Liquid bearing drives: how much better are they?

[foocoding]

Hey, I'm buying a PC soon and the store I'm getting my parts from doesn't have the liquid bearing version of the maxtor 40 gig.

Just how much quieter\faster is it? I'm looking for a quiet PC, but I dont really care if it's not much difference.

I know seagates are quiet + reliable, but I'm getting an ATA-133 mobo so I want to take advantage. (unless you fellows convince me otherwise )

 

[majewski9]

I think that they are considerably quieter, but I dont think there is much a performance increase.

 

[DaFinn]

Well,

I have tested both D740 maxtor drives, and the liquid bearing model is quieter. Not much, but you can sense the difference. There is absolutely NO speed difference between the 2 models. But I must say, that you can only hear the difference if you listen from very close. I could not hear the std model either over the fans when my case was closed.
(1 80mm Antec case cooler, PSU fan and a quiet 60mm proc. cooler). Unless you are building a REALLY quiet computer, it wont make any difference which one you get.

Maxtors are great drives, I love my 2 40gig D740X (w. liquid bearing).

 

[MWink]

I've used a bunch of Seagate Barracuda IV's and they are almost dead silent. You can't hear them (even when accessing) unless you put your ear ON the drive. They are not faster, just very quiet.

 

[BD231]

If you want a quiet computer its best to go with the liquid bearing drives. I've had the chance to use both of the maxtors (fulid and non-fluid) in a system with only 1 case fan and the liquid bearing spindle noise was WAY quieter than the non-liquid version. The liquid bearing drive gets rid of the whine you normaly hear come from a drive.

 

[Killbat]

Do the liquid bearings claim a higher reliability, or is it just a noise thing?

 

[ravedave]

does maxtor have one of those programs that allow you to tune the drive for speed VS noise? Cause if they do you could possibly crank the liquid bering drive up higher...

 

[Antisocial Virge]

Originally posted by: Killbat
Do the liquid bearings claim a higher reliability, or is it just a noise thing?

Well one of mine just died hard last night. Makes a loud klunking sound everytime it tried to read. Only HD I ever had go bad. Took down my raid.

 

[John]

Originally posted by: ravedave
does maxtor have one of those programs that allow you to tune the drive for speed VS noise? Cause if they do you could possibly crank the liquid bering drive up higher...

http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/setacm.htm

 

[ravedave]

do they come defaulted at fast or quiet?
Would cranking a LB vs normal give you the same noise differences?