Best, Fastest, Quietest HARD DRIVE.

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Ransome

Ransome

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Jul 24, 2012
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Hello,
I am using only a single 256 GB SSD on my Gaming Rig. I was using it for almost a year now, and was really hoping that SSD prices will go down. Well....they didn't, especially not in Israel, where prices are multiplied seven fold (no kidding).

Anyway, here are the models I had in mind:
Seagate Barracuda 2 TB HDD SATA 6 Gb/s NCQ 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive ST2000DM001
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005T3GRN2/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2C5ZXBWRFOGHH&coliid=I38B64EO6NSNLO

WD Green 2 TB Desktop Hard Drive: 3.5 Inch, SATA III, 64 MB Cache - WD20EZRX
http://www.amazon.com/WD-Green-Desktop-Hard-Drive/dp/B008YAHW6I/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1387839879&sr=1-2&keywords=western+digital+2tb

Western Digital Black
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=760

Please tell me what you think. If there is a better model out there let me know.
I am looking for the quietest, fasted, safest and most reliable - all for gaming. Something fitting to work with my Crucial M4 256 GB.

My rig:
Asus GTX 670 DC2T 2GB
16 GB Corsair DDR 3 RAM
Core i5-3570K @3.40 Ghz
SSD Crucial M4 256 GB
 
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i would go with the caviar black.the green will be noticeably slower.like previous posters said,speed=noise.that having been said i really cant hear my caviar black.
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killerclick

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I don't think those objectives are compatible. Best is subjective and dependent on your needs, and with spinning-disk drives, speed and noise are generally proportional.

That said, for quiet components try QuietPC.co.uk
They're specialized in providing components for quiet rigs, so even if you don't want to order from them (I'm sure they deliver to Israel, but you probably want something you can RMA quickly), looking at the components they stock you can see which are the quietest options.

I solved my problem with loud hard drives by suspension. Check it out:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article8-page2.html
Looks silly but it's amazingly effective.

For reliability, look for drives with the lowest number of one-star reviews on Amazon and Newegg.
 
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Ransome

Ransome

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Not really an option. Besides they don't work with 7200 rpm for what I see.. and I think this is the minimum requirement of an HD nowdays. What about the models I posted? what do you guys think?
 
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killerclick

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As far as I know, all WD Green drives have under 7200 RPM, like 5900 or something like that.
That Barracuda has a very high number of one-star reviews both on Amazon and Newegg, based on that alone, I wouldn't recommend it.

Regarding reliability, you can't really get good recommendations based on anecdotal evidence (ie, I got two of these drives and they work great), so I suggest looking at drives with high number of reviews and selecting for the lowest proportion of one-star reviews (which are generally due to having to RMA the products)
 
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Ransome

Ransome

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Wow it is funny - I just noticed that I can't (for some reason) find RPM in the specs of any of the AMAZON links and also the WD website link LOL. I thought Green has the same speed... thank you so much for bringing it up.
Where do you see the RPM details?? (maybe on Newegg I gotta check..)

I don't think it is called Caviar Black anymore - just WD Black - please check the link from the Asus page I sent you. The problem with the WD Black - while it is well known as the one of the best/the best HD for gaming - and designed for gaming - it is a lot more pricy than both the Seagate that I posted and the WD Green. Nearly double the price.. and in Israel - its getting even worse:
Green 2TB or Seagate Barracuda cost 120 $, while WD Black 2TB cost roughly 215 $.... (after coin conversion and all).
I invested a lot of money on my Crucial M4 256 ssd, still hoping and wondering if I made the right choice. But using an SSD for my Steam and Win 8.1 works like a charm. But its time I will have an extra drive.
thank you both for the advice. Any other thoughts?

By the way - anyone here know if it is possible to have STEAM installed on two drives ??- or two steams with the same account merged- so some games will be installed on my HD, while more heavy games will be install on my SSD ?? I am running out of room on my SSD - and even bringing 2TB of HD won't help, if Steam games will still be on the SSD alone..
 
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smitbret

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Count me as a vote for the Barracudas. I have 4 in my server alongside 2 WD Greens. The Barracudas are quieter, run within one degree of the Greens and they are about 40% faster. I've only had them for about a year so I can't vouch for them long-term but they've been 100% solid so far and they will run any of the WD drives out of the building right now..... for speed, it's not close.
 
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killerclick

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No, they keep quiet about it for marketing reasons, but a while ago they used to list the RPM. Also, their speeds are consistent with lower RPM drives and there is really no way to achieve that noise reduction and power saving and sell the drive cheaply without reducing the RPM. Technically maybe the spindle can spin at 7200 RPM so they may put that in there, but based on all the benchmarks I've seen and personal experience, WD Green drives perform like 5400 RPM drives.



Yes, every time you install a new game, you get a prompt that allows you to either install in the current Steam library location or create a new library someplace else.
 
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Ransome

Ransome

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What about WD Black ? it is advertised as a gaming HD. And I know its a good brand. No body will vouched for it/recommend it?

What I don't understand is the difference between WD2003FZEX and WD2002FAEX - they look identically the same: and here in Israel we have both models at stores.
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=760
http://www.wdc.com/global/products/specs/?driveID=1345&language=1
http://www.wdc.com/global/products/specs/?driveID=899&language=1

Can anyone also tell which HD is better and why: Seagate Barracuda 2 TB HDD SATA 6 Gb/s NCQ 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive ST2000DM001 VS. the Western Digital Black ?
 
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Som3one

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I personally would choose the WD Black. But that´s just because I am biased towards Seagate.

That being said, have you thought about downstepping a bit?
For example towards a WD Red which is slower with only 5900RPM but runs quieter and cooler and should be cheaper.
Or a WD Blue which should be cheaper than a Black, too.
 
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