Need a new harddrive(WD cavier black 500gb, or 320gb)

godbreath · Post by **godbreath** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 11:31 pm

I am looking for a new SATA hard drive. I have been looking at the western digital 320gb platter drives or the 500gb cavier black one. I would prefer to buy from Amazon since I have some unused gift certificates.

Any opinions? such as, how loud is the 500gb cavier black compared to the 640gb? Right now, I have the samsung 250hj, and it is not the loudest component in my computer, so I can settle for somethign a little bit louder than that.

balzary · Post by **balzary** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 4:14 pm

i'm also looking at new hard drives, not after a massive amount of space and was wondering if there was a large difference in sound between the WD caviar black 500 or 640?

angelkiller · Post by **angelkiller** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 4:35 pm

First, I would avoid Western Digital's 320GB drives. You may get the older and louder dual platter version. Or, if you're lucky to get the quieter single platter version, there are multiple versions of that one too. One version has average acoustics, another is very quiet, and I've seen reports of a third version. In sum, you may get a quiet drive, you may not. Not worth the risk imho. (can you tell I had a bad experience?)

I'd get the 640GB drive over the 500GB one. I think, (can't find conclusive evidence) that the 500GB drive uses 2 250GB platters. I know that the 640GB drive uses 2 320GB platters. So the 640GB drive should be much faster than the 500GB one. And don't worry too much about the Black vs Blue thing. Even if the Black drives are faster than its Blue equivalent, the 640GB Blue will outperform the 500GB Black. And here's a recent review that includes the WD 640GB Black and Blue drives.

I'd also like to include the worst case scenario. (In case my above logical speculation is incorrect) At worst case, the 500GB Black has 2 320GB platters, just like the 640GB drives. (The capacity above 500GB won't be usable) In this case, the 640GB and 500GB drives will be equal in terms of speed, but the 640GB drive still has more storage space. So even in this unlikely case, I'd still get the 640GB drive.

And sorry that I can't comment on noise. SPCR has not reviewed these drives yet.

Blue_Sky · Post by **Blue_Sky** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 5:12 pm

I'm happy with my WD 500 GB drive (which now is part of their blue line). SPCR's review said that the 640 GB Blue is slightly quieter than the 500GB Blue. Assuming the same relationship between the Black versions, go for the 640 GB drive.

Post by **CA_Steve** » Mon Mar 09, 2009 7:07 pm

I'm happy with my recent 640GB blue purchase. I don't think the Black is worth the extra noise and $'s for minimal performance gains.