New build questions. Now need hard drive.

a john · Post by **a john** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 2:41 pm

Building low cost rig using mainly for DVD copy, Streaming vid., and playing AVI file downloads on my TV sometimes. No HDTV at the moment (butt very soon). I do not game. Much time searching this site, others and Google. (many days) O.K.... My rig so far (not yet assembled). Gig. P35-DS3L REv. 2.0 (no raid), E2180, Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800 2 gig.kit, Liteon 20 Sata DVD combo (soon to buy another), Gig. 8500GT, Abit 54G Airpace, Old Maxtor 200GB Ultra ATA(never used) Antec P182, Enermax 500 Liberty. Dell 20 flat panel. Now the ? you have all heard before... HARD DRIVE..... Will a WD Green power sata 500GB work for my needs. I plan on using the Max for storing my MP3s, AVIs and photos. Should I dump the Max and get 2 sata 3g drives.. Ready for the coin flip... Thanks A John.

Blue_Sky · Post by **Blue_Sky** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 3:51 pm

Are you asking this because you want a quiet hard drive, one that uses the least power or just for our recommendations?

The hard drive doesn't seem to be the bottleneck in any of those cases. Western Digital makes very quiet drives these days - their WD500AAKS 500GB drive is common around here. I have one and I can't hear it over any of the fans in my system (all low RPM). I would expect that the green power drive will be just as quiet, because it runs at a slower speed. Either way, it is going to be quieter and faster than the Maxtor.
If the Maxtor is too loud for you, you might as well just use the WD GP. If space is a problem, I believe that WD makes a terabyte GP drive, that SPCR reviewed here.

a john · Post by **a john** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 9:40 am

Yes Blue Sky, I want a quiet hard drive. Something both fast and quiet. Power consumption is not an issue (I use my laptop 90% of the time). Looking for recommendations. Seagate? Many people here are using WD KS, and AAKS series. Is anyone using the WD Green Power? How fast is this thing??

Plekto · Post by **Plekto** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 5:17 pm

It's pretty standard as far as speed goes. But if you really want low noise, you need to be looking at laptop drives for two reasons.

1:They are pretty low noise, especially if they are mounted on foam or a good suspension system(rubber mounts don't help much)

2:Low power. This means that the computer can run cooler, and often with an undervolted 120mm fan at the rear.

The problem of course, is their capacity isn't so great.

Alex · Post by **Alex** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 5:13 pm

I say keep an eye on these 2 threads about WD new 320 GB platter drives.

viewtopic.php?t=45954

viewtopic.php?t=46649

Plekto · Post by **Plekto** » Tue Mar 04, 2008 5:32 pm

Those do look promising. 320GB only, though, but they are like half the price of a typical 320GB laptop drive.

robnas · Post by **robnas** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 3:14 am

WD or Samsung. Samsung less platters as possible, WD the 5400RPM series.

Blue_Sky · Post by **Blue_Sky** » Wed Mar 05, 2008 7:49 am

The WD 320 GB single platter drives look very interesting, but they use the same part number as the double platter models. It is going to be a crapshoot for a while to see which model you get (and retailers are going to want to get rid of the old stock).

If you have a look at the recommended list, the only recent drives up there are WDs. That's why there are so many people with WD drives around here.

Plekto · Post by **Plekto** » Thu Mar 06, 2008 6:14 pm

Blue_Sky wrote:The WD 320 GB single platter drives look very interesting, but they use the same part number as the double platter models. It is going to be a crapshoot for a while to see which model you get (and retailers are going to want to get rid of the old stock).

If you have a look at the recommended list, the only recent drives up there are WDs. That's why there are so many people with WD drives around here.

WD currently is making the lowest heat drives, and nearly the most silent ones as well. Heat is the big deal of course, as the other fans can be turned down more.

a john · Post by **a john** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 8:19 am

Thanks to all that have responded to thread...... I ordered the WD6400AAKS from the Egg. All of the reviews there said that this is the new 320 gig. platter! I will inform to all how this peforms. Now it is time to go and read the P182 threads and start the work on my P182 case. Replace the tri-cools and do some mods. Again thanks to all. This is a great site!