74GB Raptors - Loud? Any way to improve

{ace of spades} · Sep 1, 2007

The harddrive in my dell is driving me nuts and thats something i want to avoid in my new setup. I was looking at a 74GB raptor for fast boot times and game loading, which is important to me, but are they load and clunky?

Am i able to get some kind of rubber fittings to make it more silent, or do they not make any difference.

Finally, would i be better of getting two quieter harddrives in Raid-0 for the speed and silence?

Thanks for any help you can give.

James

tuskenraider · Sep 1, 2007

{ace of spades} said:
The harddrive in my dell is driving me nuts and thats something i want to avoid in my new setup. I was looking at a 74GB raptor for fast boot times and game loading, which is important to me, but are they load and clunky?

Am i able to get some kind of rubber fittings to make it more silent, or do they not make any difference.

Finally, would i be better of getting two quieter harddrives in Raid-0 for the speed and silence?

Thanks for any help you can give.

James

Well if you can't handle the noise of your current drive, the Raptor probably isn't for you. Noise can be very case and mounting method dependant and it doesn't sound like your current case does a good job dampening it. Something like this might make the Raptor tolerable, but I'd test it on your current drive, before making a Raptor purchase. Oh, and getting two drives in RAID0 won't be much faster, but will double your drive noise obviously.

Gunlance · Sep 1, 2007

I absolutely HATE my raptors because of the noise. Before in my old computer I had the same hdds but with more powerful radiator fans. Now that I've moved onto a silent fan setup, I hear every single movement of the drives. They are also mounted on rubber washers. If it wasn't for the fact that I already own them, I would scrap'em for some seagate perps.

Its especially annoying if you run a disk check or any kind of hard drive intese apps.(heavy swap file usage would drive me nuts)

David_N · Sep 1, 2007

Buy some really loud and high CFM fans! :attn:

On a serious note, you can buy small rubber washers at most hardware stores. Just put them on either side of the screws you use to put the drive in your case and it will help dampen the noise a bit.

If you are looking at new drives, a raptor would almost certainly would be as loud or louder than your current drive. A RAID0 of two quiet 7200RPM fans would be both fast and much more quiet than a raptor; I would put that as my top choice if I was in your position.

Scott9027 · Sep 1, 2007

Depending on what kind of case you're getting, unless you're not buying a new case, there's a decent chance it will come with those rubber grommets. I bought a $50 knock-off of a Lian-Li and it had them, so I would make sure your case doesn't come with them before you go and buy them.

Automata · Sep 1, 2007

David_N said:
A RAID0 of two quiet 7200RPM fans would be both fast and much more quiet than a raptor;

You can RAID fans now!?!!

I'd also suggest two non-raptor drives in RAID, works great

{ace of spades} · Sep 1, 2007

Im getting a lian-li V1000, as far as i can see, they dont come with the rubber stoppers.

First of all i was going to go loud and proud with my 220CMF delta fan, but now im thinking silence, since my computer will probably be on a lot of the time, maybe even when im asleep for downloading.

What two drives in raid could give me similar performace to a raptor without nearly as much sound?

james

{ace of spades} · Sep 1, 2007

Just been told Samsung Spinpoint P120 200gb SATA in Raid 0 would be the same as a raptor and quieter. Is this true?

Automata · Sep 1, 2007

{ace of spades} said:
Just been told Samsung Spinpoint P120 200gb SATA in Raid 0 would be the same as a raptor and quieter. Is this true?

Well, hardly the same.

Your seek times won't be as fast as on a Raptor (the main selling point, it loads lots of small files fast); but your overall transfer rate will be faster, around 120mb/sec.

{ace of spades} · Sep 1, 2007

Hmm. Im mostly interested in boot times and game loading times, where im assuming the files are larger so the samsung will be slower? Is there a webpage which compares seek times and transfer rates of harddives, ive been searching on google but to no avail.

Automata · Sep 1, 2007

{ace of spades} said:
Is there a webpage which compares seek times and transfer rates of harddives, ive been searching on google but to no avail.

I don't know of one, sorry. I'll post my benchmark of my 2x250's in RAID0 though. I'm sure you could find a Raptor bench on this site

That is with 2x250gig WD Cavier in a Matrix RAID0.

{ace of spades} · Sep 1, 2007

Thats impressive, are you using a PCI raid controller for that?

Two 150GB raptors in raid 0 gives around the 3700MB/s mark with 6.2 random access, it doesnt really look like that much of a difference.

Automata · Sep 1, 2007

{ace of spades} said:
Thats impressive, are you using a PCI raid controller for that?

Two 150GB raptors in raid 0 gives around the 3700MB/s mark with 6.2 random access, it doesnt really look like that much of a difference.

Nope, thats onboard

JCLW · Sep 2, 2007

Burst speed is more of a benchmark of the controller (and cache) then the drive.

Look at the average read speeds instead.

Kuroimaho · Sep 7, 2007

I agree with JCLW, a pity these drives are loud, I always wanted to get one.

Maviryk · Sep 7, 2007

I've got my 150's mounted to a plate via rubber bushings, and that plate is suspended via bungie cord to the inside of my case. I can hear the raptor's spinning over all the yate loons in the case.

If you're going for quiet, raptors aren't for you. On top of the already sound deadened/insulated antec P180, I added more noise dampening foam to the inside of the case and front door, the raptors are still audible, especially while seeking.

One Bull · Sep 7, 2007

Yeah, I was scared of the sound of my raptor at first, I thought it was dying, lol.

I think your best guess would be 2 7200's in raid.

To answer your question above: loading games is alot of small files. Your harddrive has to seek those. Thus raptors with better seek times are better at that. 2 hdd's in raid have a better transaction rate, thus they would do better at large files then raptors (but those aren't used when loading games)

youngbuck · Sep 8, 2007

The loudness factor is the only thing I don't like about Raptors. Though, I have taken no steps to reduce how loud it is.

shadowdr · Sep 8, 2007

Here is a shot of raided raptors and perps for a comparison. Both are running on the same system and partitioned. Raptors run Windows and the perps run programs. I can hear neither except at startup, but they have their own rack inside the case sitting on the bottom.

jb3231 · Sep 11, 2007

I just installed 2 into my new Scythe Quiet drive cases and I can still hear the Raptors every time they move.

I'm considering installing my WD 7200's back into the system.

They are really just too loud.

74GB Raptors - Loud? Any way to improve

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