Maxtor HDDs loud?

Hi Guys

I'm deciding which of the two HDDs to get, the Western Digital WD2500JB and the 250 GB Maxtor Serial ATA 7200rpm UDMA150 HDD. Both on tomshardware, which was reviewed seemed really good. The thing which will make me choose is the noise at which they work at. Ive got 2 WD 120Gb HDDs and their REALLY quiet. But ive only really owned a maxator 10gig at 5400rpm like 4 years ago and that was LOUD. So i was wondering does anyone have a 250 GB Maxtor Serial ATA 7200rpm and can you tell me if the noise it produces is bearable?

I cant the 80gig 7100rpm 8mb cache and i can hear it. if that anything to go by.
I would say its quieter than my Western Digital (7200rpm 30Gb) drive when i pu my ear right up to it.

:confused: Are those WD 7200rpm? WD are reknowned for noisy operation when compared to Maxtor, Seagate, Hitachi etc. Maxtor are a great choice because of great perf, reliability, pricing and their SATA HDs even come with the old power interface as well as new SATA one. They also tend to run quieter and cooler than much of the competition esp WD. Another nice thing is Maxtor's Acoustic Management sw which allows you to tone down the noise to 2 settings which have varying degrees of impact on perf. However I don't think it applies to the SATA drives. Since SATA is in its infancy and many controllers and drivers are still quite beta I would suggest considering std ATA133 Maxtor 7200-2 or 7200-8 esp if noise is a big factor for you. You can always run them with an 'ATA to SATA' adapter if you want small cables, dedicated channels etc.

cheers for that, maxtor must have improved since I had my 10gig HD from them. Hearing you advice ill prolly get a 250 maxtor now, cheaper as well.

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I'd go for the WD SE for the 3 Year warranty myself, but it's up to you.. :p.

:confused: Yeah it is a real cop out that the HD industry std warranty shifted from 3 years to a very measly 1 year. WD's SE (7200-8) HDs were one of VERY few to offer more than 1 year which is good ... if you like to keep your HD that long LOL. I believe Maxtor and possibly Seagate offer 3 years on some of their HDs ... I'm pretty sure for the larger ones and/or SATA HDs. Anyone know for certain of the other manu's warranties?

I have a Maxtor 120GB S-ATA in my Sonata case (quiet - see Sonata thread!) and I can barely hear it over the fan noise - which I can barely hear over ambient noise.

I am a Maxtor fan and my blind loyalty has not only served me well but taken a lot of pain out of choosing new hardware :-)

the quietest (fast) drive i've used is the Seagate barracuda IV (i've used maxtor, westernditial SE (both loud, the SE being the louder), but the seagate is FAR from silent

quietest drive i have now is a WD 80g SE (because its in a silent drive enclosure!)

My maxtor +9 is fairly quiet, much quieter than the old IBM it replaced :)