New HDDs?

[Karlos]

Im looking for suggestions for new Hard Drives for my current system, my old ones are IDE and are starting to get small for the work/gaming Im doing.

Obviously Im fine with reformating once I get new drives Im probably looking at a 500gb primary and a 160gb storage drive.

I have heard good things about Seagate and Western Digital. Are these decent and what do people here prefer? And will I see even a slight preformance upgrade with the new ones? I can tell you the ones I have are probably 3-4 years old and have been in 3 different systems.

Thanks in advance for your help...

 

[heister]

do you have SATA 3.0 connections on your mobo

 

[Invisible]

seagate is definatly the best, but why not get a 750gb instead of 2 HDD's
Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 ST3750330AS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

 

[therascalking]

Im probably looking at a 500gb primary and a 160gb storage drive.

^you got that backward, it sounds... you want a smaller, faster drive usually for your windows and games... then a big slow one to store stuff like documents, music, video etc... thats what i have, and it makes the most sense by far...

I have heard good things about Seagate and Western Digital. Are these decent and what do people here prefer?

yesh, these are pretty much the two biggest names in hard drives right now... theyll be your best choices for sure... as to what people prefer, its almost entirely opinion... some models are better than others, but it really depends on what youre looking at...

And will I see even a slight preformance upgrade with the new ones?

odds are good that yes, you will see a slight performance boost... and i say slight only because you wont reeeeeeeally notice it, not that it wont be there... going from IDE to SATA, to a drive with a lower write/seek time, and especially if you get a raptor or other 10k rpm drive, youll get definite improvement...

seagate is definatly the best, but why not get a 750gb instead of 2 HDD's

pssshh... thats opinion... i love my WD's... and they make the raptor, which is one of the better, faster drives around, period...
and also, getting a single drive is a bad idea... cuz if it gets corrupted, they youre just screwed... among other reasons... two or more drives is a much better idea, methinks... - RK

 

[Invisible]

ally if you get a raptor or other 10k rpm drive, youll get definite improvement...

ya but probably not worth the price difference, its not worth it to most pc builders

pssshh... thats opinion... i love my WD's... and they make the raptor, which is one of the better, faster drives around, period...
and also, getting a single drive is a bad idea... cuz if it gets corrupted, they youre just screwed... among other reasons... two or more drives is a much better idea, methinks... - RK

just sayin seagate usually wins
AnandTech: Western Digital and Seagate: 320GB Grudge Match
and its too late for me to go find more but seagate also offers a 5 year warrenty over WD's 3 year

 

[therascalking]

eh... depends on his budget... i love mine... was totally worth it to me... again, alot off stuff is just opinion, is all...

as for the seagate thing... its a toss up... like debating AMD vs. intel haha...
the warranty is a good point tho, definitely to be taken into account... youd have to look at it closely and on a case by case basis when comparing the two... - RK

 

[Karlos]

do you have SATA 3.0 connections on your mobo

^Yes I have 4 of them, one of which is being taken up by my DVD drive.

So it sounds like my real problem is just picking the best price when they come based on warrenty etc.

And yes I guess I do have that backwards, right now I have my 250gb drive as my primary and my 80gb as my storage. So then what would be ideal for a primary faster drive? 80gb is fairly small but something in the 160-250 range?

And then a 500gb as a backup?

Oh and this is going to sound faily newbish but what is the difference of raptors, and why are they so much more expensive? I have heard/read a lot about people using them but have not really seen it first hand or understand the difference.

Oh and here is some drives I have found so far (prices are fairly similar):
Primary:
NCIX.com - Buy Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 160GB Hard Drive SATA2 7200RPM 11MS 8MB Cache 5YR MFR Warranty - ST3160815AS In Canada.

NCIX.com - Buy Western Digital Caviar SE 160GB SATA2 7200RPM 8.9MS 8MB Hard Drive 3 Year MFR Warranty - WD1600AAJS In Canada.
My only question about the primary drive is that the 250gb drives are only like 10-15 dollars difference over a 160gb. Is it then just worth it to go for a 250 and a 500?

Secondary:
NCIX.com - Buy Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB ATA100 7200RPM 16MB Cache NCQ Hard Drive - ST3500630A In Canada.

NCIX.com - Buy Western Digital SE16 500GB SATA2 7200RPM 16MB Cache 8.9MS NCQ Hard Drive OEM 3YR MFR Warranty - WD5000AAKS In Canada.

Thanks again for your help.

 

[therascalking]

^Yes I have 4 of them, one of which is being taken up by my DVD drive.
So it sounds like my real problem is just picking the best price when they come based on warrenty etc.

yup... thats good to know... picking a HDD basically comes down to these steps:
- pick a connector (SATA/IDE)... youve got SATA, so that ones done
- pick a manufacturer (WD/Seagate) less important... pick as you go
- pick a size (150-250~ main, 500~ storage) so youre good there
- pick a speed (7200/1000/other) prolly 7200rpm will be fine for you
- pick features (warranty, etc)
- prolly some other stuff im forgetting XD

and then that will help you narrow down your choices alot... then just compare warranties/prices/etc...

So then what would be ideal for a primary faster drive? 80gb is fairly small but something in the 160-250 range?
And then a 500gb as a backup?

yes, thats a pretty good setup... i have a small, fast raptor as my main, but you dont need a 10k one... but you dont want a slow econo-storage one either... ill look you up a good one when i get back from school tomorrow... but its late now, so i dont wanna browse too much, sry...

Oh and this is going to sound faily newbish but what is the difference of raptors, and why are they so much more expensive? I have heard/read a lot about people using them but have not really seen it first hand or understand the difference.

the difference mainly in raptors is that they spin at a higher rpm than most other hdd's... 7,200rpm, vs the raptor's 10,000rpm... this makes for faster seek/write times and better overall performance... now 7200's in a RAID will still beat this, BUT its prolly one of the best standalone drives out there because of its speed... yea...
anyways... its late, but check back tomorrow for some actual model recommendations unless some kind (hopefully well informed) soul would like to do it before then - RK

 

[therascalking]

Oh and here is some drives I have found so far (prices are fairly similar):
Primary:
NCIX.com - Buy Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 160GB Hard Drive SATA2 7200RPM 11MS 8MB Cache 5YR MFR Warranty - ST3160815AS In Canada.

NCIX.com - Buy Western Digital Caviar SE 160GB SATA2 7200RPM 8.9MS 8MB Hard Drive 3 Year MFR Warranty - WD1600AAJS In Canada.
My only question about the primary drive is that the 250gb drives are only like 10-15 dollars difference over a 160gb. Is it then just worth it to go for a 250 and a 500?

Secondary:
NCIX.com - Buy Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB ATA100 7200RPM 16MB Cache NCQ Hard Drive - ST3500630A In Canada.

NCIX.com - Buy Western Digital SE16 500GB SATA2 7200RPM 16MB Cache 8.9MS NCQ Hard Drive OEM 3YR MFR Warranty - WD5000AAKS In Canada.

Thanks again for your help.

lucky you, i got to it before going to school haha... okay heres the deal, depending on whether you want Seagate of Western Digital, for your main drive, youre either going to want something in the WD Caviar SE16 family, or the Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 or 10 family... those are the higher-end/faster models from those companies... while your storage drive you dont need to be blazingly fast, so something in the Caviar or Caviar SE, 7200.10 or 7200.9 families would be fine... or you can always have a fast storage drive too! haha...

im not familiar with ncix, honestly (in the good ol USofA, we shop newegg lol) and they have a pretty limited selection...
but i tried getting you some links there to what would be my choices for you:
NCIX.com - Buy Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB SATA2 8.5MS 7200RPM 16MB Cache Hard Drive 5YR MFR Warranty - ST3250410AS In Canada.
&
NCIX.com - Buy Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 3.5IN 500GB SATA2 8.5MS 7200RPM 32MB Cache NCQ Hard Drive - ST3500320AS In Canada.

OR

NCIX.com - Buy Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB SATA2 7200RPM 16MB 8.9MS Hard Drive 3YR MFR Warranty - WD2500AAKS In Canada.
&
NCIX.com - Buy Western Digital SE16 500GB SATA2 7200RPM 16MB Cache 8.9MS NCQ Hard Drive OEM 3YR MFR Warranty - WD5000AAKS In Canada.

later, if youd like, i can help you compare the two (Sg vs WD) if you cant decide, but that should give you somewhere to start - RK

 

[heister]

if your getting seagate.. get their 7200.11 drives they have a 32mb cache which is a huge step up in performance over the 7200.10 drives.... well for not changing the speed of the drive any way.. also the raptors are soo much more because they are a 10000 rpm drive vs a 7200 for almost anything else.. the only time you need a raptor is if you have to transfer stuff between drives alot... i.e. like your job is data transfer