quietest 3.5" HDD?

The Running Man · 17 Aug 2010 at 12:38

Hi so i think the clicking sound on my aged seagate 250gb spells imminent disaster i have Crucial C300 but i need a backup storage space for Music, films whatever else.

im thinking: Western Digital Caviar Green 1.5TB

maybe the 1TB version.

can anyone tell me if this is quiet or if they have any suggestions? performance is not an issue, as i have 64GB SSD for windows etc. this is purely for backup.

given that i have Arctic Freezer Pro7 as the loudest component in my pc the hdd cannot be any louder than that.

thanks for any advice in advance.

The Running Man · 19 Aug 2010 at 14:08

nobody at all have a viewpoint on quiet hdds?

dazzerd · 19 Aug 2010 at 14:25

Any 5400 rpm drive should be very quiet. WD Caviar Green comes to mind.

boosfuk · 19 Aug 2010 at 14:53

If used as a backup drive then definitely go for a 5400 drive. I've used both the WD and Samsung green drives and they are both very quiet. Remember you can get sound from both seeking and vibration. So with the latter always make sure it is mounted so as not to resonate with the case. 5400 drives though are minimal in both compared with 7200 ones.

egnshane · 20 Aug 2010 at 15:38

generally samsung drives are very quiet, if you use anti vibration mounts you shouldn't hear them really

DirtyJester · 20 Aug 2010 at 19:55

Running a 64gbSSD and WD Green (1TB) and about to add another WD Green 1TB drive ... quiet and cool

Rroff · 20 Aug 2010 at 19:59

Samsung generally make quiet drives... WG Greens are definitely not quiet generally. Seagate are hit and miss on this front... I used 5-6 7200.12s that were essentially silent but then the next 2 I got - which ironically I wanted quiet drives as they were going in media PCs and they made quite a noticeable whine in operation

setter · 20 Aug 2010 at 20:06

Samsungs are hard to beat for silence, got a 320gb F1 and a 500gb F3, both mounted on anti vibration grommets, very quiet drives.

2Thumbs · 20 Aug 2010 at 21:11

My WD Black 640GB is very very quiet! But I use an anti-vibration system so experiences might vary.

DirtyJester · 20 Aug 2010 at 21:16

setter said:
Samsungs are hard to beat for silence, got a 320gb F1 and a 500gb F3, both mounted on anti vibration grommets, very quiet drives.

My other system runs 2 x 320gb F1's in a Raid 0 and you wouldnt hear them either.

DirtyJester · 20 Aug 2010 at 21:19

Rroff said:
Samsung generally make quiet drives... WG Greens are definitely not quiet generally. Seagate are hit and miss on this front... I used 5-6 7200.12s that were essentially silent but then the next 2 I got - which ironically I wanted quiet drives as they were going in media PCs and they made quite a noticeable whine in operation

.. my WD 1TB is quiet though only used for storage but I'd be hard pushed to hear it even sat beside it.

setter · 20 Aug 2010 at 21:29

DirtyJester said:
My other system runs 2 x 320gb F1's in a Raid 0 and you wouldnt hear them either.

They are really good drives, very cool running as well, i used to run two 74gb raptors in raid0, performance was fantastic but the noise was unbearable, swapped both out for the F1.

AbsenceJam · 20 Aug 2010 at 21:34

The Samsung EcoGreens are all very quiet.

The Running Man · 23 Aug 2010 at 10:24

thanks guys very useful info. as my akasa 2.5" hdd mount hs space for 2x devices im tempted to even go for a 2.5" 500GB HDD or so for even quieter operation? and fit both into 1 bay (SSD and HDD?)

but if not ill go Samsung or WD i think.

The Running Man · 24 Aug 2010 at 11:55

gone for a WD 1TB 5400RPM 64MB CAVIAR GREEN in the end. see how i get on with that

Echo · 24 Aug 2010 at 13:33

setter said:
Samsungs are hard to beat for silence, got a 320gb F1 and a 500gb F3, both mounted on anti vibration grommets, very quiet drives.

My 3 x F3s (in LianLi rubber mounts) resonate quite badly

Other 5400rpm data drives are dead quiet.

Can't wait for cheaper SSD solutions so I can cast out all 7200rpm drives for good.