WD Caviar Black

Shash · 17 Jan 2009 at 23:50

Hi there, I need a 1tb drive but reviews seem to point this drive out as being noisy. I am just wondering how noisy it actually is, has anyone got experience of it? I am going to use it as a storage/non gaming app drive and for the latter I figured it'd be a better performer than the GP but if it is a lot noiser I'd rather go with the GP. this benchmark shows it as being 3db louder than a SpinPoint, which to be frank doesn't seem like anything to write home about. I would rather get a WD as they offer advanced RMA as Samsung don't (hence no f1 for me).

Answers much appreciated!

ChrisLX200 · 18 Jan 2009 at 00:02

Just got one of these a couple days ago, it's not noisy in my computer. Can't hear it at all above the case fans anyway.

Undesirable · 18 Jan 2009 at 00:12

I've got one. You can hear a very slight clicking noise when in operation, but my Western Digital Raptor X is about 6 times as loud in comparison.

Phil2008 · 18 Jan 2009 at 01:28

Mine has quite a loud motor, see sig for model of drive.

Dicehunter · 18 Jan 2009 at 07:09

As long as its the latest model of the drive it should be fairly quiet as the early caviar blacks had very loud motors.

Phil2008 · 18 Jan 2009 at 12:54

DF1986 said:
As long as its the latest model of the drive it should be fairly quiet as the early caviar blacks had very loud motors.

I must have a earlier 1 then, but I bought it at xmas?

ChrisLX200 · 18 Jan 2009 at 13:12

Seems odd that, should have the same motor in as all the others. This one I have is an RMA return from OcUK, original one didn't have a noisy motor either.

Phil2008 · 18 Jan 2009 at 14:11

Basiclly the motor is louder then my old seagate 500gb drive that I replaced it with.

PredatorUK · 18 Jan 2009 at 20:13

I have one of these hard drivers and its very quiet, much quieter than any seagates ive had before. Plus its extememly fast, I believe on benchmarks this is the fastest 7200 rpm 1TB hard drive you can get

ChrisLX200 · 18 Jan 2009 at 20:20

Got to suspect the spindle bearings in the noisy drive, can't see it being a different model.

Chong Warrior · 18 Jan 2009 at 22:33

I've got the 640gb Black and it's a great drive, can't hear it or my 1tb Green drive either and my PC is very quiet with 120mm fans running 5v~7v. Nowhere near what my old Raptor was like.

I think some people overlook how important the case is and how the HDD's are stored as to how loud and what noise they make. Buy a good case with a good HDD rack using rubber mounts, etc and it makes a huge difference.

Amraam · 19 Jan 2009 at 13:05

Undesirable said:
I've got one. You can hear a very slight clicking noise when in operation, but my Western Digital Raptor X is about 6 times as loud in comparison.

I've got a WD3200AAKS. OK, not a caviar black, but mine clicks when its doing heavy reading or writing, so I wonder if its just a WD thing?