anyone suggest a QUIET 200-250gb HardDrive?

[merk]

I want to get a 200gb or 250gb hard drive for my pc.

My current config:

1st IDE: 120gb WD 12000JB
2nd IDE: dvd burner and dvd rom

pata raid controller: (2) 60gb IBm drives master and slave on 1st channel (2nd channel is empty).

Right now i dont have the 2 drives on the raid controller in a raid configuration. I'm debating on mirroring them or just using the 2 drives seperately.

I also have a SATA raid controller on the system that has nothing on it.

My boot drive is the master drive on the raid controller.

Any suggestions as to a QUIET 200-250gb drive? I'm open to either pata or sata drive. If i get a pata drive i'll probably get a 250gb ... 200gb if i get a sata (due to the price difference).

And i'd probably get one of the 8meg cache drives for the added performance and added warranty since i think all the drives with 8meg cache come with a 3 year warranty instead of 1 year.

[Keith]

The WD 250s have a rebate going on now. I bought one from a local Fry's which is Outpost.com online and was 149.00 after rebate. They come with a Promise ATA100 card and cable in it as well.

Capacity: 250GB
Seek Time: 8.9ms
7200RPM
8MB Buffer
Free Ultra ATA Controller Card
1 Year Limited Manufacturer Warranty

Nice having the space.

Keith

[merk]

thats a pretty good price!! How quiet is the drive?

[ultrajones]

You can't use Western Digital and quiet in the same sentence. Oh wait, yes I can: Western Digital drives aren't quiet.

Go Seagate. They are the quietest drives! An excellent choise for HTPC's.

http://www.seagate.com/products/retail/

Regards,
Ultrajones

[merk]

except seagate doesnt make them as big as maxtor or wd yet. The biggest seagate drive is 160gb. I want something at least 200 ... if i go with pata then i'd get a 250. The price for the wd on outpost was $40 cheaper then the maxtor drive, but if there is a noticeable difference in the noise, i'd rather spend the extra for the maxtor.

how is maxtor?

[ultrajones]

With my Seagate drives (two of them), you have to put your ear down next to the drive to hear it. With my Maxtors drives (six of them), you can hear them a few feet away. With my Western Digital drives (two of them), you can hear them anywhere within the room.

Regards,
Ultrajones

[merk]

hmm ... the seagate does sound pretty good then. but i really wanted the extra 100gb. maybe i should have gone with my original plan of building a seperate pc for the video stuff instead of using the one in my bedroom

I've got one WD drive in my machine and 2 ibms ... the wd is by far the loudest. Since outpost seems to have a pretty nice return policy, i'll probably order a maxtor and give that a try. Just need to decide where in my machine i'm going to put it

[ctebo]

Just to share my experience, I swapped out a maxtor drive for a seagate barracuda IV 120GB drive and could not believe the difference.

My htpc is sitting in the living room. When the maxtor was in that pc, the noise it generated was more than annoying. While watching tv you wouldn't hear it, but if i had the tv off and trying to have a conversation in that room, it would be an annoying intrusion.

With the seagate in the pc now, i never hear it, unless my ear is within a foot or two of the pc.

[merk]

if seagate had a 250gb drive i'd try them. I'm still going to give maxtor a try cuz i want the extra space. but if its too noisy i'll just send it back and get the seagate

[merk]

fyi, i think i changed my mind and am going to go with a seagate drive since i found a nice deal.

compusa has the 160gb drive for $89 after rebates. Have to buy it by 11/22 to get the rebate.

[TomZ]

This is slightly off topic, but my solution was to drill a hole in the floor, buy 12' cables, and put the computer in the cellar.

No computer noise at all

[Cayars]

That works for some. Others use the computer for other things like DVD playback and it's a pain to put in a new DVD that way.

This is a good option for some people if you can do this.

Carlo

[sloanja]

another option than to get a quiet drive, is to try to soundblock the entire PC.

Go to www.quietpc.com. It has a whole list of different soundproofing technologies such as foam you put on the inside of the case.

[merk]

Originally posted by sloanja
another option than to get a quiet drive, is to try to soundblock the entire PC.

Go to www.quietpc.com. It has a whole list of different soundproofing technologies such as foam you put on the inside of the case.

i thought of doing that but i'm worried the temp will get too high. I already have the case in a compartment in my desk. Although i left the back open also for temp concerns. Maybe i'll try lining the computer compartment with foam ... that should cut down on noise but still leave airflow ok.

And right now i think the WD drive i have in there is the loudest thing in there. So i think i am going to get 2 of those seagate drives and sell off the WD drive.

[sloanja]

Just remember, you need a place for the hot air to go (out the back as you stated), but you also need a place for the cold air to come in. Otherwise, you're just recycling hot air.