Quiet, High-Capacity HDDs?

[Fladoodle654]

Hi there,

 

I would like to upgrade my home pc with a high-capacity HDD since I am currently running a few external drives which take up most of my USB. I had the luck to test out a friend's 12 GB Seagate Exos drive for free and while it runs near silently, even under load, the clicking when writing data is extremely noticable, unsurprising though seeing as it is an enterprise line. I haven't really used HDDs for a while now because SSDs have become very affordable and long lived, as well as being completely silent. Now I need some mass storage though so:

 

My main question would be if some of you could share their experiences with high-capacity HDDs, which ones may be less noisy than others, at capacities starting at 12 GB. Main uses would be simple storage for video/audio/pictures, as well as occasionally recording to it or watching videos from it. No gaming, streaming or editing whatsoever.

 

I have read multiple times that NAS drives like WD Reds or Seagate Ironwolfs are supposedly rather quiet, with lower RPM of course also meaning lower noise. Since a low humming is not really a problem for me though I don't want to blindly follow this advice. My pc is standing beside me on my desk so a constant clicking would drive me crazy.

 

I am also open to alternatives but I don't have enough space, or the parts/money, for a NAS and external drive cases always seemed iffy to me.

[spaghet rat]

1 minute ago, Fladoodle654 said:

Hi there,

 

I would like to upgrade my home pc with a high-capacity HDD since I am currently running a few external drives which take up most of my USB. I had the luck to test out a friend's 12 GB Seagate Exos drive for free and while it runs near silently, even under load, the clicking when writing data is extremely noticable, unsurprising though seeing as it is an enterprise line. I haven't really used HDDs for a while now because SSDs have become very affordable and long lived, as well as being completely silent. Now I need some mass storage though so:

 

My main question would be if some of you could share their experiences with high-capacity HDDs, which ones may be less noisy than others, at capacities starting at 12 GB. Main uses would be simple storage for video/audio/pictures, as well as occasionally recording to it or watching videos from it. No gaming, streaming or editing whatsoever.

 

I have read multiple times that NAS drives like WD Reds or Seagate Ironwolfs are supposedly rather quiet, with lower RPM of course also meaning lower noise. Since a low humming is not really a problem for me though I don't want to blindly follow this advice. My pc is standing beside me on my desk so a constant clicking would drive me crazy.

 

I am also open to alternatives but I don't have enough space, or the parts/money, for a NAS and external drive cases always seemed iffy to me.

seagate firecuda or ironwolf/ironwolf pro nas

[spaghet rat]

firecuda is a faster drive but also has some negative reviews. the normal ironwolf nas is good but do not buy from amazon because people reported getting it delivered in nothing but one of those padded amazon sealed bags inside of an antistatic bag

[Fladoodle654]

Thanks for the immediate answer! From what I have seen so far Firecuda drives seem to have lower general capacities, so I will settle for a normal Ironwolf one. Since they are intended for 24/7 runtimes I am assuming I can safely look around for some slightly used ones on eBay? I have seen some enticing offers, at least if I can get some usage metrics from the sellers.

Just now, spaghet rat said:

firecuda is a faster drive but also has some negative reviews. the normal ironwolf nas is good but do not buy from amazon because people reported getting it delivered in nothing but one of those padded amazon sealed bags inside of an antistatic bag

This is exactly the way my friend, who I borrowed the Exos from, received it. No foam, no bubblewrap, just a bit of bunched-up paper and an anti-static bag. Unbelievable for that price, he was livid and is planning to return it.

 

Followup question: I noticed that my current 2.5" external drives are considerably less noisy than what I remember of my older HDDs from ~3 years ago. Is there a possible reason beside the form factor and advancing tech?

[spaghet rat]

1 minute ago, Fladoodle654 said:

Thanks for the immediate answer! From what I have seen so far Firecuda drives seem to have lower general capacities, so I will settle for a normal Ironwolf one. Since they are intended for 24/7 runtimes I am assuming I can safely look around for some slightly used ones on eBay? I have seen some enticing offers, at least if I can get some usage metrics from the sellers.

This is exactly the way my friend, who I borrowed the Exos from, received it. No foam, no bubblewrap, just a bit of bunched-up paper and an anti-static bag. Unbelievable for that price, he was livid and is planning to return it.

 

Followup question: I noticed that my current 2.5" external drives are considerably less noisy than what I remember of my older HDDs from ~3 years ago. Is there a possible reason beside the form factor and advancing tech?

1. dont get off ebay, hidden malware is always possible

2. ur 2.5 inch drives are probably solid state drives (basically bigger m.2 drives) 

[Fladoodle654]

10 minutes ago, spaghet rat said:

1. dont get off ebay, hidden malware is always possible

2. ur 2.5 inch drives are probably solid state drives (basically bigger m.2 drives) 

1. Didn't really think about that but I also don't think that it's too likely for verified sellers.

2. They are HDDs, I would love to have enough money for external 4 TB SSDs. Their write-head is just unnoticable for 99% of the time except for very high usage.

 

Again, thank you very much for the answers!