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Resolved Question

quiet internal hard drive

Nov 25, 2011 3:48AM PST

Hi all. Just upgraded my old pavillion pc with an AMD 965, gigabyte 880GM D2H motherboard, corsair 600 watt psu, gigabyte 6570 video card, new fan and 4 gb DDR3 ram.
Still running XP 32 bit and will probably keep that system.

Next will be a new internal hard drive when/IF they ever drop in price again!

After researching, all recommendations i come across seem to be brand loyalty between seagate and western digital. Most views are that the other brand is crap.

I am not leaning one way or the other for brand, but my new pc is so quiet that i dont want to get something that makes me jump every time the hd does something.
Is there really much of a difference between the 5900 rpm and the 7200 rpm drives as far as sound and performance?

I am looking to get a 1 tb drive, reload XP on it and dont want to have to turn up the volume of the TV just because my pc is on at the same time.
Any recommendations are welcome.
Thanx

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gomango7 has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer

Best Answer

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I've got 2-10,000 RPM and 2-7200 RPM HDDs ...they're close
Nov 25, 2011 1:00PM PST

by in a large tower on the desk and I hear nothing. My recommendation, get a drive that's as large in capacity and as fast in RPMs as you can afford and deal with noise, if any, later. With the drive shortage and the high prices....this is a terrible time to buy a new hard drive.

VAPCMD

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Answer
The sound of seeking?
Nov 25, 2011 3:53AM PST
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Answer
Quiet
Nov 25, 2011 5:41AM PST

If you mean absolute silence get a SSD.

I'm using a WD black 7200.
I'm in a quiet room.
The machine is a few feet from my ear.
The front and side cover are off the machine.
Can I hear it seek?......yes.....but it's a very minor thunk sound.
I suppose I could put the covers back on and muffle that a bit or move the machine a little farther away.

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Answer
hey
Nov 25, 2011 2:19PM PST

Thanx all. Its all good advice. I am just so happy with the new quiet pc and would like to keep it that way.
Bob, yes to your assumption. its when the drive starts to do something that the volume goes up from its usual constant whirring and annoys. i am in a small apartment with tiled floors so all sounds are louder than if i had carpeted floors.
Bob b i am thinking maybe that because the current drive i have is 7 years old it may be struggling to survive and it is louder than normal.
and Vap, you are so right. now is the worst time to buy a hard drive! i can wait til after christmas and see if there are any deals. the floods in thailand usually dry up by late november. but this year is exceptionally bad.
I guess performance and then reliability are the keys here.
Thanx again