Review on 💾 WD 2TB Black Performance Internal Hard Drive HDD - 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD2003FZEX by Paul Koehler

I have an unusually noisy hard drive. Passed all tests but was very noisy and shaky compared to another Hitachi drive purchased with the same specs. I was about to drop the Hitachi for fear the price was too good to be true (the OEM drive is half the price but the dealer warranty is only 1 year) but it got delivered anyway. Luckily the Hitachi works great with the noise level I'm used to. I think you're lucky! Don't be afraid to return a drive if it's louder than you think, even if it passes SMART tests. Use this return policy before you have to rely on a guarantee. A big, fast drive will still make those "popcorn" noises when reading and writing, but they should be muffled, and a good hard drive shouldn't vibrate much these days (test it outside of your case to make sure it's not because of it - for resonance). My Black regularly made loud pops/slaps (almost like someone snapping a finger on the case) and extremely loud and undamped read/write noises. I'm sure they're usually much quieter, but as I already have a quiet Hitachi I've just returned it.