I think CSI need to take a DNA swab on those 'water stain' They told you not to get too excited.
On a serioius note; my 100gb HD drive makes harldy any noise what so ever. Its the segate model. I think they also use a Hitatchi model which is noiser by all accounts. What does it say in system profiler under ATA?
If possible I greatly prefer having the faster 7200rpm drives for my OS system hard drive. It makes a significant difference in how responsive the computer feels.
*Both of the Travelstar drives failed at about 1 year of age underwarrantee. Both went back to Hitachi and were replaced and the replacement drives are working fine now. Good thing they had a three year warrantee and I had kept the packaging. Hitachi is _very_ fussy about the packaging.