Which of 2 is quieter & better performer?

Silencing hard drives, optical drives and other storage devices

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arsenal009
Posts: 50
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2011 11:57 pm

Which of 2 is quieter & better performer?

Post by arsenal009 » Fri Sep 30, 2011 12:22 am

Western Digital Caviar 1TB 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

Average Seek Time 8.9 ms
Data Buffer 32 MB
Interface SATA 3 Gb/s
Maximum Data Transfer Rate 300MBps
Rotations Per Minute (RPM) 5400 RPM
Storage Capacity 1 TB



Seagate Barracuda Green 1.5TB 3.5" Internal Hard Drive

Average Seek Time 12 ms
Data Buffer 64 MB
Interface SATA
Maximum Data Transfer Rate 600 Mbps
Rotations Per Minute (RPM) 5900 RPM
Storage Capacity 1.5 TB


Hey, I noticed that the WD drive has quicker seek times & lower rpm.
However, the Seagate drive has a higher data buffer & maximum data transfer rate

Which one do u guys think is quieter & has a better performance? Or is the difference not noticeable?

Thanks!

HFat
Posts: 1753
Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2008 4:27 am
Location: Switzerland

Re: Which of 2 is quieter & better performer?

Post by HFat » Fri Sep 30, 2011 9:32 am

Forget this stuff. The relevant information is the model number.
Without the model numbert, you can estimate the performance from the density (which you didn't post) and the rotational speed but that doesn't tell you a whole lot about the noise.

arsenal009
Posts: 50
Joined: Thu Sep 29, 2011 11:57 pm

Re: Which of 2 is quieter & better performer?

Post by arsenal009 » Fri Sep 30, 2011 10:14 am

HFat wrote:Forget this stuff. The relevant information is the model number.
Without the model numbert, you can estimate the performance from the density (which you didn't post) and the rotational speed but that doesn't tell you a whole lot about the noise.
Here is a link to the 2 drives: http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/compar ... 2520Drives

I believe these are the names of the drives w the model #s in brackets:

Western Digital Caviar 1TB 3.5" Internal Hard Drive (WD10EADS)
Seagate Barracuda Green 1.5TB 3.5" Internal Hard Drive (ST1500DL003)

Thanks

HFat
Posts: 1753
Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2008 4:27 am
Location: Switzerland

Re: Which of 2 is quieter & better performer?

Post by HFat » Sat Oct 01, 2011 10:36 am

Those are apparently "lottery models" (which is very common for WD, less for Seagate).
Some really old drive carry this WD model name. The lottery with that Seagate model may get you a newer drive but I would avoid it as well.

WD Greens tend to be the least noisy drives but their older drives may be noisier than the newer drives of other brands so I wouldn't play the lottery, especially if you care about performance (which is better for newer drives).

Instead of these two drives, I would recommend the 2T Samsung F4EG or the 2T Hitachi 5K3000. Both have been reviewed by SPCR and are known to be quiet. There's no lottery with those models: you'll be sure to get the fastest quiet drives you can get today (but faster drives will probably be available soon because they've already been formally released).
If you really want a 1T drive, you will have to settle for a lottery or older models.

washu
Posts: 571
Joined: Thu Nov 19, 2009 10:20 am
Location: Ottawa

Re: Which of 2 is quieter & better performer?

Post by washu » Sat Oct 01, 2011 6:05 pm

I assume you are Canadian since you are looking a Futureshop. Forget them, their prices for components are usually insane. Get your drives from a proper computer shop. For about the same price the FS charges for 1 TB Green drive you can get a 2 TB green or a 1 TB higher performance drives at better retailers. Find a good local shop or look around online.

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