Before we continue with the results from the noise production measurements let's start by mentioning that the harddisks were all tested as-is, so without any settings changed in the acoustic management some of them offered. If we then take a look at noise production it is clear that the majority of hardisks tested score around the 43 dB(A) mark with only the Western Digital 1200JB being somewhat noisier at 47.1 dB(A). The only harddisks that scored significantly lower were Seagate’s ST380020A and ST380021A, better known as the Barracuda IV. The Barracuda IV actually was quite an engineering marvel as it had some of the lowest noise levels we measured and yet offered performance that was just slightly below the fastest 7200-rpm harddisks. But also the IBM 120GXP and Western Digital 800JB fared quite well in the noise department, not really whisper-quiet, but not exactly noisy either.