My 120gig PATA choices

Viperoni · Post by **Viperoni** » Thu Dec 18, 2003 12:32 pm

Barracuda V 8mb (probably)
SP1203N (possibly)
WD 120gig SE (fast, but unlikely)
DM9 8mb (unlikely)

The drive will be going into a SilentDrive.
I had an older WD 80gig SE, and it was too loud for my tastes, even in the silent drive. My current Barracuda IV is great! I've heard a Samsung SP8004H and it's idle seemed very quiet, but seek noises seemed fairly loud.

I'll probably be happy with the V.

LMK what you guys think

HokieESM · Post by **HokieESM** » Thu Dec 18, 2003 12:48 pm

Try the Samsung SP1213N... the 8mb cache version of the SP1203N. They can be found at Newegg (if you're in the US). At least as quiet as the Barracuda V (and most would agree, quieter)... and its approaching the speed of the WD SEs (oh, and nix that off your list--if it doesn't whine mercilessly out of the box, it probably will in a few months). And reasonably inexpensive... with a three year warranty (a rarity these days in the HDD biz).

Good luck!

Just a question, though: why the silent drive? With the Samsung, you would have to have a AWFULLY quiet computer to notice the HDD noise.

Viperoni · Post by **Viperoni** » Thu Dec 18, 2003 1:24 pm

Well, I already have the SilentDrive, so I figure I might as well use it.

I would prefer not to ship across the border, so I'm pretty much limited to whatever I can find in the GTA (Toronto).

How would the SP1203N compare speedwise to the SE and V? I'd figure it'd be roughly as fast as the V (8mb version V, not the 2mb).
The V also has a 3year warranty.

Harry Azol · Post by **Harry Azol** » Thu Dec 18, 2003 2:11 pm

good luck finding the V in the GTA..

make sure you actually get a V and not a 7200.7 being sold by ignorant vendors as the V

Viperoni · Post by **Viperoni** » Thu Dec 18, 2003 2:14 pm

pccanada says that theirs is a V.....
It looks like I might end up with the SP1203N anyhow

Harry Azol · Post by **Harry Azol** » Thu Dec 18, 2003 2:29 pm

did you call them and get them to read the model number from the actual drives?

I tried buying one from them in Sept and it was actually a 7200.7..

I ended up ordering one from ncix.com (BC)..

my next hd (160+) will be a spinpoint though..

Viperoni · Post by **Viperoni** » Thu Dec 18, 2003 9:24 pm

Nope, but they're the only place in the GTA that has the SP1203N's, so I'll probably end up going there anyhow tommorrow.

I take it I should go with the Sp1203N over the 8mb V in terms of both performance and noise?

Harry Azol · Post by **Harry Azol** » Thu Dec 18, 2003 9:36 pm

based on what I've read here..

noise - comparable
performance - better
temperature - much cooler

but that was comparing 8mb spinpoint vs. 8mb V, so the 2mb spinpoint may not be faster then the 8mb V

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 5:29 am

Harry Azol wrote:based on what I've read here..

noise - comparable
performance - better
temperature - much cooler

but that was comparing 8mb spinpoint vs. 8mb V, so the 2mb spinpoint may not be faster then the 8mb V

I'll make my own editorial correction to that:

noise - SP1203N is quieter than a cuda V

Oh, and that said, I'd recommend the Samsung over the cuda V. As a long time cuda IV user I am not impressed with Seagate's newer drives, noise-wise.

sbabb · Post by **sbabb** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 11:21 am

My SP1213s and SP1203 are nice and quiet.

Next up among drives I own are Maxtors, but they're much noisier than the Samsungs.

All of my Seagates are old SCSI drives and they are almost as noisy as the Western Digital mistakes I've made, though some of the really old Seagates approximate the noise of a 3/8" Black & Decker drill.

My WDs are beastly loud. Some make a noise that can be closely approximated by throwing a handful of gravel and a small duck into a Waring blender set on "puree."

ojg · Post by **ojg** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 11:57 am

I own both a Samsung SP1614N and a Seagate IV 80GB. The Samsung is far more quiet than the Seagate! The Seagate has a whooshing sound to it kind of like a 12V panaflo. The Seagate has louder seek noise too, while the Samsung is impossible to hear unless you put your ear onto it.

But since you are using a silentdrive the temperature is also important. My Samsung is at ~26C while the Seagate is over 40C. Big difference!

Go Samsung!

In my opinion, MikeC should change the recommended list and put Samsung on top.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 12:24 pm

ojg wrote:
Go Samsung!

In my opinion, MikeC should change the recommended list and put Samsung on top.

Here, here!

I've got nothing against Barracuda IV's, I own about 6 of them and have put dozens and dozens in customers' boxes but the Samsung's a better drive and the cuda IV is out of production anyway.

Viperoni · Post by **Viperoni** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 12:44 pm

Doh!

I just bought the 8mb Barracuda V: Canada Computers had them; their website doesn't specifically list which model, but when I saw the 8mb V in their display case, I snagged it. I'm pretty sure I'll be happy with the noise level, I mean, I can barely hear the IV outside my case anyhow, and it's noise is not bothersome to me. I have to work on quietening the rest of my system, mainly my CPU (pal8045 with a vantec Stealth 80mm with a 39ohm resistor in series).

I also grabbed an A7N8X-X, so hopefully the Q-fan stuff will also help me keep the rig quiet.

I do remember listening to a Samsung HD at work, but I don't remember exactly which model, I know it was an 80gig.... possibly an SP8004H, maybe SV... well in either case, it seemed to idle about as loud as an IV, but the seek noise was a bit more high pitched. I woudln't be surprised if the SP1203N was quieter though.

Worst case scenario, I sell the V to my friend and grab the Samsung

Viperoni · Post by **Viperoni** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 5:05 pm

Crap, the Barracuda V is a LOUD HD!
Just installed Win2k SP4 on it, and though the idle noise is fine, the seeks are LOUD. Probably as loud as my 80gig WD SE's seeks were, and "crunchier" in nature as well.
For me it's not a *big* issue, but I think I'll be getting my hands on the SP1203N...

<edit> Alrighty, I just used the Hitachi Feature Tool to change the AAM: it was off, and set to "256".... I turned it on and changed it to the lowest setting of "128". The difference is quite nice, seek noises became mellower, deeper and quieter in general, coming from fairly high pitched crunching. This is more like it

I don't think performance was affected much.
</edit>

Viperoni · Post by **Viperoni** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 10:07 pm

I know it doesn't make sense, but I seem to be getting a "whine" whenever the HD Barracuda V accesses.... it seems to be coming from either the MB's PS area, or the PS itself, I'll try swapping PS's tommorrow and hopefully come to some sort of conclusion. I tried pressing on various caps and coils on the board to no effect. I remember reading something in the PS forum about Barracuda's causing coil whine in Seasonic PS's... but I've run this same Enermax 300w on the Barracuda IV with no such noise.... on an epox 8kha+ as opposed to an A7N8X-X though.

Harry Azol · Post by **Harry Azol** » Fri Dec 19, 2003 11:02 pm

wow.. your setup is so identical to mine it's not funny..

i had an enermax 350w, p3 1.3/1gb pc133/cuda V 120gb 8mb/radeon 8500/etc

I was very happy with it..

Then I upgraded to A7N8X-X, 1700+ @ 2.2ghz, 1gb pc3200, everything else the same..

It would whine like crazy whenever cpu/video intensive tasks occured..

So I replaced my enermax with a Sparkle 300w (C$32!!) and I'm back in quiet pc heaven..
The panaflo I put in the Sparkle runs at a slower speed then it used to in the enermax (controlled by psu in both cases) so that's even better..

hope that helps you..

Viperoni · Post by **Viperoni** » Sat Dec 20, 2003 6:15 am

LOL!

I have a 80mm Panaflo L @ 7v in the Enermax right now, and it's great.... except for a bit of "chiga chiga chiga" kinda noise from it. The bearings I'm guessing. When I upgrade, I'll probably grab an Antec 380w (possibly 430w if it's like $10 more).... possibly a Sparkle 120mm 350w from quietpc.ca, but they're around $110..... regular 300w 120mm Sparkle's are $70.