I just installed a Corsair 520 and it's the best PS I've used thus far by a long shot. Very quiet, very well built, and the cable management system is great. About my only complaint is the long SATA power cables. I wish they gave you some shorter singeltons.

Here's my cycle... 1. Spend 6 months and a bucket of $$$ on quiet PS's, fans, HD silencers, HSF, and on and on. Still not quiet enough. 2. Reinstall factory Intel HSF, install high-speed fans, enable MB fan control, reinstall HDs directly in cage. Move computer into crawl space just behind where my ...

Yes, WD drives do have AAM. I have an Intel MB, so I just use Intel's Application Accelerator to set it on.

Anyway NoVibes 3 is quite good if you don't want to place it on foam, and it will keep the hard disk a lot cooler than the smart drive. So the choice is yours.. Actually, it's been shown by reviews on this site that SmartDrive is more effective at cooling the drive than a NoVibes unit. Weird, I kno...

Welcome to the sickness known as the quest for silent computing... I've been at it for a few months now, and have some of the same components as you. I agree with the other posters in that your main source of noise is probably the WD drive. Hard-mounting it in the drive cage will work like a megapho...

I wouldn't use the SilentDrive enclosures. They simply don't allow enough cooling, not too mention it's not very well built. The SmartDrive however, is very good. I've tried both, the SmartDrive wins hands down. It's more expensive, but worth it. Folks have also had good luck with the NoVibes and th...

Add some aluminum u-rails to the sides of the drive. There's a DIY article posted n this site. It's fairly easy to do, and really wroks to cool the drive.

Fastened to the case, the drives definitely have a whine...I've tried 2 things. First, I did the double aluminum channel mod along the sides of the drive and placed it on foam in the bottom of the case. That helped a huge amount, and cost virtually nothing. Secondly, having caught a really bad case ...