Quietest 250GB & 500GB SATA2 drives with 16MB cache

hinz · Post by **hinz** » Sat May 05, 2007 9:23 am

As the title suggests I'm looking for the quietest 250GB & 500GB SATA2 drives with 16MB cache.

I currently have a 250GB model from WD, which i'be been using for about a month which I found quite noisy but after enabling AAM it's much better.

Are there any quieter 250GB drives out there? also looking for a 500GB drive. I hear the WD5000AAKS is very good?

cheers
hinz

Mari0-Br0s · Post by **Mari0-Br0s** » Sun May 06, 2007 11:22 am

hi hinz,

There's a topic in the forum, where people says that the WD5000AAKS is actually noisier than it previous version, the WD5000KS.

We'll see if SilentPCReview will grab one AAKS and compare both, but for the moment, it seems speculation only.

fjf · Post by **fjf** » Sun May 06, 2007 11:35 am

For a 500 GB, I just got a Samsung HD501LJ. I suspended it, and it is really hard to believe that 1 meter away I cannot hear it spinning; the seeks are almost inaudible. From a close distance it only makes a soft whoooossssssssss that is not unpleasant. Highly recommended.

Michael Sandstrom · Post by **Michael Sandstrom** » Sun May 06, 2007 2:27 pm

I agree completely with fjf. My inaudible Samsung HD501LJ is suspended in an Antec Solo which is on my desk one meter from my head. I cannot even hear seeks. Last week I got an email from Newegg offering this drive for $120 with free shipping.

Maelwys · Post by **Maelwys** » Mon May 07, 2007 8:26 am

I just recently picked up a WD 2500KS because I wanted to move my Samsung 501LJ to my media PC. I as expecting a similar lack of noise from the WD, but was surprised at how loud it was. Even with AAM enabled it's louder than the Samsung ever was.

Bottom line, get a Samsung and suspend it if you can - quietest drive I've ever experienced.

hinz · Post by **hinz** » Mon May 07, 2007 8:39 am

A lot of votes for the Samsung then!

Hows the performance & reliability on these drives? I've never had a Samsung HD before.

It will be storing all my document,photos,videos (ie. the user folder in vista)etc so reliability will be important.

cheers

Michael Sandstrom · Post by **Michael Sandstrom** » Tue May 08, 2007 9:09 pm

Failure rates are not available for new hard drive models but Samsung drives in general have not been noted for unreliability. In the past three years I have purchased four Samsung drives with no problems. You might consider checking customer reviews at Newegg for the Samsung model that you are interested in. For example, the HD501LJ won Newegg's customer choice award last month based on excellent reviews. Of 220 reviews 84% were excellent and 9% were very good.

stevenkelby · Post by **stevenkelby** » Sun Jul 29, 2007 5:18 am

hinz wrote:
It will be storing all my document,photos,videos (ie. the user folder in vista)etc so reliability will be important.

cheers

Just a tip, your hard drive is going to fail one day so make sure you have anything important continually backed up (like daily) on another HD, discs etc. It's not a matter of if it will fail, but when. They all go eventually. Saying that, you do normally get signs it's on it's way out and get a chance to copy data out, but it's still risky.

I have a HD501LJ suspended and in a scythe quiet drive and it is great but is the seeks are clearly audible anywhere in the room. Only other noise source in my system is the Samsung 226BW monitor hum. My office is basically a sound proof booth though.

subsonik · Post by **subsonik** » Sun Jul 29, 2007 10:24 am

Thumbs up for the Samsung HD501LJ. I got 4 of them, they are quieter than my recent WD 320GB. Actually, they are a lot quieter than any Seagate I've owned (but I've never owned a cuda IV, only 7200.7 and later). Just make sure to use soft suspension, the Samsungs are not very well balanced.

Concerning reliability... one of these 4 drives just failed. No big deal, it was just the backup disk. It probably got too hot too fast while making a backup in a USB enclosure.

Das_Saunamies · Post by **Das_Saunamies** » Sun Jul 29, 2007 2:42 pm

Suspended, suspended, suspended... how about the rest of reality where the space and means don't exist?! Better off with WD?

I've asked this question a few times now, but never have I gotten an answer: without suspension, WD or Samsung?

subsonik · Post by **subsonik** » Sun Jul 29, 2007 3:06 pm

This is silentpcreview, right? No HDD suspension isn't really an option then, is it?

I can't comment on the differences in seek noise/vibrations between my Samsungs and WD's, as I don't use AAM. My HD's are suspended in a solid, heavy harddisk enclosure, which is in its turn suspended as well. There is absolutely no way I can hear my Samsungs seek, when my case is closed.

Concerning drive vibration due to bad balancing, it all seems to depend on the drive model and platter count. My single platter Samsung is better than anything. But the 3-platter WD is better than the 3-platter Samsung... So I'd say, when suspension is not an option, go for a single platter drive.

Das_Saunamies · Post by **Das_Saunamies** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 12:13 am

We're not all absolute silence nuts, and there's no "QPCR", or quietpcreview. So it's all here baby! Also, my single-platter Seagate is the worst drive ever for vibrations. I'd rather have more of less dense platters please.

I'll just buy the AAKS as my storage drive just overflowed.