Opinions on WD Raptors

Talz · Post by **Talz** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 1:11 am

Alright, I finally replaced my annoying GF4 cooler with a zalman heatpipe, replaced my vantec stealths with panaflos at the same time as well and I'm very happy with my current sound level. It's not silent when everything is at full, but it isn't bad either.

Ok, given this system. Antec truepower 430 (2 fans, variable speed, stays pretty quiet), 3 80mm panaflo L1a, 1 80mm vantec stealth, 1 barracuda IV. How much noise is a raptor going to add? I'm very happy to be rid of the Gainward GF4 fan, and don't want to upgrade by adding something just as annoying. So particularly those of you with raptors, do you think the sound they add is likely to bug me? As a side note, I generally don't mind seek noises, I like to know how much work my hard drive is doing.

pingu666 · Post by **pingu666** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 2:50 am

they say they are quiet, consider a couple of cuda's in raid? v/7 version that is

search the forum too m8

Talz · Post by **Talz** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 10:33 am

Yeah I've searched the previous posts, just looking for more opinions.

sgtpokey · Post by **sgtpokey** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 10:47 am

a raid 0 pair of barracuda 7200.7 would cost less and be quieter...

If you get the Raptors and then find out they're too loud you could always try silencing them with one of the myriad 5.25" HD silencing enclosures... except you'd be paying a lot for the Raptors + HD Silencers.

By the way www.storagereview.com has noise measurements as part of their very extensive hd reviews...

POLIST8 · Post by **POLIST8** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 11:21 am

I'd be scared to enclose a raptor...10k?????????

Thing might go up like the Challenger.

Talz · Post by **Talz** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 11:22 am

Raptors run cooler than some 7200 rpm units, I wouldn't be afraid of using a smart drive if I could just find one cheap.

POLIST8 · Post by **POLIST8** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 11:28 am

They do have that heatsink...

But still, Be my guest...

pingu666 · Post by **pingu666** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 2:02 pm

i think raid 0 cudas better value for money, just backup your stuff or use a backup drive higher level raid
36gig cant even store my mp3 collection

Td_nw · Post by **Td_nw** » Wed Jul 16, 2003 5:33 pm

7200.7 Raid0 would be my 2 cents. They work good, a little warm but I have them infront of the intake so All Good!

pingu666 · Post by **pingu666** » Fri Jul 18, 2003 12:58 pm

you will get more space too

not just the speed

POLIST8 · Post by **POLIST8** » Fri Jul 18, 2003 1:18 pm

My 7200.7 is always 5C less than my Cuda V.

If worried about heat, mount them in the front bottom of the case and have a nice 7v Panaflo blow over the top of them.

Jan Kivar · Post by **Jan Kivar** » Sat Jul 19, 2003 12:21 am

DO NOT DO A RAID0 ARRAY! You're better off running the drives separately. Also, why get two 80 GB drives, when You can get a 160 GB drive in the first place? Less heat, less noise.

You would need HW and OS support for the 160 GB drive though.

Cheers,

Jan

SometimesWarrior · Post by **SometimesWarrior** » Sat Jul 19, 2003 1:23 am

Running RAID 0 isn't going to speed up access times, so the 'Cudas are still going to be significantly slower than the Raptor. Even StorageReview says that RAID 0 won't help in the majority of cases. IMHO, you should only bother with RAID 0 if you're doing serious audio/video editing (or other sequential file transfer applications), if your brain can't keep track of another drive letter, or if you want more opportunities to put your backup solution to the test.

36GB is more than you'll ever need (in the foreseeable future) for a fast primary drive from which to load your OS, apps, and games and store your scratch files. No one buys a Raptor to store MP3's, I hope.

Talz · Post by **Talz** » Sat Jul 19, 2003 12:55 pm

I have an 80 GB cuda IV already, and that will take care of any extra storage room I need. I'm really not crazy about RAID arrays for normal desktop usage though. RAID 0 for vid editing boxes, RAID 1 and 5 for servers (depending on the exact usage).

And I don't think a RAID 0 array of 7200.7 raptors would be quieter. Storage Review measured their raptor at 42.5 db idle,(beta sample was quieter yet at 40.4 db) and 7200.7's at 39.9 db idle, which would result in 42.9 db idle for two. And my cuda IV they rate at 41.3 db idle. The only real concern I have is if the raptors idle is a bit to high pitched and annoying.

Td_nw · Post by **Td_nw** » Mon Jul 21, 2003 8:22 pm

Ok... In re-reading this thread, I may have been mistaken on the original purpose of the Raptor. As a main drive for OS, progs, etc.. then I would say YES it is a good solution if you are going for performance that you can tolerate heat and noise whise.

My Maxtor is for my OS and progs, as I got a real good deal on it. The Raid0 is for vid editing (do not know how "serious" my stuff is, but they work good for what I do on them)

As far as sound 2 x 7200.7 vs Raptor...

I personnaly have not heard a Raptor operating, but from reading reviews etc.. I would say it is in the "quality" not "quantity" of the sound the 7200s make versus the Raptor that would make me prefer the 7200s.
I have to pay atttention to hear my 7200s as their sound is very background un-noticable unless I bring my ear besides the box while accessing them.

pingu666 · Post by **pingu666** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 2:45 am

sounds like ya mind is made up, buy one

POLIST8 · Post by **POLIST8** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 7:29 am

Hahahahahaa!!!

But 36GB...That's so tiny...

Hell, 120GB is tiny.

But it's your money. Do as thou wilt.

marc999 · Post by **marc999** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 10:14 am

I have two Raptors, both in Smart Drive 2002s, in RAID 1 (mirror). Even enclosed in the Smart Drives, I can still hear the high pitched whine. I still think that WD did a great job on the engineering of these drives, I can't imagine a 10 000 RPM drive being any quieter, even perhaps if it was manufactured by Seagate or Sumsung. It's not loud per say but still obtrusive. Not up to SPCR standards IMHO, although I have 2 running at the same time which increases the noise. I'm going to install AcoustiPak in the future, and hopefully that will reduce them to "very quiet" status. My recommendation is this: if you want performance more than silence, go for the Raptors. They're still pretty quiet. A hell of a lot quieter than my old 7200 RPM WD drive that's for darn sure. If silence is more important, probably a Samsung or Barracuda 7200.7 is the way to go. If you have a lot of cash, then you may be able to achieve silence plus high performance with a Raptor using a Smart Drive 2002 and AcoustiPack (unless the AcoustiPack alone is enough, I'm not sure about that, however I know the Smart Drive 2002 alone is not enough, at least with 2 drives). Hope this helps.

POLIST8 · Post by **POLIST8** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 10:24 am

How hot do your Raptors get Marc999?

marc999 · Post by **marc999** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 4:27 pm

I really don't know to be honest. I'm confident they're OK. I had my Barracuda IV in a Silent Drive (not Smart Drive) and those things toast your HD. Anyway, it was fine (for the year and a bit that I used it). I had a sticker on it that indicated the max temperature - it shows 60 degrees Celcius. I didn't even have a case fan in that set up either (then again I was only running a PIII 850 Mhz). It wasn't on 24/7 though, only intermitently as I needed it. Now I've got the fairly cool running D8000 with one 120mm Panaflow @5V on the back and the air coming out feels like ambient. (read cool). Anyway, I'm still making changes, eventually I'll be overclocking my 1.3 Celeron to 1729 Mhz, adding an intake fan, perhaps changing the fan on the back as I've got two Papst 4412 FGL's that are probably quieter but not as much airflow. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that I'm quite confident that as long as you have adequate case ventalation and using a Smart Drive 2002 (not Silent Drive) then you should be okay. When I have time (and figure out how to) I'll try and post some numbers for ya. It may be hard to get those numbers though because the drives are in a RAID configuration, which confuses the temp monitoring software from what I've read. I can promise you though that if I do experience any HD failure I will let you guys know right away.

P.S. - I've just opened my case and felt the Smart Drive 2002s. They're not even warm. Just had my computer on for about 25 minutes though, of which HD activity has been very low admitedly.

Talz · Post by **Talz** » Tue Jul 22, 2003 5:58 pm

Thanks marc. I really want a raptor but you have me thinking I will wait until I can buy a smart drive etc at the same time. Maybe 72 gb units will be out by then to!

frosty · Post by **frosty** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 11:36 am

I have really really stpid question but why do so many here run double cuda's is for backup or fear of losing one drive or whatever - I have rarely ever ran two hd at once and I luckily have never had one crash on me - if you are trying to eliminate noise why run extra hard drives. Please don't flame here, not a crit but and observation question?

POLIST8 · Post by **POLIST8** » Tue Jul 29, 2003 11:45 am

So from this post I hear that the Raptor is whiny even in a SmartDrive 2002.

I guess you really can't trust what sites outside of this one consider "quiet".

I'm not buying another WD until they're completely comparable to a Seagate and recommended on this site.

schnee · Post by **schnee** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 8:49 pm

I'm running dual Raptors in SmartDrives and they're barely audible.

The system has several things that are fairly quiet but contribute to a quiet but not silent system - Zalman 7000cu, four Papst case fans (the two in front are audible), Zalman 400w psu, 2 x 120gb 7200.7 Seagates (right behind the two front fans so nothing to block the noise), etc.

This system used to be silent when I had the Seagates in the SmartDrives and an AMD XP1800+... now that I have a P4 2.4c w/ HUGE HSF, two more drives, and hotter/louder PS, it's audible. When I take the 40mm fan off the Mobo (well, IF I can) that'll help... but still, it's a very, very quiet system all told. Quieter than one single WD SE 100.

pingu666 · Post by **pingu666** » Wed Aug 13, 2003 3:33 am

frosty i run 2 cos i need the space, that simple