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General discussion

Silent External Hard Drive

Jul 19, 2005 4:16AM PDT

I am looking for a silent external hard drive. I currently have an 80GB Buffalo Drivestation, but I need another one and would like something that doesnt make much noise. Should I buy an external one? If so, which brand? or should I buy an internal hard drive and then a hard drive case? Any siggestions would be appreciated.


Thanks, PB

Discussion is locked

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Silent External Hard Drive
Jul 20, 2005 2:23AM PDT

The only one that will silent in the one that is turned off.
They all make some noise. Some have a small fan to cool the HD. HDs do make a soft clicking sound when the heads are moving. Get a 6' USB cable and move the HD away from you PC. John

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Silent External Hard Drive
Jul 21, 2005 6:47AM PDT

All hard drives make some noise... If you're going to buy an enclosure and put a desktop drive in it, just make sure you get a quiet drive...

Samsung drives are cheap and the quietest drive out there right now. I built a PC with a Samsung 80GB drive that I couldn't hear the drive running because the CPU fan was so much louder than the drive... The CPU fan was variable speed, and even throttled down to its slowest setting was a lot louder than the drive.

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Silent External Hard Drive
Jul 21, 2005 6:55AM PDT

If you're more interested in quiet than performance, I would also suggest that you buy a 5400 RPM drive, rather than the 7200 RPM... It'll buy you an extra DBa or so... Happy