What is THE quietest 2.5" hard drive on the market now?

[jaganath]

I must have read a bazillion threads this afternoon (an exaggeration, but you get the gist) on SPCR trying to find the definitive answer to this question, but still the clouds of uncertainty refuse to clear.

Many people say the WD Scorpio 40GB is the quietest 2.5" HDD. Indeed, Western Digital themselves make this claim in their marketing blurb. However they have the well-known clicking problem and I'd rather that I didn't have to resort to firmware patches or DIY workarounds which might or might not cause the clicking to disappear.

The Samsung MP0402H is not the quietest, as the Recommended Hard Drives article-2.5" Notebook Drives sound measurements demonstrate.

SPCR's measurements of the quietness of the Toshiba MK4025GAS do not match Toshiba's own official specs: MK4025GAS Technical Specs

Also, Fujitsu's replacement for the MHT2040AT, the MHV2040AT, appears to have truly stunning acoustic performance, according to it's manual:

MHV2***AT Manual

Section 1.5-Acoustic Noise:

Idle Mode (Drive ready): Sound Power 1.5B (MHV2040AT)

Is there ANYONE out there who can give me a definitive, authoritative answer to this question:

Which 2.5" HDD currently on sale has the lowest acoustic (not vibrational) dissipation, when placed on shock-absorbing foam but NOT enclosed?!

For the love of Pete, please someone! This wild goose chase is driving me crazy!

[MikeC]

I must have read a bazillion threads this afternoon (an exaggeration, but you get the gist) on SPCR trying to find the definitive answer to this question, but still the clouds of uncertainty refuse to clear.

The Samsung MP0402H is not the quietest, as the Recommended Hard Drives article-2.5" Notebook Drives sound measurements demonstrate.

For the love of Pete, please someone! This wild goose chase is driving me crazy!

The uncertainly and wild goose chase is of your own making. We don't use the Samsung MP0402H as our reference quiet drive for no reason. It IS the quietest 5400rpm 2.5" drive we've measured or -- more importantly! -- heard. We've gone through mor than half a dozen samples, and find them all very similar.

[~El~Jefe~]

yeah dood, the 2.5 section of spcr is really short and sweet.

takes about 5 mins to read and get the idea.

i personally wouldnt go for anything but that super sexy 120 gb samsung with a sata connector right one it.

That, with a new p150 suspended, I bet if your raid0 them they stay funky cold medina like.

of course. you could buy a x2 4400 chip for that price. hm.

[jaganath]

We don't use the Samsung MP0402H as our reference quiet drive for no reason. It IS the quietest 5400rpm 2.5" drive we've measured or -- more importantly! -- heard.

Quieter than the WD Scorpio 400UE? Believe me, I really, really want to believe that the MP0402H is the quietest, as it is easily available here in the UK and very affordable too. As an aside, have you used or heard of anyone's experiences with the Fujitsu MHV2040AT? It seems that this one particular model has spectacular acoustic and energy performance for silent computing purposes, although you have to dig around in the manual to find the pertinent specs (the technical specs on the Fujtsu website cite 2.3 bels at idle for the MHV2***AT range, but the manual cites 1.5 bels for the MHV2040AT at idle).

[MikeC]

Fujitsu MHV2040AT is a 4200 rpm drive. One can safely assume that it has about the same acoustics for similar platter/head models of the MHT2040AT series, which was reviewed in the first article I wrote about 2.5" drives -- Is the silent future 2.5" wide? The 5400 rpm drives ARE perceptably, undeniably faster than the 4200rpm ones. Period.

As for noise, in my review of the Samsung, I reported: "The acoustics of this drive are virtually identical to the Fujitsu MHT2040AT."

The Scorpio could be quieter, possibly, than the Samsung, but it has issues with head reset/clicking noises that must be dealt w/by the user. Search in the forums on the Scorpio for this.

The other thing is... do you really think any of these notebook drives is going to be the noise bottleneck in your system?

[jaganath]

The other thing is... do you really think any of these notebook drives is going to be the noise bottleneck in your system?

Well I have an undervolted, underclocked P4M CPU and a fanless PSU, so yes I do think my hard drive is going to be the noise bottleneck in my system. Also unfortunately at the moment I can't afford both a 2.5" HDD and a noise elimination product like the SmartDrive or the SilentDrive, otherwise it wouldn't matter so much. I take your point about the MHV2040AT being a 4200rpm drive, but my question was what is the quietest 2.5" HDD, not which is the fastest 2.5" HDD.

[Bitter Jitter]

From what has been written on this site, i would say that the difference is so subjectively small as to be irrelevant. If you can't take the advice of the founder of this site, then i guess no one will be able to help you.

[MikeC]

Well I have an undervolted, underclocked P4M CPU and a fanless PSU, so yes I do think my hard drive is going to be the noise bottleneck in my system. Also unfortunately at the moment I can't afford both a 2.5" HDD and a noise elimination product like the SmartDrive or the SilentDrive, otherwise it wouldn't matter so much. I take your point about the MHV2040AT being a 4200rpm drive, but my question was what is the quietest 2.5" HDD, not which is the fastest 2.5" HDD.

In which case, go for it. It probably is quieter -- by a cochlea hair.

BTW, with a notebook drive, it is quite feasible to play with wrapping it up or enclosing it in something to reduce the noise further before suspending it. Because it typically runs <2W, the heat is really not an issue -- and you can always monitor the temp as well. Search the forum for others' experience with this.

[IdontexistM8]

The Scorpio could be quieter, possibly, than the Samsung, but it has issues with head reset/clicking noises that must be dealt w/by the user. Search in the forums on the Scorpio for this.

Are WD still putting out these 'clicking' drives? I ask because I've just ordered a WD800VE..as the Samsung MP0804H I've just put in my laptop is excellent but has a certain idle whine tone that I'm not 100% keen on.

One of them will be kept as an exact image external backup so not all is hanging on it.

Slight aside...my WD3200JB 'clicks', it's mainly an overflow/backup drive therefore again it's not crucial. I presume such noises are likely across the entire WD range.

[perplex]

why not get a 1.8" HDD and be done with it?

[IsaacKuo]

Can't afford a 2.5" hard drive silencing enclosure? Homebrew your own! Here's how to make one with under $15 worth of materials:

PSP case 2.5" drive silencer How-To

I use this enclosure with my 40gig Western Digital Scorpio, and it is SILENT.

[Shining Arcanine]

I must have read a bazillion threads this afternoon (an exaggeration, but you get the gist) on SPCR trying to find the definitive answer to this question, but still the clouds of uncertainty refuse to clear.

The Samsung MP0402H is not the quietest, as the Recommended Hard Drives article-2.5" Notebook Drives sound measurements demonstrate.

For the love of Pete, please someone! This wild goose chase is driving me crazy!

The uncertainly and wild goose chase is of your own making. We don't use the Samsung MP0402H as our reference quiet drive for no reason. It IS the quietest 5400rpm 2.5" drive we've measured or -- more importantly! -- heard. We've gone through mor than half a dozen samples, and find them all very similar.

MikeC, have you considered reviewing the WD400VE? The WD600VE and WD800VE were two platter drives so theoretically the WD400VE should output 3 decibels less across the board (making it more favorable than the MP0402H). The fact that the WD600VE sounded quieter than the WD800VE could be a result of having one less head than the WD800VE so I'd assume that getting rid of another head and a platter in the process would make it on par with the MP0402H at idle and at seeks with AAM and superior to the MP0402H at regular seeks.

I have a WD400VE and although I haven't done a side by side comparison, it sounds quieter than my 80mm Nexus Real Silent Case Fan.

Just my two cents.

Fujitsu MHV2040AT is a 4200 rpm drive. One can safely assume that it has about the same acoustics for similar platter/head models of the MHT2040AT series, which was reviewed in the first article I wrote about 2.5" drives -- Is the silent future 2.5" wide? The 5400 rpm drives ARE perceptably, undeniably faster than the 4200rpm ones. Period.

As for noise, in my review of the Samsung, I reported: "The acoustics of this drive are virtually identical to the Fujitsu MHT2040AT."

The Scorpio could be quieter, possibly, than the Samsung, but it has issues with head reset/clicking noises that must be dealt w/by the user. Search in the forums on the Scorpio for this.

The other thing is... do you really think any of these notebook drives is going to be the noise bottleneck in your system?

Not all Scorpios have that problem and I suspect that it was solved in the latest drives with WD's new firmware. Even if he was to get an old drive, he could always use the firmware update Dell procured from Western Digital.

From what has been written on this site, i would say that the difference is so subjectively small as to be irrelevant. If you can't take the advice of the founder of this site, then i guess no one will be able to help you.

Some people have more senistive ears than others so it is possible that he could discern a difference. I can discern differences in sound at around 17 decibels. I probably could discern them at lower decibel counts but I haven't had anything that I was sure was an exact decibel count below 17.6 decibels (i.e. I have an 80mm Nexus Real Silent Case Fan) to be sure.

The Scorpio could be quieter, possibly, than the Samsung, but it has issues with head reset/clicking noises that must be dealt w/by the user. Search in the forums on the Scorpio for this.

Are WD still putting out these 'clicking' drives? I ask because I've just ordered a WD800VE..as the Samsung MP0804H I've just put in my laptop is excellent but has a certain idle whine tone that I'm not 100% keen on.

One of them will be kept as an exact image external backup so not all is hanging on it.

Slight aside...my WD3200JB 'clicks', it's mainly an overflow/backup drive therefore again it's not crucial. I presume such noises are likely across the entire WD range.

I don't have clicks on my WD3200JB. I'd RMA yours if I were you.

[IdontexistM8]

I don't have clicks on my WD3200JB. I'd RMA yours if I were you.

We're talking one tick or click every 3-30 seconds when idle. It's in a external enclosure and it sits on it's stand on a polystyrene block. I suppose that amplifies the noise slightly but then I use the block to cut down on vibration through the table top.

I'm not sure it's sufficient for an RMA and if I did I'd wouldn't be surprised if WD (or one their local partners) turned their nose up at it.

I might investigate though. Does anyone know who the first point of call is in the UK for them?

[Shining Arcanine]

As I said, I have no such click with my WD3200JB. Anyway, I heard that Western Digital's RMA policies let you RMA a drive for pretty much any reason so you shouldn't have a problem. I'm right now in the process of RMAing my WD3200JB because the SMART system was throwing errors (a closer examination of the drive via Spinrite reveals that it has run out of spare sectors to replace bad sectors with, more likely a manufacturing defect than anything else). When I went to RMA it, I saw that Western Digital had an option to send the replacement drive before you send the defective drive (I took them up on it last week, received the replacement today, and I'll be installing it tomorrow) so chances are you won't have any problem RMAing the drive.

Of course I'm in the United States so your RMA experience might be different than mine. Check their website for their policies.

[IdontexistM8]

Blimey that's a bold step by them!!...so in effect you can get the new drive, install or transfer whatever you want from the old drive, then package that up and send it off?

I'll have a proper look at the site and perhaps give their Euro line a call.

Seems almost too good to be true.

[~El~Jefe~]

I think the best yet for a cool running hd is a block of foam. This should run you about 2-3 dollars at most in a fabric store. (more if you have to buy a larger piece)

if it runs hot, Suspension and placed down low near the front air intake. On my antec 3700 BQE case, the front hole has a noticable breeze of air there. I have yet to try it with this case, but, a block of foam on the bottom of the case with the 3.5 on it would probably be fine.

for me, I dont care about perfect silence, I would rather have cold components slightly more so. (im cheap, I want my stuff to last a long time)

[jaganath]

I must thank everyone for their terrific advice and ideas in this thread. IsaacKuo, that homebrew enclosure is a work of affordable genius and has all the characteristics that we have come to know and love from SPCR: ingenuity, creativity, and a real passion for no-noise PC solutions that don't break the bank. Hopefully the fact that the 2.5" Scorpio has been engineered for low-airflow, minimal power consumption applications means that the poor thermal dissipation of the homebrew enclosure won't shorten it's useful life significantly.

Thanks again everyone!

[IdontexistM8]

As I said, I have no such click with my WD3200JB. Anyway, I heard that Western Digital's RMA policies let you RMA a drive for pretty much any reason so you shouldn't have a problem. I'm right now in the process of RMAing my WD3200JB because the SMART system was throwing errors (a closer examination of the drive via Spinrite reveals that it has run out of spare sectors to replace bad sectors with, more likely a manufacturing defect than anything else). When I went to RMA it, I saw that Western Digital had an option to send the replacement drive before you send the defective drive (I took them up on it last week, received the replacement today, and I'll be installing it tomorrow) so chances are you won't have any problem RMAing the drive.

Of course I'm in the United States so your RMA experience might be different than mine. Check their website for their policies.

Further heading off-topic..but the replacement drive I've received from WD in europe does exactly the same..one tick every 10-30 secs. Even does it when only power is connected to the drive.

I think I'll ebay it, not sure what to replace it with after reading the higher capacity Spinpoints are seemingly noisier in some respects. If I could hold out for a T133 then I probably would.