A quiet harddrive - recommendations ?

[Batistuta]

I have the Terratec M3PO stationary MP3 player, in which I have installed a 60gb Maxtor D740X (7200 rpm) harddrive...
The problem is the noise from the drive, not only when it spins up, but also when just playing music: A high pitched tone/noise, which is frustrating when listening at low volume.

What I'm looking for is obvously a more silent drive; I have thought of going with a 5400 rpm drive since drive speed is not essential here. The space for the drive is a normal 3.5", so an enclosure like Silent Drive is not really an option.

Also I would like the drive to be at least 60gb.

Any recommendations on which drive to get ?

Thx.
B.

 

[vulcanman]

Seagate ST380021A ... 80GB drive (7200rpm) ... with fluid bearings ... extremely quiet ... reviewed by many ... vilified by none.

 

[BD231]

Originally posted by: vulcanman
Seagate ST380021A ... 80GB drive (7200rpm) ... with fluid bearings ... extremely quiet ... reviewed by many ... vilified by none.

Agreed, those drives are by far the best chocie, they make ALOT of heat though. Just something to think about. Your next best choice is a Maxtor 5,400 rpm fluid bearing drive, no spindle noise whatsoever.

 

[Shmorq]

Originally posted by: vulcanman
Seagate ST380021A ... 80GB drive (7200rpm) ... with fluid bearings ... extremely quiet ... reviewed by many ... vilified by none.

I agree except I would go for the 40GB model if you want the quietest. The 40GB has 1 less platter than the 60 & 80GB models and is a a couple of dB's quieter. Also, look at the new Seagate Barracuda V that should be coming out soon. Its performance is the same as its predecessor except it's even more silent.

[Edit: Nevermind... didn't know you were looking for 60GB+ Although the new Barracuda V uses 60GB platters so you can get a 60GB drive with only 1 platter.]

 

[Batistuta]

Thanks all.

Yeah the Seagate ATA V looks promising - I don't know when it hits the shelves, but it's close.

Features:9 ms access, 44mbyte/sec sustained transfer, Serial ATA interface and 8mb cache.

It comes in 80 & 120gb models (to start with) and acoustics is claimed to be 2.4bels=24db, compared to 25db@idle and 33db@seek for the IV model.

B.

 

[trilks]

may want to check out the maxtor quiet drives. they have liquid ball bearings, and make very little noise. i cant even hear mine (but then again, my case fans are loud as f*ck.

 

[pillage2001]

Most quiet are usually from Seagate BArracuda V or IV but the WD SE is not bad either.

 

[ssanches]

IMHO the quietest HDD right now is the single platter Barracuda IV (20 and 40GB models) with AAM enabled (quiet seek mode instead of the performance mode). It's still the champion even 15 months after it was first launched. Truly an engineering marvel....

However if you want the quietest HDD, you may have my dead 75GXP that's extremely quiet for a song

 

[Whitedog]

Everyone says Seagates are quietest... I agree...

Though, I just bought a WD1200JB and it is very quiet too... I can barely hear it during seeks, and can't at all during idle. It's really quiet. Of course I'm used to loud clanky SCSI drives too.

Really, most of the newer drives are much quieter than the older ones. They put a lot of R&D into it, as they know it is one of the main concerns consumers have with HDD's.

 

[Whitedog]

I do have to agree with ssanches... the IBM GPX models are the quietest on the planet! as most of them don't even work.

 

[theNEOone]

Ever thought about looking into a notebook hardrive? I think they operate around 4200rpm or something.

 

[ssanches]

Originally posted by: Whitedog
I do have to agree with ssanches... the IBM GPX models are the quietest on the planet! as most of them don't even work.

My sig says it all .... I'm now using a 40GB Ba IV though

 

[Batistuta]

Have thought about a notebook drive, running at 4200 rpm, BUT as far as I can gather, the lower rpm's doesn't bring a big reduction in noise. Also notebook drives are 2½", but I could get a converter to mount it in a 3½" 'bay'. Last, but not least, notebook drives carry a substantial premium over normal 3½ inch drives, especially when talking high capacity drives (like 40gb and beyond).

I think I will go for the Seagate IV, since the Serial ATA interface of the V-model will be more of a hassle in this specific situation.

But for performance in my system I will look into the IBM GXP180 (180gb model) with 8mb cache. I've had one GXP60 go bad, but are not part of the common scare of IBM drives...which often have stellar perfomance at a very reasonable price, IMHO.

B.

 

[Bovinicus]

The Seagate Baracuda ATA IV is totally silent according to every single person I have heard mention the drives. As well, Seagate has had a history of making pretty reliable drives. Even though you don't need 7200RPM, you will probably not notice any difference when going to a 5400RPM drive in terms of noise reduction. In addition to that, 5400RPM drives are barely cheaper, if at all. The ATA IV is the way to go for you. It goes up to 80GB.

 

[CraigRT]

got a WD 800JB.. cannot hear this drive during seeks......

not sure about actual spinning noise... i can tell you it's not any louder than another 7200 RPM drive though.

it's a fantastic hard drive.

 

[thirtythree]

I purchased a Maxtor quiet drive it seems like the "clicks" when seeking are louder than most drives. Does anyone else have this problem?

 

[amdskip]

Originally posted by: Deslocke
I purchased a Maxtor quiet drive it seems like the "clicks" when seeking are louder than most drives. Does anyone else have this problem?

I know what you mean, kinda scrares me.

 

[CrazySaint]

Originally posted by: BD231

Originally posted by: vulcanman
Seagate ST380021A ... 80GB drive (7200rpm) ... with fluid bearings ... extremely quiet ... reviewed by many ... vilified by none.

Agreed, those drives are by far the best chocie, they make ALOT of heat though. Just something to think about. Your next best choice is a Maxtor 5,400 rpm fluid bearing drive, no spindle noise whatsoever.

I disagree. I own an 80GB 'cuda IV which is *totally* silent and is barely warm to the touch.

 

[Davegod]

never heard the slightest noise from my 40gb 'cuda IV. Never had any problems either and I've no fans etc blowing onto it... I recall reading they made a slight update to the model to 60gb platters, but cant remember where. As I recall the model numbers remain the same but there was a way to check you can get the marginally better newer versions.