The Quietest 750GB 7,200 HDD For Macbook Pro

[PeteJames]

I had a stock 7,200 hitachi drive but it was only 320gb so upgraded to a a WD Scorpio Black which has the capacity and the speed but seems a bit noisier to me which I really don't like - I'm sure my MBP fan comes on more too at high speeds.

Strangely when i press the macbook case down to the right of the trackpad (above where the hard drive is positioned) it sounds much much quieter and then when I remove pressure from it it reverts. Does this indicated viberation?

I'm looking for a 750Gb 7,200 drive for cloning purposes so may switch out the the scorpio black when i get the new one. The two i'm looking at are:

Seagate Momentus XT - I like the SSD type performance boosts
Hitachi Travelstar 7K750

Which is quietest? Is there much difference are all HDDs quite loud really? This scorpio black seems more noticeable than any i've had before.

I don't really want to spend £300 on a 500gb SSD especially as if I need to upgrade my late 2008 mac anytime soon the new mac will have built in SSD anyway. I am a little bit tempted though!

 

[alphaod]

A 7200 RPM HDD will definitely be louder than a 5400 RPM HDD.

The SSD is definitely the best choice; not only the quietest, it's also faster, and more resilient against bumps and movement.

 

[NewishMacGuy]

I also find a decent sized SSD to be too pricey to put into an older laptop. I'll upgrade mine if prices drop to less than $200 for a 500GB+ SSD sometime before I replace the machine.

As such, I heartily recommend the MoXT if you can't make do with 256GB. I can't hear mine over the fans right now in a totally silent room with fans spinning at 2003rpm, which is pretty standard speed. And the MoXT is fast, certainly there'll be less difference coming from a Scorpio Black, than from the stock 5400rpm drive, but your boot time will drop to under 20 seconds and the apps that you use frequently will load almost instantaneously. It's well worth the $129.


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