Name: Toshiba DT01ACA300 3TB SATA 3.0 3.5" Internal Hard Drive, 7200 RPM
Brand: Toshiba
SKU: TO01ACA300
Price: 89.99 USD
Availability: Discontinued
Rating: 3 (1 reviews)

Toshiba DT01ACA300 3TB SATA 3.0 3.5" Internal Hard Drive, 7200 RPM

Toshiba DT01ACA300

Toshiba

Adorama

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Toshiba DT01ACA300 

36% Off: Toshiba DT01ACA300 3TB SATA 3.0 3.5" Internal Hard Drive, 7200 RPM Buy now & save $50. Drive Type: Hard Disk Drive (HDD), Interface: Serial ATA (SATA)

Pros: Inexpensive 3TB drive. It's probably great too.
Cons: Too loud. Returned it immediately. Though it's certainly not the loudest 7200 RPM drive.

The drive was mounted in an Antec ATX case via rubber rings on the drive enclosure. The case is inside my desk (closed door front, open back for air/cables). I could clearly hear the drive from anywhere in my 2-bed, square-layout, ~800sqft apartment.

I went digging and found for comparison idle/load acoustics on other 3TB drives:
*this drive*: 27/28 dB
WD AV/Purple/Red: 23/24
WD Green/Blue: 23/27
Seagate ST3000DM001: 24/26
WD Black: 29/34
Hitachi 7K3000: 29/36

and two other drives I've owned (and never minded the noise of):
WD10EADS 1TB: 24/29
Samsung ST3320620AS 320GB: 25/30  (had 3xRAID5)

As a storage drive on a desktop that I sit next to, the slower 5400/5900 RPM models are worth it for the quiet. I know that now.

Toshiba DT01ACA300 3TB SATA 3.0 3.5" Internal Hard Drive, 7200 RPM

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