The quietest HDD between....

Silencing hard drives, optical drives and other storage devices

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Lawrence Lee

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Which HDD is the most quiet?

40GB Samsung
1
9%
80GB Samsung
4
36%
120GB Samsung
1
9%
160GB Samsung
1
9%
200GB Seagate
0
No votes
None of the above (there's a better option)
4
36%
 
Total votes: 11

danielvh
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The quietest HDD between....

Post by danielvh » Thu Apr 15, 2004 8:13 am

1) 40GB Samsung 7200rpm 8mb cache

2)80GB (same as above)

3)120GB "

4)160GB

5) 200GB Seagate 7200.7 8mb cache single platter

Or is there something better in the same speed category?

Noise difference between PATA and SATA?

Thanks

Daniel

Ralf Hutter
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Post by Ralf Hutter » Thu Apr 15, 2004 4:03 pm

I voted for the 120GB Samsung, although theoretically the 160GB should sound the same. If there actually was a PATA 80GB Samsung my bet would be on that.

DonP
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Post by DonP » Thu Apr 15, 2004 4:26 pm

Ralf Hutter wrote:I voted for the 120GB Samsung, although theoretically the 160GB should sound the same. If there actually was a PATA 80GB Samsung my bet would be on that.
You did? I must be missing something - I see one vote for 80GB Samsung, and that was my vote, about 20 minutes ago. I voted for that because I assumed it was PATA.. where does it say SATA?

And I reckon this poll isn't such a good idea (no offence danielvh).. because the only people who should be voting are the prople with experience of all the drives. I voted because I have two 80G samsungs and a 120G Seagate (Cuda V).. but I've heard a 120G Saumsung and some 7200.7s.. and prefer my 80G PATA Samsung.

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Post by Edward Ng » Thu Apr 15, 2004 7:26 pm

I voted other...

laptop drives put the smackdown on those listed drives in terms of heat output, noise output, vibration output and space used.

-Ed

danielvh
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Re: The quietest HDD between....

Post by danielvh » Thu Apr 15, 2004 7:30 pm

danielvh wrote:Or is there something better in the same speed category?
Note that I said same speed category. There aren't any laptop HDD's with 7200rpm and 8mb cache are there?

Edward Ng
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Post by Edward Ng » Thu Apr 15, 2004 7:36 pm

Sure are...

Link.

Keep in mind that because of the lower heat output and generally lower sensitivity to environmental conditions (the TravelStar 7K60 is designed for 24/7 use in tight cramped spaces with little or no air flow, as well as able to take shock associated with mobile applications), this drive can be much more easily silenced using methods you'd never dream of for the hotter 3.5" drives, such as I've done with my Fujitsu MHT2080AT, completely entombing it within a SilentDrive enclosure and then foam on top of that, and it still only measures 30C according to SMART.


-Ed

danielvh
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Post by danielvh » Thu Apr 15, 2004 8:01 pm

Edward Ng wrote:Sure are...

Link.

Keep in mind that because of the lower heat output and generally lower sensitivity to environmental conditions (the TravelStar 7K60 is designed for 24/7 use in tight cramped spaces with little or no air flow, as well as able to take shock associated with mobile applications), this drive can be much more easily silenced using methods you'd never dream of for the hotter 3.5" drives, such as I've done with my Fujitsu MHT2080AT, completely entombing it within a SilentDrive enclosure and then foam on top of that, and it still only measures 30C according to SMART.


-Ed
Those look pretty good but quite expensive. In Aus best price I've found is AU$255 (US$188.652) for the 40GB version. I'd get 2 and run them in RAID 0 (they can be run in RAID 0 right?). What type of connectors do they use (ie PATA or SATA?)

Performance on par with the Samsung drives?

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Post by Edward Ng » Thu Apr 15, 2004 8:04 pm

They are 44-pin mobile IDE, so you will need a 44-pin to 40-pin IDE adapter for each drive, and they run for about $5 (links below)...

Yes, you can run them in RAID 0; in fact, I believe there is a fellow SPCR member who has RAIDed laptop drives.

In terms of performance compared to the Samsung and Seagate, I wouldn't be surprised if it can keep up easily; remember that the heads have a much shorter distance to sweep (for full strokes seeks) because of the smaller surface area and diameter of the platters in a 2.5-inch drive versus 3.5-inch. RAID would make up for the lower transfer rate (due to smaller diameter platters) quite readily.

-Ed

EDIT: Added these links:

44- to 40-pin adapter at ZipZoomFly (the site formerly known as Googlegear)

Similar jobby at Directron.

EDIT AGAIN: I would like to add that the drive I linked you to, above, is from the E7K60 series, which is designed for heavier duty use cycle than the standard 7K60 series. I woul double-check, if I were you, before ordering a 40GB model (do they make 40GB? I thought the half-size was 30GB...); I'm not saying the standard 7K60 won't be as reliable (it's still a mobile drive), but it is not, "officially," certified for 24/7 use.

But then again, I'm not even sure if you plan to run it 24/7 like I do to my MHT2080AT:
Image
Last edited by Edward Ng on Thu Apr 15, 2004 8:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.

danielvh
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Post by danielvh » Thu Apr 15, 2004 8:14 pm

Is this one? http://www.mittoni.com.au/catalog/produ ... ts_id/1296

If so why does it have a molex connector on the adaptor. Would each HDD require 2 molex connectors then? :?
Last edited by danielvh on Thu Apr 15, 2004 8:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

danielvh
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Post by danielvh » Thu Apr 15, 2004 8:18 pm

24/7 running would be nice. 8)

Yes there is a 40GB. It is only in the E7K60 (has both 40GB and 60GB HDD's) variety and not the 7K60 which is only a 60GB drive.

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Post by Edward Ng » Thu Apr 15, 2004 8:20 pm

Yes, that would work, too...

The reason is the same reason your 3.5" drives need molex; because molex provides the power. The IDE connector only handles data and command signals. The laptop drives are so small that they can't fit a 40-pin IDE connector and a molex connector, so they have the special 44-pin connector (40 pins for IDE, and 4 pins for power, just like molex).

Oops, no each drive would only require one molex; it would hook up to the 44- to 40-pin adapter, since the drive lacks the molex hook-up.

On standard 3.5" drives, they have the 40-pin for IDE and the molex for power separately.

Even SATA needs separate power hooked-up; signal/command is 4-pin and power is 7-pin.

-Ed

EDIT: BTW for some reason got the notification for your second reply while typing this one and then checked it and your second reply showed up above this, so in response, then yes the 40GB E7K60 sounds like an extremely appealing drive! Please let us know how you feel about it once you get it, assuming you do!!!!

This is getting to be the fastest thread I ever participated in; it's like instant messaging, only, better recorded. :lol:

danielvh
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Post by danielvh » Sat Apr 17, 2004 6:16 am

When my renovation's complete (soon now) I'll be getting 4 new computers.

I've decided that I'll use the 40GB Hitachi drives in 3 of them but the main one I'll put 2 74GB Western Digital Raptors in RAID 0 but I still want it to be a silent PC :roll: so I'll have to work hard on silencing them.

Is there any great need to decouple the Hitachi drives? I mean if they don't vibrate much is it really worth it?

Thanks for all the help

Daniel

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Post by Edward Ng » Sat Apr 17, 2004 6:24 am

I found that my Fujitsu puts out virtually zero vibration, so that may not help it that much; isolating completely would probably do more for you, and it might be a viable solution, assuming it doesn't get too hot, since it wouldn't allow much, if any sound (or heat for the matter) to escape.

-Ed

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notebook drives q? 4 edward ng

Post by dan » Sat Apr 17, 2004 5:58 pm

edward, which notebook drive(s) are 7200rpm, and most quiet?

i would be tempted to consider notebook drives, but they seem so much more expensive.

newegg sells the sp80 80gb for $68, while notebook drives are in the $200 range and lower capacity.

what i wonder is the marginal analysis, how much quieter is the notebook drive over the sp80 for such a large incrase in price?

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Post by Edward Ng » Sat Apr 17, 2004 6:13 pm

Unfortunately, I personally only tried my MHT2080AT, which is 4200rpm. I did read somewhere that the 7K60 from Hitachi are extremely quiet, but I forget who said it, here in the SPCR forums.

Remember that even if, somehow, the Hitachi 7K60 drives were even close to the noise level of SpinPoint drives, remember that their lower heat output and greater tolerance for heat and shock make them viable for silencing methods that would otherwise overheat the larger drives. They also, I'm 100% confident, vibrate less than any 3.5" drive, due to the smaller platters.

The only 7200rpm 2.5" drives I know of, right now, are the Hitachi 7K60 and E7K60; Seagate's 10000rpm Savvio are not available yet, from what I can tell.

-Ed

ez2remember
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Post by ez2remember » Sun Apr 18, 2004 11:13 pm

I have an IBM Travelstar 5k80 40GB drive (5400rpm, 8mb) and its super quiet. I would say from past listening it's a tad quieter than a Barracuda IV... It was way back though when I have played around with a Cuda IV. Compared to my DM+9 there is no match.

It's quoted by IBM to be 2.1Bels idle and 2.6Bels seek. However the 7k60 and E7k60 are both quoted at 2.7 idle and 3.3 seek. Still quiet but maybe in the realms of quiet desktop HD?

IBM Specs

I am quite suprised by the performance of this little drive.
Does anyone know of a good HD benchmark to use?
Last edited by ez2remember on Sun Apr 18, 2004 11:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by Edward Ng » Sun Apr 18, 2004 11:18 pm

WinBench 99 is the best.

ez2remember
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Post by ez2remember » Sun Apr 18, 2004 11:20 pm

Thanks for the instant response.

I'll check it out because I feel on transfers its quicker than my DM+9 drive.

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