SPCR

I'm almost done building a new rig, built around a 65W Haswell, silent cooler and PSU in a Fractal Design Mini. I was planning to use my old storage made of a Samsung 830 and a Samsung F1 for storage.

Well, today I connected the Samsung on my desk via USB (actually my primary machine is a tiny 12" Acer laptop) and I realized the Samsung is quite noisy, not much in the seeks but mostly in the idle. Horror. Shock. Awe. I need a quieter drive.

The data I'm storing in this drive in mixed: personal data, lot of music, videos, portable apps and the occasional games I can't put in the SSD, because is not so big (120GB).

So, what's the best option for a decent BUT VERY silent mechanical drive in the 1/1,5TB range?
So far I came across the WD Caviar Green as the best candidate, but it comes in the EARX and EZRX variants. Which one do you recommend?
Another option could be a 2,5" drive. What do you think?

Thanks.

EZRX. It's officially rated lower noise than every other WD 3.5" drive of any type. Actually it is the quietest single model of 3.5" HDD from anyone I could find a year ago when I looked into it; would love to hear anyone who knows a quieter 3.5" HDD b/c I still don't know any better.

2.5 vs 3.5 - 2.5 can get quieter, if I recall correctly, especially if you suspend it in a 3.5 cage; but you'll have to do your own research.

No 1 TB 2,5" HD reviewed by SPCR has been as quiet as the quietest 3,5" drives from WD Green/Red. So go for a 3,5" drive. I don't know which variant to go by, but look at the most recent reviews of WD Green and WD Red. You'll have to suspend the drive in order to achieve as much as quietness as possible. Do you live in Europe? I know a great, cheap aftermarked HD suspension system, but it only ships in Europe. If not, try looking around in web stores or perhaps create a DIY suspension system by using elastic cords.

gabedamien:
From what I see from the specs on the WD page the EZRX is listend as just a bit louder than the EARX, which is also a little bit slower.
As soon as I have time I'll try to look more for benchs, in the meantime if anyone knows the real differences...

kuzzia:
Do you reccomend suspending even on the anti-vibration slide-cage of the Fractal Design Define series? Yep I'm from Europe, but I prefer to go DIY because I've already went far over budget with this build :j

silent_meerkat wrote:gabedamien:
From what I see from the specs on the WD page the EZRX is listend as just a bit louder than the EARX, which is also a little bit slower.
As soon as I have time I'll try to look more for benchs, in the meantime if anyone knows the real differences...

Please look again:



Which, by the way, is identical to the pop-out spec sheets on this page.

EZRX is quieter and faster than EARX, uses less power, and has higher shock absorbance and lower weight. It is equal or better in literally every single way (and a brief price search suggests that they are even the same price). I presume it uses a single platter, which would explain all of these advantages.