Samsung SP1604N Nidec FDB vs. Barracuda V 120gig ST3120024A

Viperoni · Post by **Viperoni** » Sun May 23, 2004 1:34 pm

So far I've only compared them side by side only powered, and then I connected them to my comp and ran Hitachi's AAM test to compare again.

Idle noise:
Test done with the drives sitting on carpet, powered by a PS with it's fan off, in a room with nothing on, and in a quiet house and quiet neighbourhood with nonexistant traffic.

Verdict: Seagate wins. Samsung' light whine is higher in pitch, and it's possible a tad louder.

Seek noise:
Test done inside my case, ear about 5 inches away from the drive. Drive's sitting on 1inch of foam forming a "basket" for the drive. Only fan runnning was an aluminum Evercool single bearing 92mm fan @ 5v, which is actually not silent at all. Used Hitachi's AAM Test to create seek noises, left at lowest setting (128 for both drives).

Verdict: Samsung wins. It's noise seemed to be a bit more muted and blended in better with it's idle noise.

I still have to test the drives head to head when I install windows on the Samsung and compare noise during bootup and otherwise.

OVERALL, the drives are pretty similar in terms of noise, and for now, I'd give the Samsung the slight edge. My testing, however, still isn't completed and I won't be able to truly say which drives wins until I finish. I will post back in this thread when I do finish.

Viperoni · Post by **Viperoni** » Mon May 24, 2004 7:06 pm

Officially confirmed, the Samsung is quieter in general use. It's seek noises are a bit queiter, but a bit "crispier" sounding than the Barracuda V's "crunchier" seeks. I'll have to compared idle noise one more time to be sure, but without a single doubt in my mind, seeks are quieter and less noticeable than the V's.

dan · Post by **dan** » Tue May 25, 2004 10:52 am

seagate on their website still says that the 7200.7 is the world's quietest HD.

thank god for Fluid Dynamic Bearings.

My western digital 60bb is extremely loud at idle