I currently run a 40GB Barracuda IV and love it.

 

[GnomeCop]

OMG those are damn expensive!!!

http://www.silentpcreview.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=23&page=1
http://www.siliconacoustics.com/driven.html

is that site like the only place that sells it outside of japan?