WD GP vs Samsung T166, Looking for a QUIET, good performer

Tomson · Post by **Tomson** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 4:37 am

Have a question. I've just put together a really quiet PC, but found out that there is something not so quiet about it: 4 Seagate Hdd's (2x250, 1x320, 1x500gb).

They are brutal loud, as everything else in computer is alsmost inaudiable.

My question is. Whit what hdd's should I replace them?

Have been thinking of Samsung F1, but it seems they have very large % of defective drives, so it all comes to WD GreenPower and Samsung T166. WD is the most quiet drive ever, but it's kind a slow. T166 on the other hand, a avarage good performer and almost as quiet. Have heard something about vibrating a lot, is that true?

The use will be:
- 1 drive: Vista Ultimate OS and 24/7 use, anything that goes + some video and photo editing. (Photoshop, Premiere)
- 2 drive: XP Pro OS and audio production (Nuendo use of VSTs and mixing)
- 3 drive: Backup

So, I need 3x500gb of GP or T166 drives, but can't decide which way to go, any advice?

My current setup is:

CoolerMaster WaveMAster
Seasonic S12+ 650W
4xNoctua Silent Fans
Asus P5K-E Wifi
Intel E67502x2Gb
Patriot Extreme 800Mhz
4xSeagate HDD's
Gigabyte GF7600GT Silent

fabre · Post by **fabre** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 1:55 pm

Might want to consider Hitachi P7K500 500Gb drives as well.

I bought one on boxing day, and it was an excellent surprise.
It's simply put the quietest drive I have owned.
Without even enabling AAM seeks are close to inaudible, the drive emit very little vibrations and stays very cool.

Performance wise I haven't benched it, so I have no feedback to provide on speed.

Only downside at this time from a buyer perspective is that there are no review of this drive, so you only have users review to go by.

Michael Sandstrom · Post by **Michael Sandstrom** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 8:05 pm

I would go with the Samsung T166 units. I have four and all are exceptionally quiet. You might search for posts from SPCR forum member alfred. He reports running eight 500MB Samsungs and four 500MB WDs and claims the Samsung units are quieter and cooler running.

Tomson · Post by **Tomson** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 3:18 am

But Alfred seems to have WD AAKS not AACS (GP) series.

I'd like to know how T166 compares to GreenPower in practise, anyone?

Kaleid · Post by **Kaleid** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 9:40 pm

I would probably go for
2x t166 and one GP for backup.

Shemale · Post by **Shemale** » Sat Jan 12, 2008 4:49 am

I have a 500GB T166 and 1TB GP. The T166 is a little bit louder compared with GP, both at seek and idle. I have also a 320GB Seagate 7200.10, which is substantially more loud, especially at seek...crappy drives. Don't forget, the 500GB GP have only 2 platters, so is more quit compared with 1TB part who have 4 platters, the downside for GP is the 5400rpm.

Tomson · Post by **Tomson** » Tue Jan 15, 2008 1:51 pm

hmm... so GP is in fact quieter than T166 ... but how would it go if both drives would be 500GB, two platters?

What about the speed, is there any difference in practice, loading OS, copying files, anything ... ?

loimlo · Post by **loimlo** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 8:15 am

Taking less than 2 platters into consideration, WD GP 500GB version is certainly quieter than 750GB counterpart. As for speed, I believe Samsung's 7200RPM HDs would blow away the WD 5400RPM GPs. You trade performance for a quieter driver, I believe.

P.S How about a Hitachi P7K500 review on SPCR? The market was already flooded with P7K500 in numerous capacities models. I do anticipate it coming soon!

Tomson · Post by **Tomson** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 1:52 am

I'm not shure if T166 would blow away GP according to SorageReview Performance database:

http://www.storagereview.com/php/benchm ... 2&devCnt=2

On the other hand they say the noise level from both is exactly the same.

So if anybody has the two drives 500GB T166 and GP, please let me know how they perform in practise (from noise level to performance)

TNX!

jessekopelman · Post by **jessekopelman** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 8:46 am

Tomson wrote: So, I need 3x500gb of GP or T166 drives, but can't decide which way to go, any advice?

I bet 2 X 750 GB would be quieter than 3 X 500 GB.

Tomson · Post by **Tomson** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 1:59 pm

What about the new F1 series. If I get new 320GB (1platter) model when it comes out, should it theoreticly be more quiet than the T166 500GB (2platters) ?

jessekopelman · Post by **jessekopelman** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 4:30 pm

Tomson wrote:What about the new F1 series. If I get new 320GB (1platter) model when it comes out, should it theoreticly be more quiet than the T166 500GB (2platters) ?

But then you need 5 drives to get your 1.5 GB and it seems highly doubtful 5 drives are quieter than 3 (probably the same at best). Plus, 5 drives is more expensive, more electricity, and more chance of failure. I say your best bet is to go with 2X 750 GB drives.

Tomson · Post by **Tomson** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 5:04 pm

2x750GB is not the thing I need.

I need two drives for 2 OS (Vista and XP) and 1 for on-hand BackUp.

So I'm thinking Samsung 1xF1 320GB for 24/7 OS (Vista), 1xF1 640GB for OS (XP - Audio Production) and 1xF1 640GB for On-Hand BackUp.

Or 3x500Gb Samsung T166 ... or 3x500Gb WD GP. And there we go again ...

PS: Still curious about T166 (500gb) vs GP (500gb) in practice, anyone?

lorn · Post by **lorn** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 11:07 pm

Tomson wrote:I need two drives for 2 OS

Since you're trying to reduce your number of drives, have you considered running both from the same drive, in different partitions? Vista's loader should allow that.

Tomson · Post by **Tomson** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 1:33 am

Well, I still need 1.5TB of space, so I thought 1platter drive when running 24/7 OS would be more quiet than 1TB 3platter drive partitioned. Isn't that correct?

WD GP vs Samsung T166, Looking for a QUIET, good performer

WD GP vs Samsung T166, Looking for a QUIET, good performer

Re: WD GP vs Samsung T166, Looking for a QUIET, good perform