Help buying a hard drive

[digitaloracle]

I am in the market for a new drive. I am looking at 120GB, 7200RPM, SATA. My budget is no more than $90. Are there significant performance differences between the various 120s in that range? If so, what company (or feature set) is generally regarded to reign supreme? I am looking primarily for performance, but the drive MUST be sturdy and preferably run quietly.

 

[Him]

Well, looking for quiet count out Western Digital. They are notorious for being on the noisy side. however, they are excellent drives. Maxtor is out of the question, since they suck. Seagate makes some good stuff.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148039

$85 for 120GB... Not bad.

Anything for less than $70 are all 80GB, but you could get one of those as well. That is still alot of room. Here:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductList.jsp?ThirdCategoryCode=011016&SortBy=A

ZZF. They have some pretty good prices and free shipping. Newegg has some really cheap shipping, cannot be beat. Except by ZZF, which has free shipping!!!

 

[m3trj]

Seagates are reliable and quiet. For performance go for a Western Digital.

Having said that my Western Digital is pretty quiet.

 

[SHAWN]

What ever you do, do not buy Hitachi or Maxtor. They suck.

 

[pc_boy]

you gotta have a good computer too in order to notice difference in performance... if you have a 1.5 Celly, you probably won't see any difference between a SATA HD and an ATA 66...

 

[digitaloracle]

Well, my computer is already pretty loud. As long as the hard drive makes only a "hum" (as opposed to a buzz or whine, neither of which I can stand) when idle, and only muted wile seeking/active, I'm fine. I happen to have some *old* (5gb and 2gb) HDs in my server, and they drive me crazy, but it's probably part ly to to the $30 tissue-paper-metal case I put them in.