Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
You'll have to look at individual manufacturers' websites for single platter drives. Toshiba's storage division is very reputable. I wouldn't worry about the lack of reviews.

I never bought a Toshiba drive before. My 2010 MBP came with a Seagate (loud), my 2009 MBP had a Hitachi (quiet and good), but I used a WD as an external before. Then again, I'm looking at internal drives. Maybe I will try the Toshiba out..
 
I never bought a Toshiba drive before. My 2010 MBP came with a Seagate (loud), my 2009 MBP had a Hitachi (quiet and good), but I used a WD as an external before. Then again, I'm looking at internal drives. Maybe I will try the Toshiba out..
I've had nothing but positive experiences with Toshiba drives. They're definitely one of the better brands.
 
The acoustics vary from drive to drive. I always go by the manufacturer spec sheet. If you look here, you can see where I obtained the noise levels. Note that different capacities have different acoustic properties since after 320GB (for this particular drive) the number of platters goes up.
 
The acoustics vary from drive to drive. I always go by the manufacturer spec sheet. If you look here, you can see where I obtained the noise levels. Note that different capacities have different acoustic properties since after 320GB (for this particular drive) the number of platters goes up.

oh I see. great. so the drive I linked to has one platter?
 
My MacBook Pro came with a Toshiba MK3265GSXF 320GB 5400 RPM drive that's silent. Looking at Toshiba's website it appears to be this drive, MK3265GSX, notice it doesn't have the F on the end of the model number, not sure that makes any difference or not.
 
My MacBook Pro came with a Toshiba MK3265GSXF 320GB 5400 RPM drive that's silent. Looking at Toshiba's website it appears to be this drive, MK3265GSX, notice it doesn't have the F on the end of the model number, not sure that makes any difference or not.
Without diving through the specs I'm not sure what the differences are between that drive and the one I recommended; however, acoustically, they are the same at 19dB idle and 20dB while seeking.
 
My MacBook Pro came with a Toshiba MK3265GSXF 320GB 5400 RPM drive that's silent. Looking at Toshiba's website it appears to be this drive, MK3265GSX, notice it doesn't have the F on the end of the model number, not sure that makes any difference or not.

That's great to hear. I think it's time to give Toshiba a chance..
 
well just my luck. as I am about to order the new drive, it is out of stock. Could this mean a newer model is coming out? How can I find out?
 
well just my luck. as I am about to order the new drive, it is out of stock. Could this mean a newer model is coming out? How can I find out?

Out-of-stock at one vendor or multiple vendors? If it's out-of-stock at multiple vendors it could mean that there's a newer model on the horizon.
 
Afaik drives with less platters are usually less noisy.
I don't know if they sell in retail yet but Toshiba offers a 500GB single platter 7mm drive for a while now. If you put 2-3mm isolation on top and 2-3mm below it would probably be as quite as it gets.
On SPCR they used to use Bitumen build HDD isolation. Not sure what is the best material. Obviously one that is cheap, easy to get, transmits enough heat and silences as good as possible.

I am quite sure that putting some kind of sound isolation on a thinner drive helps more than anything else. The biggest problem is that the hdd is very close to your ear and the only thing between is a very thin Aluminium layer that doesn't really do anything for sound isolation.
Termal shouldn't be too much of a problem as an hdd radiates most heat through the metal casing on the sides and there won't be space to put something there anyway. Yet a 2-3 mm layer of a dense enough material on top most definitely help some.

I do have a Toshiba 320GB 5400rpm drive in my 2010 MBP. It is by no means loud and has very silent seek noises but it is a worlds difference between it running and being off (when only the SSD is in use). The HDD is still in the HDD bay and the SSD in the optical as there the HDD would probably be noiser with all the supension gone and everything.

Or this one
http://www.storagereview.com/hitachi_travelstar_z5k320_review
also available in 500GB
http://www.hitachigst.com/internal-drives/mobile/travelstar/travelstar-z5k500
 
Last edited:
Afaik drives with less platters are usually less noisy.
I don't know if they sell in retail yet but Toshiba offers a 500GB single platter 7mm drive for a while now. If you put 2-3mm isolation on top and 2-3mm below it would probably be as quite as it gets.
On SPCR they used to use Bitumen build HDD isolation. Not sure what is the best material. Obviously one that is cheap, easy to get, transmits enough heat and silences as good as possible.

I am quite sure that putting some kind of sound isolation on a thinner drive helps more than anything else. The biggest problem is that the hdd is very close to your ear and the only thing between is a very thin Aluminium layer that doesn't really do anything for sound isolation.
Termal shouldn't be too much of a problem as an hdd radiates most heat through the metal casing on the sides and there won't be space to put something there anyway. Yet a 2-3 mm layer of a dense enough material on top most definitely help some.

I do have a Toshiba 320GB 5400rpm drive in my 2010 MBP. It is by no means loud and has very silent seek noises but it is a worlds difference between it running and being off (when only the SSD is in use). The HDD is still in the HDD bay and the SSD in the optical as there the HDD would probably be noiser with all the supension gone and everything.

Or this one
http://www.storagereview.com/hitachi_travelstar_z5k320_review
also available in 500GB
http://www.hitachigst.com/internal-drives/mobile/travelstar/travelstar-z5k500

These thin drives are able to be put in MBPs without the pad? It won't be too loose? I had my heart set on that Toshiba drive though. How can I find out if a newer model is out? I only checked Newegg as that is the only place with that kind of drive.
 
perfect! thank you. But I came across this Engadget article detailing Toshiba unveiling a new drive that will come out soon this month.

Would it be wiser to wait instead? There is no rush for me to get this drive. Just a single platter 320GB hard drive is what I want.

I don't know if it would be wiser or not. Hard drives are a rather mature technology, so I don't know how much they can actually change, power usage I imagine could be made better, but other than that I don't know. I imagine that capacity will also be increased, a 320GB may no longer be available. Also, consider that a new model will be untried at first and could end up not being what you're looking for.
 
I don't know if it would be wiser or not. Hard drives are a rather mature technology, so I don't know how much they can actually change, power usage I imagine could be made better, but other than that I don't know. I imagine that capacity will also be increased, a 320GB may no longer be available. Also, consider that a new model will be untried at first and could end up not being what you're looking for.

All I am looking for is a super quiet drive, hence the single platter drive. I am currently using a 160GB drive and don't even half filled as I offload all my data to an external drive. 320GB would give me ample room and it seems the highest amount for a single platter drive so I am looking for something like that.
 
These thin drives are able to be put in MBPs without the pad? It won't be too loose? I had my heart set on that Toshiba drive though. How can I find out if a newer model is out? I only checked Newegg as that is the only place with that kind of drive.
No.
a) they held in place at the sides mostly
b) you can always add so much more stuff on top and bottom so it sits well in place.
1.8" is wriggly but any 2.5" should sit there fine. Even 9.5mm don't fill out all the space as 12.5mm drives fit too.

IMO it is the only thing you can do that really makes a difference. Some drives are little less noisy than others but the differences aren't too great. After all they all use mostly the same bearing and the run at 5400rpm which just cannot be done without creating some noise. Some maybe 2dB less noisy but that really isn't that much difference. The biggest difference is in seek noise which is sometimes horrible and other times hardly noticeable. And than there are some 7200rpm drives that just let everything vibrate and amplify everything.
 
No.
a) they held in place at the sides mostly
b) you can always add so much more stuff on top and bottom so it sits well in place.
1.8" is wriggly but any 2.5" should sit there fine. Even 9.5mm don't fill out all the space as 12.5mm drives fit too.

IMO it is the only thing you can do that really makes a difference. Some drives are little less noisy than others but the differences aren't too great. After all they all use mostly the same bearing and the run at 5400rpm which just cannot be done without creating some noise. Some maybe 2dB less noisy but that really isn't that much difference. The biggest difference is in seek noise which is sometimes horrible and other times hardly noticeable. And than there are some 7200rpm drives that just let everything vibrate and amplify everything.

What kind of material would you recommend? I've always considered doing this even though my hitachi hk500.b 500gb 54000rmp drive is by far the quietest drive I've ever used in my mpg. If the OP is interested, I did a subjective comparison of three 5400rpm 500gb drives myself with the same criteria as you. Here is the thread:

https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/7326977/

although it's not listed there, I ended up with a 4th hard drive (the 500gb 5400rpm hitachi notebook drive..it was just as silent as the stock 320gb drive in my mbp.
 
Sorry to revive a relatively old thread but I just went through my first week of classes for IT and realized that I need a 500GB drive instead...My initial plan was to use Parallels and run the Windows image from an external but as I am going to mobile more, Boot Camp seems better fit.

I am now looking for a 500GB drive: 320GB for Mac OS X and 180GB for Windows 7. The problem is that I want the new Toshiba drive since the 500GB version is single platter. The spec sheet for it is here:

http://sdd.toshiba.com/main.aspx?Pa...01ABDxxxSeries/MQ01ABDxxxSeriesSpecifications

But this drive is not even released yet. Does anyone know when it will be released?

Also are there any other single platter 500GB drives that are silent?
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.