There's no noticeable difference in performance, there may be a big difference in acoustics though depending on firmware, drive mechanics and mfg. date. My 1st Raptor X OEM from Newegg was extremely loud, almost like a garbage disposal. It was unbearably loud. I then got a 2nd one retail from Best Buy for a great price and was shocked to notice it was *MUCH* quieter than the 1st one. Mfg. date had a difference of 1 year even though the drives were purchased only a few months apart. So I send in the 1st one for RMA, they replace it with the non-windowed regular version, which is even quieter than my remaining Raptor X. There's no difference in performance, a small difference in acoustics (probably bc of mfg date only), same heat and everything else.