WD Red for gaming and storage?

[indario]

Hello,

So I bought a HDD WD Blue 1 TB, however, I'm not really satisfied beause it produces way too much noise and vibration for my taste, louder than any fan in my case. I guess it's normal for that drive but I would like something more quiet.

I was thinking maybe WD RED 1 TB- I know it's purpose is for something else but could it serve for gaming/storage purposes? My OS (Win 8.1) and two-three games would still be on my 850 EVO SSD drive, other games and files on HDD.
How would it affect games, would I notice big difference?

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Hey there indario. Sorry to hear you're having an issue with your WD Blue drive. It sounds a bit odd that this drive would be louder than the fan. I'd suggest that you download DLG (Data Lifeguard Diagnostic) and run both tests (Quick and Extended) to see if anything alarming pops-up, just in case. Here's where you can download it from: Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows and here's a guide on how to use it: How to test a drive for problems using Data Lifeguard Diagnostics for Windows. Unusually loud noise may also occur because of system induced vibrations or if the drive is not mounted properly. You could check if the screws are all tightened up.

As for the WD Red drive, you're right - it is designed for RAID/NAS configurations and it's not recommended to be used as a general purpose or gaming drive. You could use the WD Red or the WD Green drive if you're looking for a cool and quite HDD (even though their designed mainly for other purposes). They both use IntelliPower. You should be OK with a WD Red - it has 3-years limited warranty and the WD Green drive has 2-years limited warranty.

Hope that helps.
Boogieman_WD

 

[ADMINSKORA-1]

Hello,

So I bought a HDD WD Blue 1 TB, however, I'm not really satisfied beause it produces way too much noise and vibration for my taste, louder than any fan in my case. I guess it's normal for that drive but I would like something more quiet.

I was thinking maybe WD RED 1 TB- I know it's purpose is for something else but could it serve for gaming/storage purposes? My OS (Win 8.1) and two-three games would still be on my 850 EVO SSD drive, other games and files on HDD.
How would it affect games, would I notice big difference?

WD Red would work, however those drives are specifically designed for RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) in a NAS (Network-Attached Storage) system. Volume wise, i'm not sure, however i personally wouldn't go with the Red.

I'd recommend this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236625) this is a WD Black hard drive. It's got a 5 year warranty, and is designed solely for performance. The speed of the Black is compared more to SSD's. Volume wise, again, i'm not sure.

 

[indario]

Thanks guys,

tested it with DLG and few other tools, everything seems to be ok. However I've built quite a silent rig with noctua case fan, asus strix 970 gpu and CM Hyper 212 evo cpu cooler. It's all very quiet but the HDD's ''humming'' noise and vibration (that I can feel even on my desk while using a mouse) a bit is somewhat annoying.

I'm not really sure what to do know, I think WD Black would be even louder than Blue. Probably will go with RED but again, don't really know what to expect performance wise...

 

[popatim]

They are decent in speed thanks to their 1tb platters; just dont expect to get the same speed as the blue since they are only 5900 rpm's.

I'm concerned about the vibration you can feel thou. Something is not right if thats true and hdd's are usually supremely well balanced. Anything else would throw them out of whack really quick...

 

[Boogieman_WD]

It is indeed quite odd that a WD Blue drive would cause such noise and vibrations. You could always try connecting and mounting it to another computer to see if it sounds the same in a different case or you could try connecting it externally via a SATA to USB cable, docking station or an external enclosure, to compare if it's not too much of a hassle for you.
As for the WD Red, it's just as @Popatim said, they perform very well, but they wont beat the WD Blue's read/transfer speed, but if you plan on using it just for gaming (without wanting to stream/record at full HD and 60Fps at the same time), even though it's main purpose is quite different, it should perform OK.