Which 2TB HDDs?

boxleitnerb · Post by **boxleitnerb** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 2:59 am

Hi!

I need to buy 2 HDD with a capacity of 2TB each. Currently, I have 2 WD20EADS in an external Raid-1 setup and I want two more for internal storage. I am fairly content with the WDs, but I want to know if there is an alternative. The HDDs would go into a watercool silentstar dual box which is insulated and decoupled (against vibrations). Still, I want the most silent HDD I can get.

I don't like Samsung because of vibrations and the whining motor sound. What about Hitachi and Seagate? Again - as quiet as possible. Speed is not important.

Thanks for your advice

mkk · Post by **mkk** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 5:13 am

Stick to WD. The 2TB green Samsung is good even on the vibration side but the WD EARS's are even better. Someone else can probably fill in on RAID expriences though, I think I saw something about a RAID edition with tangible benefits on the EARS series.

kuzzia · Post by **kuzzia** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 9:11 am

Agree with mkk, why not stick with the tried-and-true?
WD green are so well-regarded by SPCR that I doubt that other drives are quieter. They're even quieter than the quietest of 2,5" drives according to SPCR review.

boxleitnerb · Post by **boxleitnerb** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 10:01 am

Okay, then I'll stay with WD. But which one? The WD20EADS or the WD20EARS?

jhhoffma · Post by **jhhoffma** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 11:14 am

Same difference, usually the EARS is cheaper. It's newer and has the 64MB cache, but you'll never notice the difference between them; in acoustics or performance.

kuzzia · Post by **kuzzia** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 6:43 am

I also believe they are practically the same drive except for the 4 KB block size and the forementioned cache size. So if you're using Win 7 or Vista go for the EARS, it seems like WD tries to push these drives forward while limiting the number of EADS on the marked.. At least in Denmark :/

boxleitnerb · Post by **boxleitnerb** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 7:24 am

The EADS are not an option, as I have just noticed they cost more than double than the EARS. So I just ordered 2 EARS

kuzzia · Post by **kuzzia** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 9:49 am

They are, after all, awarded with the "Editor's choice" here on SPCR..
Good luck using with the WD.

boxleitnerb · Post by **boxleitnerb** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 9:58 am

Dirge · Post by **Dirge** » Wed Apr 20, 2011 4:58 pm

EADS = 500GB platter with 512-byte sectors
EARS old = 500GB platter with 4K sectors
EARS new = 666GB platter with 4K sectors

There is also a new WD20EARX but the only difference I can see between it and the EARS is its SATA 6 Gb/s connection.

indulis · Post by **indulis** » Fri Apr 22, 2011 9:25 am

WD sound OK, unless you:
1) Don't turn off the autopark function
2) Want to rely on them in a RAID array

see http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-re ... 367904&p=8

As it says, buyer beware, it looks like WD are "fixing" the same hardware with microcode designed to keep cheap drives out of RAID arrays. Though this could be just paranoia on my part!

inti · Post by **inti** » Sat Jul 09, 2011 5:14 am

Did you look at Seagate? Their 2TB is now a 3-platter drives, and I think they handle the '4k sector size' issue best for older operating systems (i.e. if the drives are formatted in Windows with non-aligned partitions)
http://www.storagereview.com/seagate_ba ... t2000dl003

boxleitnerb · Post by **boxleitnerb** » Sun Jul 24, 2011 11:45 am

I am very content with the WD20EARS. Of course I turned of the head parking. I'm not running raid.

Thanks again!

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