Has anybody used/experimented with this drive yet? I want to add another HDD to my box for a RAID setup, but whatever I get needs to 1)keep up with my Western Digital WD800JB SE, which is wicked fast, and 2) needs to be quiet. That kinda leaves the Seagate 'Cuda IV and V out *(sorry! I know that are a LOT of 'Cuda fans on these boards, and I respect that drive as a quiet alternative, but it just doesn't put up the same numbers as my WD800JB).

The newest Maxtor, the DiamondMax Plus 9, also is fluid dynamic bearing, so it should be quiter. Maxtor claims 2.5 bels idle and 3.5 bels seek, so it ought to be about as loud as a 'Cuda V (2.5 idle and 3.3 seek). And it has some impressive read/write transfer speeds and seek times, almost as good as the ol' WD.

Has anybody tried this drive? Would it be best served in a suspension rig, since it is primarily vibrational? Other thought?

Listen to it first before you assume that it sounds the same as a 'cuda. It may or may not have whine; the sound power dBA doesn't tell you the frequency spectrum of the noise. It sounds worth a try though.

I have the DiamondMax Plus9 FDB drive, they are quieter than IBM and WD ball bearing drive, but they are no way in the same league as Barracuda IV.

My friend has these drives and they are very quiet compared to any other hard disk. If you are looking for a hard disk that is very quiet I would suggest you go for Seagate Cuda IV or V. If you prefer performance over quietness then all other FDB drives should suit your needs..

Interesting comment, Passiveman -- it's what I suspected. There is a report at StorgaeReview that the IBM180 with FDB is almost as quiet as a 'cuda and almost as fast as the WD. Anyone have any experience with that?

I recently swapped my cuda IV out for 180GXP. Yes indeed they are as quiet as cuda IV. (at least in my system which predominant noise makers are HDD now) Even seeking, etc are as quiet as cuda IV for me... except...
It makes clinking noise every 10-30 seconds if I am intermittently accessing the drive. (nothing wrong it with... its IBM feature). If I am doing full load (like defragmenting) it goes away. It also doesn't do that when I am at total idle.
So far, I am quite happy with it... (95% of WD2000JB performance with quietness of cuda IV, btw WD2000JB makes this high freq whirring noise which is bothersome to me).
Another interesting thing is, the interval for noise has progressively gone longer now (when I am accesing it intermittently).
Waiting for NoVibe 3 to come to really test it out now for ultimate silence (okay, cuda V will beat it no problem is my guess but the performance on that drive makes me shrink... as well as reported problem with RAID)

Thanks for the useful info, jinu117. What is the size of your 180GXP?

Have you had a Barracuda V in your system to compare?

Let us know how it turns out with the NoVibes.