Which is the best, i mean quietest and most reliable HDD?

Performance, hardware, software, general buying and gaming discussion..
Post Reply
Message
Author
heiss
Freshman Member
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2005 10:34 pm
Location: Cambridge, MA

Which is the best, i mean quietest and most reliable HDD?

#1 Post by heiss » Thu Apr 27, 2006 4:27 pm

I'm considering replace 60GB 5400rpm HDD with 100GB 7200rpm one. I'm considering Seagate because that is the quietest i've used. What do you guys think?

GomJabbar
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 9765
Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2005 6:57 am

#2 Post by GomJabbar » Thu Apr 27, 2006 6:24 pm

I can't complain about my 40GB, 5400rpm Fujitsu - at least so far. About 15 months and counting. Quiet as a church mouse.
DKB

AlphaKilo470
Moderator Emeritus
Moderator Emeritus
Posts: 2735
Joined: Sun Nov 28, 2004 1:42 pm
Location: Atlanta, GA
Contact:

#3 Post by AlphaKilo470 » Thu Apr 27, 2006 6:27 pm

The 40gb Hitachi 5k80 in my ThinkPad 600E is also super quiet and also very reliable. This drive also runs very cool as well.
ThinkPad T60: 2GHZ CD T2500, 3gb RAM, 14.1" XGA, 60gb 7k100, Win 7 Ult
Latitude E7250: i5 5300U 2.3ghz, 12gb RAM, 12" 1080p touch, 256gb SSD, Win 10

Kyocera
Moderator Emeritus
Moderator Emeritus
Posts: 4826
Joined: Wed Aug 10, 2005 8:00 pm
Location: North Carolina, ...in my mind I'm going to Carolina.....
Contact:

#4 Post by Kyocera » Thu Apr 27, 2006 6:31 pm

I can't speak to the 100g but I do have all the machines in my sig running 60g 7200rpm drives and the noise is totally a non issue.

a31pguy
Moderator1
Moderator1
Posts: 605
Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2005 12:14 pm
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Contact:

#5 Post by a31pguy » Thu Apr 27, 2006 7:19 pm

I have both the seagate and hitachi. The seagate is very quiet and fast. However, the Hitachi drives are just as fast, rock solid dependable, fully compatible, and configurable with thinkpads.

Just my 2 cents.

ambientscape
Junior Member
Junior Member
Posts: 411
Joined: Sat Jan 01, 2005 1:19 pm
Location: Petronas Twin Tower
Contact:

#6 Post by ambientscape » Fri Apr 28, 2006 10:32 am

A credit to Western Digital Scorpio 60GB 5400rpm......complete with 3 years warranty. QUiet and cool......
-Thinkpad T23 1.2Ghz (2647-4RG) with Docking Station (2631)
-512MB RAM
-60GB Western Digital HDD
-3Com X-Jack Wireless A/B/G
-Imation External Combo DVD/CDRW
-Windows XP Pro SP2
-External 160GB Maxtor HDD

a31pguy
Moderator1
Moderator1
Posts: 605
Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2005 12:14 pm
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Contact:

#7 Post by a31pguy » Fri Apr 28, 2006 11:10 am


bhtooefr
ThinkPadder
ThinkPadder
Posts: 1370
Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2005 1:02 pm
Location: Newark, Ohio
Contact:

#8 Post by bhtooefr » Fri Apr 28, 2006 12:17 pm

Ah, Tech Report! (I'm on that site...)

Anyway, I gotta agree with them. You can't go wrong going with Seagate.

And, I've still got some sour taste in my mouth from the 60GXP. Also, I had a Travelstar DK20EA-30 (IIRC) in a Dell, and it would randomly corrupt data for no good reason.

Seagate's got that nice 5 year warranty, too, versus three for the Hitachis. :wink:
Current: 365XD (120 MHz, 72 MiB, 6.4 GB, 4x CD-ROM, 10.4" TFT)
Past: T61p 15.0" QXGA, T60p 15.0" QXGA, X61 Tablet SXGA+, R51e 14.1" XGA, X21

Nolonemo
Senior Member
Senior Member
Posts: 594
Joined: Wed Mar 16, 2005 5:58 pm
Location: Los Angeles

#9 Post by Nolonemo » Fri Apr 28, 2006 1:34 pm

I just replaced a Seagate 60GB 5400 drive in my T23 with a Hitachi 60GB 7200 drive. The Hitachi is noticably louder.

That said, I haven't implemented the Hitachi noise control software which I understand quiets the drive quite a bit without much of a performance hit.
560, 560x, T23, T61

GomJabbar
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 9765
Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2005 6:57 am

#10 Post by GomJabbar » Fri Apr 28, 2006 6:57 pm

bhtooefr wrote:Anyway, I gotta agree with them. You can't go wrong going with Seagate.
Perhaps, but I am a little concerned about Seagate buying out Maxtor. I've had Maxtor drives in my desktop PC, and I had three go out - each with less than a year of service. That said, I have always liked Seagate drives.

I guess we can all hope that the Maxtor line improves with the buyout.

Maxtor Loss Widens on Deal Concerns
The Associated Press wrote:Maxtor Corp., a maker of computer hard drives, on Wednesday said its first-quarter loss widened sharply due to customer concerns over its pending acquisition by Seagate Technology.
DKB

zhenya
Junior Member
Junior Member
Posts: 251
Joined: Sat Apr 08, 2006 10:56 pm
Location: Ithaca, NY

#11 Post by zhenya » Sat Apr 29, 2006 8:54 am

If you really want to find out which drive is the quietest, go to http://www.silentpcreview.com. I guarantee it won't be a 100gb 7200rpm model. In general Samsung makes the quietest hard disk drives.

bhtooefr
ThinkPadder
ThinkPadder
Posts: 1370
Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2005 1:02 pm
Location: Newark, Ohio
Contact:

#12 Post by bhtooefr » Sat Apr 29, 2006 9:37 am

Well, I would suspect that he meant quietest and most reliable 100GB 7200RPM drive. ;)

FWIW, my Samsung MP0402H 40GB 5400RPM drive in my X21 is audible, but not TOO loud. Sounds like a second small fan whirring away. Less seek noise than the old IBM Travelstar that came with it, FWIW. :)
Current: 365XD (120 MHz, 72 MiB, 6.4 GB, 4x CD-ROM, 10.4" TFT)
Past: T61p 15.0" QXGA, T60p 15.0" QXGA, X61 Tablet SXGA+, R51e 14.1" XGA, X21

zhenya
Junior Member
Junior Member
Posts: 251
Joined: Sat Apr 08, 2006 10:56 pm
Location: Ithaca, NY

#13 Post by zhenya » Sat Apr 29, 2006 10:09 am

bhtooefr wrote:Well, I would suspect that he meant quietest and most reliable 100GB 7200RPM drive. ;)
Yes, I suppose that's more accurate. :) Anyhow, the folks at silentpcreview will still be able to tell you very accurately what the quietest drive is for whatever configuration you're looking for.

heiss
Freshman Member
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2005 10:34 pm
Location: Cambridge, MA

thanks folks

#14 Post by heiss » Sun Apr 30, 2006 2:36 pm

this discussion is so helpful to me. At this point, I will perhaps go with seagate

davidspalding
ThinkPadder
ThinkPadder
Posts: 1593
Joined: Mon Nov 14, 2005 2:39 pm
Location: Durham, NC
Contact:

#15 Post by davidspalding » Sun Apr 30, 2006 3:29 pm

That TechReport comparison was good reading. I bought a Hitachi 7k100 100 gb drive based on price and word of mouth. In their tests, it didn't do nearly as well as the Seagate 7200.1 in Adobe Premiere tests (though it bested it in Photoshop). Well, I use both and bought this second drive for those in particular.

The Hitachi seemed to take the lead in multitasking tests ... that is, those more closely simulating that of a primary drive doing OS/Program/Data duties. My recommendation would be the Hitachi 7k100 for a primary/system drive replacement, but that Seagate 7200.1 would make a great secondary/data drive.

Or course in these kinds of tests, where they're performing intense data operations that take 10+ minutes, the 10-15 second differences really won't be noticeable when you're opening a Word doc in less than 4 seconds. And in real world computing, you'd get more performance boost from increasing RAM from 512 MB to 1 GB than buying a slightly faster hard drive. YMMVAPW.
2668-75U T43, 2GB RAM, 2nd hand NMB kybd, Dock II, spare Mini-Dock, and spare Port Replicators. Wacom BT tablet. Ultrabay 2nd HDD.
2672-KBU X32, 1.5GB RAM, 7200 rpm TravelStar HDD.

heiss
Freshman Member
Posts: 73
Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2005 10:34 pm
Location: Cambridge, MA

thanks,

#16 Post by heiss » Mon May 01, 2006 7:29 am

davidspalding wrote: you'd get more performance boost from increasing RAM from 512 MB to 1 GB than buying a slightly faster hard drive. YMMVAPW.


thanks for a helpful comments. I agree with you. Then would you say the same thing for the upgrade from 5400 to 7200? Not much difference in the everyday computing? I wonder how much difference it would make given my primary purpose is documenting, of course, in many programs popped up. What do you think?

bhtooefr
ThinkPadder
ThinkPadder
Posts: 1370
Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2005 1:02 pm
Location: Newark, Ohio
Contact:

#17 Post by bhtooefr » Mon May 01, 2006 9:01 am

Many programs?

More RAM is your friend.

However, a faster HDD will help if you run something like Photoshop, or do things involving loading lots of data.

Or, of course, if you were gonna get the bigger hard drive anyway, then go ahead and get faster - there's not much of a disadvantage going from 5400 to 7200...
Current: 365XD (120 MHz, 72 MiB, 6.4 GB, 4x CD-ROM, 10.4" TFT)
Past: T61p 15.0" QXGA, T60p 15.0" QXGA, X61 Tablet SXGA+, R51e 14.1" XGA, X21

colryn
Posts: 29
Joined: Tue Jan 24, 2006 10:30 am
Location: Orlando, FL

#18 Post by colryn » Mon May 01, 2006 9:59 am

I replaced my 60g Hitachi drive with a Seagate 100g drive. All I can say I never haer the drive and it is fast as anything. There was a five dollar price differance between the 100g Hitachi and Seagate. But the plus for Seagate was FIVE year warrenty as apposed to Hitachi's three year.

my two cents...
T42P, 2.0G-cpu,2.0G-ram,wifi2200BG,BT,120G-Seagate HDD
Dual Boot FC6/XP

davidspalding
ThinkPadder
ThinkPadder
Posts: 1593
Joined: Mon Nov 14, 2005 2:39 pm
Location: Durham, NC
Contact:

#19 Post by davidspalding » Mon May 01, 2006 10:05 pm

The Seagate and Hitachi drives have different strengths, it seems. Hitachi has a command feature that makes it a speed demon multitasking, e.g. running Windows Media Player, loading an Excel file and browing the Internet. The Seagate appears to have the edge in high-demand apps like Photoshop, Premiere Pro.

I didn't notice if those reviewers even specified if the drive was tested as the primary, system drive, or as a secondary drive. Makes a difference in most disk-based OS'....

If all around computing is the demand, I'd get the Hitachi for a primary drive, and the Seagate for a secondary. EITHER will provide a slight boost over a 5400 rpm drive (though some of those tests indicated a good 5400 was just as responsive in some situations).

At the end of the day ... either will be a good buy. Don't lose sleep wondering which is "the best." They're both great.

bhtooefr
ThinkPadder
ThinkPadder
Posts: 1370
Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2005 1:02 pm
Location: Newark, Ohio
Contact:

#20 Post by bhtooefr » Mon May 01, 2006 11:50 pm

http://techreport.com/reviews/2006q2/mo ... dex.x?pg=3

Under "Test system".

They list a bunch of laptop drives, and no desktop drives, leading me to believe that they're in a single-drive configuration.
Current: 365XD (120 MHz, 72 MiB, 6.4 GB, 4x CD-ROM, 10.4" TFT)
Past: T61p 15.0" QXGA, T60p 15.0" QXGA, X61 Tablet SXGA+, R51e 14.1" XGA, X21

Gustavo
Sophomore Member
Posts: 140
Joined: Thu Dec 01, 2005 11:36 am
Location: Europe/Denmark

Which one too pick

#21 Post by Gustavo » Tue May 02, 2006 4:07 pm

I have four laptop drives 2 Samsungs and 2 Fujitsu drives. The Samsungs are faster and more quiet, though one of the Fujitsu drives is 4200RPM making it the most silent.

I have had many Seagates in Desktop PC and they are just great, heard good things about the Seagate Momentus drives also.

If I had to make a choice I would take Seagate, that is in the 7200RPM range of drives, in the 5400RPM range I would take 120GB Samsung its quiet, fast and has lots of space.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
T43 2668-97U (PM760, 1,5GB Ram, Fujitsu 80GB 5400RPM, Radeon X300, 15" SXGA

kovacsab
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun May 07, 2006 3:54 pm
Location: Budapest, Hungary

#22 Post by kovacsab » Sat May 13, 2006 4:59 pm

Nolonemo wrote:I just replaced a Seagate 60GB 5400 drive in my T23 with a Hitachi 60GB 7200 drive. The Hitachi is noticably louder.

That said, I haven't implemented the Hitachi noise control software which I understand quiets the drive quite a bit without much of a performance hit.
Where can I find this Hitachi noise control software you mentioned? Mine in the T43 is pretty loud too...

zhenya
Junior Member
Junior Member
Posts: 251
Joined: Sat Apr 08, 2006 10:56 pm
Location: Ithaca, NY

#23 Post by zhenya » Sat May 13, 2006 5:26 pm

It's called the Hitachi Feature Tool, downloadable from Hitachi. You create a bootable floppy disk which gives you access to a bunch of tools that work on Hitachi and other brand drives. The one you want is called Acoustic Management, which adjusts the level of seek noise from the drive.

Word of Warning: use this tool at your own risk - it does have the possibility of damaging your drive. It shouldn't if used carefully - however I have had one drive that died by coincidence or not while adjusting the power management feauture. I've used Acoustic Management on several drives of different makes with no ill effects, however.

GomJabbar
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 9765
Joined: Tue Jun 07, 2005 6:57 am

#24 Post by GomJabbar » Sat May 13, 2006 5:54 pm

kovacsab wrote:Where can I find this Hitachi noise control software you mentioned? Mine in the T43 is pretty loud too...
http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm
DKB

kovacsab
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun May 07, 2006 3:54 pm
Location: Budapest, Hungary

#25 Post by kovacsab » Sun May 14, 2006 3:46 am

Thanks folks, anybody has any experience with this Hitatchi Feature Tool tool interfering with TP fancontrol?

Delmarco
Sophomore Member
Posts: 182
Joined: Sat Mar 04, 2006 11:40 am
Location: Greystone, NY
Contact:

#26 Post by Delmarco » Wed May 17, 2006 1:07 pm

Yeah, but the normal average joe user, even gamers, wouldn't buy a hard drive for performance as much as dependability and durabilty and also lifespan.

I did alot of reading and decided to upgrade to the 100GB 7200RPM Hitachi Travelstar, because it performed will enough, but it was also dependable and durable. Also it is relatively cheap compared to spending $20 to $30 less for a 60GB or 80GB drive.
At present, i wouldn't even think of buying a 5400RPM drive. Sure they are cheaper, but so will the resale value of your IBM when you sell it off or trade it in a few years to upgrade. And forget about a 4200RPM drive...those are a total waste of money.
Buried: T41 2379-DJU sxga 1.8Ghz 100GB
Cremated: T60 2008-VEP sxga 2.0Ghz 320GB
Travel: T61 8892-02U sxga 2.2Ghz 420GB
Home: W500 4062-4HU wuxga 2.8Ghz 320GB

Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Return to “Thinkpad - General HARDWARE/SOFTWARE questions”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 16 guests