Viewing page 4 of 4 pages.
Previous 1 2 3 4
|
2.5" HDD NOISE COMPARISON
|
| Drive Model |
SPL
Idle / AAM / Seek
(dBA/1m)
|
Vibration
1-10
(10 = no vibration)
|
Subjective Notes
|
| Currently Reviewed |
| Western Digital Scorpio - 2 platter |
20 / 21 / 21
|
7-9
|
Sample variance makes it hard to rank the noise of this drive,
but it belongs somewhere between the Samsung 1-platter notebook and the
Seagate Barracuda IV. Idle noise is mainly a low frequency motor hum with
little high frequency whine. Seeks are almost too quiet to notice, and can
be characterized as a low rumble. AAM cannot be enabled or disabled, but
it would be hard to improve the seek noise anyway. Vibration ranged from
the level of the Barracuda IV to below the Samsung MP0402H. |
| Fujitsu MHT2080BH - 2 platter |
22 / 23-24 / 23-24
|
9
|
It sounds undamped and is louder than the Barracuda
IV, somewhat like the Toshiba MK6022GAX. Seeks are about average for a notebook
drive, rising about 1-2 dBA/1m above idle. The Fujitsu has the lowest vibration
of any drive tested. May avoid the intermittent clicking problem common
with notebook drives because it waits for 10-15 seconds after a seek before
unloading the heads. Consumes ~0.2W more than other notebook drives, but
this is very minor. |
| Previously Reviewed Notebook Drives |
|
Samsung MP0402H - 1 platter
|
17 / 18 / 19-20
|
8
|
The acoustics of this drive are virtually identical to
the Fujitsu MHT2040AT, a considerably slower 4200 rpm drive and the quietest
we've encountered. The Samsung is extremely quiet, and there is very little
if any high frequency noise to speak of. It has minimal vibration, but
placing it on soft foam does reduce low freq. noise audibly. The unit
used in the test PC was suspended in elastic string and mostly surrounded
by soft but dense foam. Seek noise is somewhat more audible than the 1
dBA gain suggests, but very soft.
|
|
Hitachi Travelstar 5K80 - 2 platter
|
19 / – / 20
|
–
|
The Hitachi comes very close to the Samsung, but has a
slightly sharper and higher pitched sound, with perhaps a touch more vibration
as well. The seek noise is a touch louder too. When inside even a very
quiet desktop PC, the slightly higher noise level of this drive over the
Samsung may not be audible. The performance is superior, according to
SiSoftware Sandra 2005, and also subjectively.
|
| Toshiba MK6022GAX - 2 platter |
22 / – / –
|
–
|
Slightly louder than the Seagate
Barracuda IV single platter 3.5" reference hard drive. The noise signature
has the broadband shhhh quality exhibited by the Samsung SP
3.5" drives, but higher in pitch, a bit like the Seagate. A trace of
whine, but not like the Seagate Momentus. Seek noise is only moderately
louder than idle, perhaps by 3 dBA. Vibration is higher than any of the
4200rpm drives; similar to the Momentus. Performance seems quite speedy,
as it should be with 16 MB cache and 5400rpm, but inconsistent results with
all the benchmarks tried stops me from publishing results. |
| Seagate Momentus ST94811A - 1
platter |
24 / – / –
|
–
|
The Momentus has a terrible constant "pure"
tone somewhere in the 6~10KHz range. It drops 2-3 dBA in level when the
listener or the mic faces the edge of the drive because of directionality
of the high frequency whine. Seek noise is substantially higher, probably
3~5 dBA. Vibration is much lower than any 3.5" drive, but higher
than either of the 4200rpm drives tried. A real disappointment acoustically,
but it did perform about as fast as the Seagate Barracuda-IV.
|
| Fujitsu MHT2040AT - 1 platter |
16 / – / –
|
–
|
The only noise maker in the Mappit
A4F PC, which seemed virtually inaudible to me. The noise is not
inaudible, but very low and soft, easily dismissed in the ambient noise
of all but the quietest spaces. There is no high pitched whine to speak
of, and the seek noise does not seem more than maybe 2 dBA higher than
idle. It is the slowest performer of all the drives here. Extremely low
vibration. |
| Toshiba MK4025GAS - 1 platter |
16 / – / –
|
–
|
This 8 MB cache 4200 RPM drive offers better performance
than 2 MB cache 4200 rpm drives, and it is identical in both idle and
seek noise to the Fujitsu above. Extremely low vibration.
|
| Reference Quiet 3.5" Drives |
| Seagate Barracuda IV ST340016A - 1 platter
(discontinued) |
21 / 23 / 25-26
|
6
|
In idle, it remains the quietest of all 3.5" drives.
This sample is almost 2 years old, but seems unchanged in noise. There
may be a touch of high frequency whine but it is very low in level, and
easily obscured when mounted in a PC case. Seek is considerably higher,
possibly as much as 5~6 dBA. Low vibration, but MUCH higher than any of
the notebook drives.
|
| Samsung SP0802N - 1 platter
(Nidec motor) |
21 / 23-24 / 25-26
|
4
|
The idle noise is a touch higher, but its seek may actually
be lower than the Seagate B-IV. Similar vibration level as the B-IV, but
there are reports of some samples exhibiting much higher vibration levels.
This is cured by HDD decouple mounting (suspension in elastic material
or placement on soft foam), which is virtually mandatory for a truly quiet
PC anyway.
|
CONCLUSIONS
The variance between our two samples of the Western Digital
Scorpio makes it a little uncertain just how quiet this drive is. The dual
platter models that were tested could not match the acoustic performance of
the single platter Samsung drive, but the 60 GB sample did come close. It's
probably safe to say that the Scorpio is quieter than almost all 3.5" drives
and should be inaudible in most systems. If the ambient noise level is extremely
low (or if the drive is installed in a laptop instead of a desktop PC), there
may be some benefit to seeking out the single platter version of the drive,
but in most systems this drive should be quiet enough for almost all users.
The strengthened top cover of the Scorpio is hardly a deal-making
feature, but it is a welcome bit of protection against clumsy users, and probably
helps Western Digital keep their RMA costs down.
Although the Fujitsu drive has some unique features that
may make it worthy of consideration in specialized circumstances, it is on the
noisy side of most notebook drives we've reviewed. While NCQ is a nice feature
to have, it may actually be detrimental for desktop performance, according to
Storage Review. SATA is very useful, however, for ease of installation
and cable management, especially in a SFF system where space is at a premium
and good airflow is critical. Some users may find a bit of acoustic damping
material around the drive is enough to reduce the noise to acceptable levels,
given the advantages of SATA, or if RAID performance is desired. With the low
thermal output of the drive, it's also easy to encase the drive for noise reduction.
In any case, we welcome SATA to the notebook drive and look forward for it to
be available on a wider variety of models.
| WD Scorpio 80G |
|
PRO
* Extremely quiet
* Low vibration
* Strong casing
* Modest market price
* Low thermals
|
CON
* Requires awkward PATA adapter
* Possible repetitive clicking noise |
| Fujitsu MHT2080BH 80G |
PRO
* Convenient SATA for improved cable management, RAID functions, etc.
* Very low vibration
* Low thermals
|
CON
* A bit loud for a notebook drive
* Current pricing (but obviously subject to change)
* NCQ actually can hurt desktop performance |
Many thanks to Western
Digital for the Scorpio sample, and Fujitsu
for the MHT2080BH sample.
* * *
Discuss
this article in the SPCR Forums.
| Help support this site, buy from one of our affiliate retailers! |
|
