The noise level of notebook HDDs (a question about Western Digital)

I think I have tried many different HDDs for notebooks on my and my friend's lappies.

Concerning the noise level, my observation is that
fujitsu 4200 are more silent than fujitsu 5400 (it's obvious).

However, in the 5400 sector my experience regarding the HDD noise level is as follows:

fujitsu > western digital > hitachi > samsung.
(if I remember correctly the sound from seagate was on the level of that from fujitsu or even higher).

Besides, while Hitachi is silent in the background, it produces sometimes rather disturbing clicking sounds. The sound level of Hitachi 5400 is similar to that of Fujitsu
4200 and it is hardly distinguishable from that of Samsung 5400 (on another laptop), except the occasional clicks.

This experience, however, contradicts the numbers for the noise levels one can find in the specifications:

fujitsu>hitachi>samsung>western digital.

So, in my case Hitachi was more silent than expected, while Western Digital HDD was considerably more loud than the expected 21dB in the specifications
(vs 22-24dB for Samsung)

Can someone tell me if my dissapointing expereince with the background noise of WD HDD is not unexpected, or I just have bad lack with a particular drive. This is the first drive where I can actually hear even the high tone chirp sometimes.


I admit that the comparison of the noise level is done on different laptops in a very silent room.

The one where WD HDD is mounted is actually a subnotebook with the magnesium alloy case, while the one were Hitachi is mounted is a budget plastic notebook. Moreover, the HDD noise is almost not heard in a normal office background. It is only in the silent room I can make the comparison, or by hearing the noises by putting my ears very close to the hdd.

What is the most silent notebook HDD in your opinion or according to your experience?

 

seagate isn't that loud.
i have a 5400rpm one, and it's fine
i used to have fujitsu, and that was louder
never has a WD or hitachi (but i wouldn't trust samsung)

 

SilentPCReview is a good resource.

 

Its not that fair of a comparison, to compare 4200 to 5400 hard drives. The inherent noise the 5400 make will be louder just due to them being faster. Granted some manufacturers do a better job in making quiet drives.

From my experiences, I've had Hitachi (5400, 7200 RPM), Seagate (5400) and Fujitsu (4200, 5400) drives. From these drives, the Hitachi seems to make a clicking sound, whether it was the 5400 or 7200 model. As for the 5400 series, I found Fujitsu and Seagate to be about equal in terms of noise, didn't really hear much if anything but I think the Fujitsu still quieter. But the Fujitsu drive seems to perform slightly worse in performance wise compared to the Seagate.

Now as for the Hitachi drives, there is a ftool program by Hitachi that allows the user to adjust the sound level, although I suspect this impacts performance some. But when I set the 7200 drive to be quiet as possible, you still hear the clicks but not very noticeable.

 

there are options in the bios that let you change how loud the hd is

 

Fujitsu, Hitachi and Seagate's 5400 produce almost same noise level, BUT I have had Toshiba notebook with toshiba 40gb 4200 which is much louder than those three. So in my opinion toshiba hd(manufactured by toshiba-I mean) is ****py..

 

If Im correct my averatec hasa 5400rpm 80gb WD HDD in it, and if so then I can say its pretty quiet.

 

Thanks to everybody for the comments.

Are there other WD Scropio hard disc owners who could comment on the noise level?

 

I have a Western Digital Scorpio 80GB 5400RPM in an external enclosure - previously, it was in my HP. It's perfectly quiet, probably the best drive I've used. Can't hear it no matter what. The build of a WD drive is incredible. They're a bit heavier than other manufacturers because they use thicker metal.
Another thing I like about it is that it runs cool. That's an indication of good quality. Cheaper drives, such as Samsungs, run hot due to cheaper bearings.

Can't buy a better drive than a WD in my opinion. I have one in my desktop as well, it's the same way. Haven't heard it at all in the 3.5 years that I have had the desktop.

Chaz

 

Hei. I recently bought a Western Digital Scorpio 80GB 5400RPM to replace my Samsung M40 40GB 5400RPM drive (needed more space), i also have a Samsung M40 60GB 5400RPM in an external (eMagic) enclosure. (the 60GB double platter is noisier than the 40GB single platter)

Let me reassure you, the WD disc is much louder than both Samsungs, in my ears at least. As you wrote "This is the first drive where I can actually hear even the high tone chirp sometimes", is true for my drive also. I have a dell510m laptop where i have disabled the fan, the hard drive is the only component emitting noise. Now my laptop sounds like the fan is on all the time (the slow mode of the fan fortunately Im considering going back to 40GB Samsung and put the WD disc into external enclosure instead, so i dont have to hear it all the time while working. Dont think there are any 2.5" single platter drives with larger storage capacity than 40GB yet.
The 40GB samsung is the quietest drive i have ever had my hands on, silentpcreview has it as a reference disc btw.

 

I've had a Fujitsu, Hitachi, and Seagate (all SATA, 5400 60gb)

I'd say Fujitsu is unquestionably the loudest, with Hitachi and Seagate being the quietest. Hitachi may be a little quieter, but clicks more.

 

I have a 4200 rpm 20 gb IBM very loud and slow. A 40gb 5400 rpm Samsung very quiet, can't hear it at all. And a 5400 rpm 40gb Hitachi, quiet but a bit louder than the Samsung, but totally acceptable noise level. I find the Hitachi faster than the Samsung but not by much.