So what's the best (noise-wise) high performance (non-green) drive nowadays? I see mostly green drives in the comparison.

Just look on that list in review (p5) and you'll see Seagate Barracuda 3TB -- ikt's pretty quiet at 16/17 dBA idle/seek -- tho at least one person in these forums has had some issue with it. Our sample is going into my HTPC hard mounted -- it is quiet enough for me, tho admittedly I am rarely in that room w/o the TV on & some kind of programming sound on the speakers, and the PC is >6' from where I sit.