How to reduce the noise of your Harddisk

The bain of any HTPC is the noise the computer makes. No it's speed or power, but the noise for me is the biggest problem with any computer. In my case, i have a Western Digital 74gb 10,000 RPM drive, which is great for speed, but when it is working hard, i hear the head moving so much that it gets annoying for me.

Toms Hardware have posted some tips, a review of a new hard disk case that goes inside your computer case that looks interesting, and a computer case with foam to block the sound, but springs to mount the hard drives.

elastichd-mount I have the Antec Solo case, (which is identical to the Antec Sonata Designer 500 or the Antec Sonata Plus 550, but with no power supply) the harddisk drives can be mounted either on tracks that have rubber gromets to hold up the drive, or the drives can be suspended in air by 2 elastics. I use the elastics part, but it's not the greatest when i have lan parties, or if i move my case, i can hear the drives moving and knocking everywhere. Not to good for the drive, but for the noise, it is clearly quieter, antec-solo-drivemounting but i still hear the head moving. I am still looking for a more permanent solution. The Antec idea of elastics is great in my oppinion, but i don't recommend it if you move the case around, or like me, are aways working on your PC.

The spring idea from 3RSystem looks to be promising, i can see how it can work and it looks to be strong enough to hold the drive in place, but those springs must be soft enough not to resonate the drive's vibrations into the case like a hard mounted drive does.

You can read the whole article here over at Tom's Hardware.