I installed my new Toshiba 3TB P300, and so far I am loving it! Installation was super easy, and so far I copied 218 GB in 26 minutes from my 840 EVO using a SATA 2 connection on the Intel P67 SATA controller. During the entire 26 minutes, I couldn't hear anything at all. I remember having a 250 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10, and I remember being able to hear it every single time I used it. The location of my computer is still in the same spot, and I'm still using the same case and my room is dead silent except for the soft quiet hum of my case fans, yet I can't hear it at all.
The average speed I got from this data copy was 143 MB/sec. However, during the first like 25% of the copying, I saw it exceed 220, and I saw it sustain 170 and 180 and 160 (roughly). During the last 50% or so, it sustained 142 and never changed.
What I'm trying to say is, I'm extremely happy with this hard drive!