Jason Dunn
07-26-2009, 02:23 AM
<p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1248457527.usr1.jpg" style="border: 0; float: left;" />Every couple of months, I have what I like to call an "Upgrade Saturday". This is a Saturday when I spend a good portion of my day upgrading either the hardware or software on one or more of my computers - and sometimes it's both. I'm always pursuing higher levels of performance or seeking to improve my systems in some way, and last weekend I pursued a new goal: to make one of my computers quieter. I have a computer that I leave on 24/7 in order to record TV shows (it's the one in the corner on the <a href="http://www.jasondunn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/jason-dunn-office-2009-04.jpg" target="_blank">right-hand side in this photo</a>) and two things about it have bugged me: the noise from the hard drives, and the noise from the fans. I did a bit of investigating regarding the fans, and after pressing a finger here and there, virtually all of the fan noise was coming from two 80mm fans at the back of the case. I have a passively-cooled NVIDIA 7950GT video card, so getting hot air out of the case is important - but what was doing that job was simply too loud. I'd read good things about Scythe fans over at <a href="http://www.silentpcreview.com/" target="_blank">SPCR</a>, and at <a href="http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX20050(ME).aspx" target="_blank">only $9.99 each</a> it was easy to pick up two of the ultra low-flow fans.</p><p>The other thing I was unhappy with were the two Seagate hard drives I had in there - both were Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 drives; one was 400 GB and the other was 500 GB. I could hear them grinding away quite often, so the case was picking up the vibration and amplifying it. Unfortunately the case uses a hard drive cage with vertical mounts, so a suspension system wasn't possible. I also liked the idea of one bigger, faster, quieter drive to replace both of them. <MORE /></p><p>I'd read some good things about the <a href="http://www.maximumpc.com/article/reviews/seagate_barracuda_720012_1tb?EMC-R3A917316679" target="_blank">Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 drives</a>, namely that they were monsters in the performance department but also still very quiet, so I thought I'd pick one up. My local computer store, <a href="http://www.memoryexpress.com/" target="_blank">Memory Express</a>, <a href="http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX24082(ME).aspx" target="_blank">had them on for $99</a>, so it was hard to say no to. If you went back ten years in time and said that you'd be able to buy 1000 GB worth of storage for $99, no one would have believed you. It's amazing how vast the storage on modern hard drives have become.</p><p>So how did my upgrades go? Getting the hard drive installed was easy, but the fans were anything but. The case I have uses rubber grommets in between the fan and the case. These prooved to be frustrating to work with, so the fans took me a good hour to get installed - this is workng at a casual pace while watching a DVD on another computer. I took the opportunity to correct an error in the wiring job that left the front USB ports on this computer non-functional, and I also decided to simplify my power supply wiring.</p><p>When I was finished and I booted up the computer - still with the cover off mind you - I was blown away at how quiet it was. I couldn't hear any sound coming from any of the fans, nor the hard drive as it booted Windows. This is exactly what I was hoping for! Here are my before and after Windows Experience Index scores:</p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com//dht/auto/1248462682.usr1.png" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p><em>Figure 1: Before the hard drive upgrade.</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com//dht/auto/1248462699.usr1.png" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p><em>Figure 2: After the hard drive upgrade.</em></p><p>As you can see, the primary hard disk score went from 5.6 to 5.9 - not a small improvement. I'm unsure why the memory score went from 5.6 to 5.7, but I"ll take it. Prior to swapping out the hard drives, I used a command line-based tool called <a href="http://www.assimilateinc.com/tools1.html" target="_blank">H2BENCHW</a>. This tool does some pretty hardcore benchmarking of the hard drive. Here's that the scores for the Seagate 7200.10 400 GB drive were:</p><ul><li>Sequential Read: 62.5 MB/s</li><li>Sequential Transfer: 69.4 MB/s</li><li>Repetative sequential read: 117.5 MB/s</li><li>Sustained Data Rate Read: 59.5 MB/s</li></ul><p>Not too bad, right? The scores on the Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 drive were as follows:</p><ul><li>Sequential Read: 122.3 MB/s <strong>(95% faster)</strong></li><li>Sequential Transfer: 173.5 MB/s <strong>(250% faster)</strong></li><li>Repetative sequential read: 204.5 MB/s <strong>(74% faster)</strong></li><li>Sustained Data Rate Read: 134.3 MB/s MAX <strong>(225% faster)</strong></li></ul><p>The difference in those scores absolutely floored me - and these aren't just theoretical numbers either. I noticed a decrease in boot time, much faster file move/copy performance, and a generally snappier experience. Oh, and the drive is whisper-quiet as well. Those numbers on the 7200.12? They're higher than on my 150 GB Western Digital Raptor drive!</p><p>I couldn't have asked for a better upgrade - everything went quiet well, and my computer is now much quieter than before, but also performs faster. Have you have an "upgrade Saturday" recently? How did it go?</p><p>And as a footnote, if you're interested in doing your own benchmarks with H2BENCHW, here's what you do: place the single EXE file in your root C: drive. Hit your start menu, type RUN to get the command prompt showing, but right-click on it and run it as an Administrator. Get to the root of your C: drive, then type <strong>h2benchw -english -a 1</strong>, where "1" is the drive you want to benchmark.</p><p><em>Jason Dunn owns and operates <a href="http://www.thoughtsmedia.com/" target="_blank">Thoughts Media Inc.</a>, a company dedicated to creating the best in online communities. He enjoys <a href="http://photos.jasondunn.com/" target="_blank">photography</a>, mobile devices, <a href="http://www.jasondunn.com/" target="_blank">blogging</a>, digital media content creation/editing, and pretty much all technology. He lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with his lovely wife, and his sometimes obedient dog. He loves a fast hard drive!</em></p><p><em></em><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com//ppct/auto/1240336793.usr1.gif" /></p><p><strong>Do you enjoy using new hardware, software and accessories, then sharing your experience with others? Then join us on the <a href="http://www.thoughtsmedia.com/reviewteam.php" target="_blank">Thoughts Media Review Team</a>! We're looking for individuals who find it fun to test new gear and give their honest opinions about the experience. It's a volunteer role with some great perks. Interested? <a href="http://www.thoughtsmedia.com/reviewteam.php" target="_blank">Then click here for more information.</a></strong></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com//ppct/auto/1240336793.usr1.gif" /></p>