Most quiet 7200RPM hard drive?

[Jerboy]

I have been wanting to get some quieter hard drives for a while. I haven't been able to do so because I had too much files on them, but In this incident, I lost every files on the hard drives and I had to low level format(zero out sectors) both my hard drives. Right now I have both HDD's out since they both had to be formatted on this machine so this is an excellent opportunity to replace the drives. Have Quantum Fireball AS 7200RPM 40GB as bootup and Western Digital Cavier 40GB 7200RPM as data.

Quantum has really annoying high pictch whine and Western Digital has loud access. I'd like to get reliable and VERY QUIET 7200RPM HDDs in 60GB each range..

Any recommendations? No IBM please by the way.

 

[zzzz]

seagate IV

 

[Rahminator]

Seagate Barracuda 4 is the quietest drive of all on the market right now. Not silent like many with Delta's in their case would let you believe, but they are clearly quieter than competition.

 

[Silver222]

The Seagate is so quiet you won't know that it is there. I have a new Maxtor with the fluid bearings, and I can hear it every once in a while. The Seagate is silent, for all intents and purposes.

 

[herbage11]

seagates are suppose to be quite but Maxtor has a new L series i saw that has fluid bearings....also should be very quite....getting one soon i think

 

[IQJUMPuw]

WD is fast, but loud. 37dBa. boy that's loud. IBM just sucks like hell... Don't even go there. I sold my 40GB WD and got Seagate Barracuda. Dead silent even when it's loading. I can't recommend you a better HD than Seagate. Buy it!!!

 

[oldfart]

There are two types of HD noise. One is the high pitched whine which is rotational noise. The other is the popcorn popper rattling noise while seeking. A drive may be quiet in one area, but noisy in another. Fluid bearings will ensure a quiet idle drive (rotational noise), but not the seeking noise. I can live with some seeking noise, but not any high pitched whine.

 

[Jerboy]

<< I can live with some seeking noise, but not any high pitched whine. >>




I'm the same way here. I can live with popping seek noise when I'm accessing the files. When I'm laying quiet in my bed I can hear the high pitch whine penetrating my head..

 

[Silver222]

I can't even hear seek noise on my Barracuda. I can still hear seek noise with the new Maxtor quiet drives.

 

[Mltsao]

Everyone says Seagate but I cant hear my Maxtor D740X w/o Fluid Bearings. I dont really think it matters if are running more than two case fans.

 

[oldfart]

I have a Maxtor D740X 20 Gig in my kids PC. It's a single platter single head drive. I can definitely hear it seek. Its not bad, but its there. My IBM 60 Gig 60GXP is a 3 platter 6 head drive. It has about the same amount of seek noise as the Maxtor, which is pretty impressive.

 

[Comp625]

Wierd my WD 40 (hehe not the chemical compound) is quiet. Either way, I find the hard drive clicking noise to be pleasing to the ear. Don't ask me why...I guess I'm just used to those old hard drives from like 8 years ago that popped each time you accessed a folder.

 

[Pardus]

my ibm 60 gig doesnt make a peep, too bad there is a mass recall for ibm drives.

 

[CubicZirconia]

I just got a maxtor 40 gig 7200 rpm with fluid bearings. I never hear it. Ever. I'm sure the 60 gig model will be the same deal.

 

[DrZone]

I've also been using maxtor's for a while and never had too much trouble with noise. I know that WD's are loud but they seem to be ahead with it comes to the 120gb 7200rpm. I might have to get a WD just because it has 120 gb.

 

[Shide1]

My 2 Ibm 60gigs are very loud. The rotational speed is what makes my computer loud. If it wasn't for that my computer would be silent.

 

[menderchuck]

i got a couple of 7200rpm 40 giggers from dell awhile back for 80 bucks each. they sent me WD drives and they are silent. very impressed.

 

[ElFenix]

cuda 4 is the most quiet according to storagereview. i really can't hear my maxtors but then i've got a delta that needs replaced with a panaflo or sunon. the SHE 80 mm

 

[Agent004]

Barracuda 4 is the quietest, the maxtor with or without the fluid bearing is still louder.

 

[ssanches]

Jerboy,

Go for the Barracuda IV. It's THE quietest drive at the moment... Heck even no 5400rpm drive can beat it in acoustics. It's read performance is top notch, and my 40GB drive gives me >40MBps over the first 10 to 12GB. Write speed and access time is above average. If you're concerned about noise and heat, go for the single platter models (20GB and 40GB) since they are quieter. The acoustics is around 2.4 bels. The drives come with AAM off, if you enable it, it becomes even quieter. The drives look robust with a steel seashield panels both above and below the drive. It looks like a tank...

 

[jonmcc33]

Seagate makes the most quiet hard drives.

http://www.gamersdepot.com/hardware/storage/seagate/barracuda_80gb/001.htm