Fast and silent harddisk, maybe a VelociRaptor

Stefan S. · Post by **Stefan S.** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 1:53 pm

Hello!

I'm looking for a quiet and fast harddisk for my system. The disk should have a capacity between 160 and 300 GB.

I thought about buying a VelociRaptor and putting the drive into a Scythe Quiet Drive. Is this possible?

How about the noise level of the VelociRaptor? My system is very quiet. I need a very silent harddisk with enough power.

Best regards,
Stephen

krille · Post by **krille** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 2:07 pm

MikeC uses a VelociRaptor in his system. And that says a lot I think. You should read the review here, it's very, very quiet for a desktop drive (according to the review). As long as you don't use the IcePAK 3.5" frame.

I've read here that you can put it in a Scythe Quiet Drive 2.5" box (if you remove one of the jelly pads). People who don't think the drive is quiet enough when suspended seem to think it is quiet enough while in a Scythe Quiet Drive. If possible, you may want to listen to the drive first and then determine if you need to stow it in a box.

Stefan S. · Post by **Stefan S.** » Mon Aug 11, 2008 2:22 pm

krille wrote:I've read here that you can put it in a Scythe Quiet Drive 2.5" box (if you remove one of the jelly pads). People who don't think the drive is quiet enough when suspended seem to think it is quiet enough while in a Scythe Quiet Drive. If possible, you may want to listen to the drive first and then determine if you need to stow it in a box.

Hi! What about the 3.5'' Scythe Quiet Drive Box? Is it possible to put it there?

It's pretty difficult to choose the right harddisk. Some reviews says that the VelociRaptor is loud, some other people say that the harddisk is quiet. A little bit confusing.

lm · Post by lm » Mon Aug 11, 2008 3:32 pm

If your signature is up to date, then I'd say your system bottlenecks on amount of RAM.

With more ram, the hdd is accessed less often.

Stefan S. · Post by **Stefan S.** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 12:12 am

lm wrote:If your signature is up to date, then I'd say your system bottlenecks on amount of RAM.

With more ram, the hdd is accessed less often.

You are right! But DDR3 ist still pretty expensive. Especially when you are looking for a single 2 GB Module. Since I use Vista 32 Bit there is no much space left.

I'm still waiting for some answers. I need a silent and fast harddisk. The VelociRaptor is not really an option for a silent system. And I don't know if it fits into my 3,5'' Scythe Quiet Drive.

krille · Post by **krille** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 1:02 am

Stefan S. wrote:Hi! What about the 3.5'' Scythe Quiet Drive Box? Is it possible to put it there?

It's pretty difficult to choose the right harddisk. Some reviews says that the VelociRaptor is loud, some other people say that the harddisk is quiet. A little bit confusing.

The VelociRaptor is a 2.5" disk. There would be too much room in a 3.5" "SQD" which would result in poor contact and in turn may fry your disk. When you buy a 3.5" version of the "VR" you really just buy the 2.5" disk mounted in a frame. This frame accentuates the noise and vibrations of the drive. Remove it and you're in for a much quieter experience. (That's the theory anyway and Mike's review proves it.)

lm For normal desktop usage in XP 32-bit, 2GB is usually fine. There are plenty of reasons to want to speed up normal desktop usage, I don't think he's looking to improve his FPS in games by upgrading.

Stefan S. · Post by **Stefan S.** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 1:08 am

krille wrote:The VelociRaptor is a 2.5" disk. There would be too much room in a 3.5" "SQD" which would result in poor contact and in turn may fry your disk. When you buy a 3.5" version of the "VR" you really just buy the 2.5" disk mounted in a frame. This frame accentuates the noise and vibrations of the drive. Remove it and you're in for a much quieter experience.

In know that the VR is a 2.5'' disk.

My question is, if I can put it together with the frame into a 3.5'' Scythe Drive box?

Anyway, is there another option? A fast 7200 RPM 3.5'' drive, which is silent?

krille · Post by **krille** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 2:53 am

Stefan S. wrote:In know that the VR is a 2.5'' disk. My question is, if I can put it together with the frame into a 3.5'' Scythe Drive box?

Anyway, is there another option? A fast 7200 RPM 3.5'' drive, which is silent?

That seems contraproductive. Why in the world would you want that?

If you don't want to remove the frame (because it may may void the warranty), simply get [ the 2.5" version without the frame ]. You probably won't find a 7.2kRPM drive that's as quiet as the 2.5", not to mention as fast.

Stefan S. · Post by **Stefan S.** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 5:06 am

krille wrote:That seems contraproductive. Why in the world would you want that?

If you don't want to remove the frame (because it may may void the warranty), simply get [ the 2.5" version without the frame ]. You probably won't find a 7.2kRPM drive that's as quiet as the 2.5", not to mention as fast.

Ok. Since my priority lies in noise production I decided to choose a WD CaviarÂ® Blueâ„¢.

See http://www.silentpcreview.com/article819-page1.html

It's not as fast as a VelociRaptor, but the harddisk is silent. Especially if I put it into a Scythe drive.

In 1-2 years the SSD drives will become cheaper and maybe I will buy a fast and silent 120 GB disk then.

krille · Post by **krille** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 6:02 am

I thought you'd read SPCR's review of the VelociRaptor.
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article844-page4.html

And if you want your Scythe Quiet Drive, just put it in the 2.5" version. I think I'm going to do that.

VR is quieter according to SPCR.
VR: 19 dBA (idle), 20 dBA (AAM seek)
Caviar: 21-24 dBA (idle), 22-24 dBA (AAM seek)

Stefan S. · Post by **Stefan S.** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 10:02 am

Hi krille!

I already read the review. In fact I discussed the noise level with a member who owns the VR.

It seems that any kind of metal box makes this disk louder. The disk whistles and it's pretty difficult to damp this noise.

However, I ordered a WD Blue. Good luck with the VR!

krille · Post by **krille** » Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:19 am

Actually, I'm now too considering saving a penny and going with the regular WD6400AAKS instead of the VR.

lm · Post by lm » Fri Aug 15, 2008 1:28 pm

krille wrote:lm For normal desktop usage in XP 32-bit, 2GB is usually fine. There are plenty of reasons to want to speed up normal desktop usage, I don't think he's looking to improve his FPS in games by upgrading.

Adding RAM is pretty much the easiest way to improve multitasking performance in almost all situations. Except my system which already has 8GB of ram. And my system is purely a work machine, except for the GPU which enabled the gaming option too.