|
|
 |
|
|
Pages: 1
What To Look for in a Hard Drive?
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)
Posted by: philmcneal
Hello I am buying a new hard drive soon and I was wondering if you guys had any recommendations what to buy? From what company? What should I look out for? I mean with all the tech terms like cache or 8 meg buffer I am not sure what to look for.
Any suggestions? I am looking for a good IDE hard drive by the way since I feel Serial ATA is too pricey.
Posted by: ZeRo_MaXwInG
Western Digital IMO makes good HDs at a decent price. Seagate's also a really good company but you pay the price for quality. How much space do you need? and your budget? That would help others in suggesting drives that meet your needs.
Posted by: INeedHelp
get the western digital WD1200JB model
interface: ide ultra ata 100
capacity: 120 gig
seek time: 8.9 ms
rpm: 7200
cache: 8mb
price: $110
Posted by: redwench
size and speed, obviously. noise if it runs 24/7 in a bedroom. cache isnt a huge deal, unless you do a lot of reading and writing of large files.
seagates are a bit quieter than the rest. the WD----JB models are pretty much the gold standard for IDE performance. unless you have a specific need, i would recommend one of those.
Posted by: Bobaroo
Anything but Maxtor...God I hate them 
Posted by: slugo3
only thing I would add is to try and get one with a 3 year warrenty, its worth it for a HD
Posted by: philmcneal
 Quote:
Originally posted by INeedHelp
get the western digital WD1200JB model
interface: ide ultra ata 100
capacity: 120 gig
seek time: 8.9 ms
rpm: 7200
cache: 8mb
price: $110
|
are those loud?
Posted by: nocode
No.
I have (2) 100gb WD1000JB 7200rpm 8mb cache hard drives, and i really have to listen closely to here a peep out of them. WD make very good Quality/Quiet hard drives.
Posted by: philmcneal
hm i heard some motherboards have a 130 gig limitation and I have a 20 gig already... is this true?
Posted by: INeedHelp
no, most mother board allow you to install 4 ATAPI devices
which means you can install:
1) 1 cd rom + 3 HDs
2) 2 cd roms + 2 HDs
3) 3 cd roms + 1 HD
Posted by: Gerbilo
personally, I dislike WD, I've seen too many die on friends and heard too many bad stories. Lots of people have bad stories about maxtors, but i've used 3 and used them in all my friends computers i've helped to build, never any problems with any of them, and now maxtors are just as cheap as WD. Seagates are pretty good, sometimes you can find some good deals on them and they are worth it. IBM also(from last i heard atleast) made pretty good drives, you are paying the price for it though.
Posted by: philmcneal
hm i should I get one of those hard drive coolers too? or they are useless :|
i heard maxtor's drives are pretty quiet is that true?
Posted by: redwench
nope. maxtors are the noisiest of the bunch. if noise is an issue, stay the hell away from a maxtor. actually, stay away from maxtor period.
theres no real need for a hard drive cooler unless youre running a server with several hard drives. are you?
Posted by: nocode
i'll 2nd that on Maxtors being loud. i have other computers in my house that have Maxtor hard drives and they by far are louder than Western Digital. I've also had a Maxtor that was less than two weeks old Die on me too. I guess that can happen with any brand of hard drive, but that, and the noise factor, turned me away from even considering buying another Maxtor.
Posted by: Gerbilo
it's odd how i have no probs... I rock! :-D
i can't really tell you about maxtor noise, can't hear anything over the volcano 9 in there hehehe
Posted by: saruman
Get a retail packaged (boxed) drive, they're usually warantied for 3 years instead of 1 and slightly better protected from impacts, the main reason that drives die within 3 months. OEM packaged drives are shipped 12 to a box with very little individual packaging.
The disk should spin at 7200rpm, that's pretty much standard now. It should be brand name Western Digital is good, I use to always get Quantum but haven't in a while now. Seagate are prime quality but I don't know how noisy their consumer IDE drives are, their SCSI Server drives sound like jet engines but then my servers make 80Db of fan noise...
UltraATA 100 is the lowest interface you should go for.
The size of the disk is more a budget issue. The price point rigth now is around 100 gig. That's the point where the next step up in size gets significantly more expensive.
Motherboard limitations should be on a per disk basis.
Posted by: philmcneal
I am just debating over these two drives :S
http://www.atoponline.com/product.a..._ID=4&id=F02-05 seagate
or
http://www.atoponline.com/product.a..._ID=4&id=F03-08 Western Digital
Oh my I can't chooose
Posted by: nocode
Newegg has the same drives you are considering for much cheaper prices.
Quote:
Seagate 120GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive Barracuda 7200.7 ST3120026AS - OEM
Specifications:
Size: 120 Gigabytes
Interface: Serial ATA
Seek time: 8.5ms
RPM:7200
Data Transfer: 150MB/sec
Cache 8MB
(OEM See pic) 1 Year Manufacturer Warranty: Requires additional Power adapter
Click here for Promise Serial ATA Controller Card
-OEM
Item: N82E16822148017 Model# ST3120026AS
Price: $125.00 Shipping: Special Free FedEx Saver Shipping
Rating:
(avg rating out of 15 voters) Stock: YES
|
Quote:
►On Sale!
WD WESTERN DIGITAL "SPECIAL EDITION" 120GB 7200RPM EIDE HARD DRIVE MODEL # WD1200JB - OEM, DRIVE ONLY
Specifications:
Size: 120 Gigabytes
Interface: IDE ULTRA ATA100
Seek time: 8.9ms
RPM:7200
Cache 8MB
OEM(Drive alone) 3 Year Manufacturer Warranty More...
--- Click here for External Enclosures with a Cooling Fan---
*** Need ROUND cables? Click here ***
-OEM
Item: N82E16822144118 Model# WD1200JB
Price: $103.00 Shipping: Special FedEx Saver Shipping $5.00
Rating:
(avg rating out of 136 voters) Stock: YES
|
If it were me, i would go with the Western Digital, but that's just because i have had good luck with their drives. Both are good choices.
EDIT..............Sorry, I just realized you are in Canada, and I don't think Newegg ships internationally. Oh well, I guess the price difference could be worse!
EDIT............I also just realized that the Seagate drive that i posted above has a serial ata interface, which is different from the eide interface of the Seagate drive you are looking at, on the site in Canada.
Posted by: fibbi
besides cooling, do HD coolers dampen sound too?
Posted by: philmcneal
that reminds me how exactly does hard drive coolers work?
Posted by: nocode
Here is a good Review on a hard drive cooler, that has good information about how they work.
|
|
|
|
|
