Ordering HDD's need last opinion

[TJohn]

I see a lot of people going with 2 drives, 1 fast for os and gaming and 1 slow for extra storage. Is there really that much difference in these 2 drives??? Speed wise!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822144160

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822144701

[MakeYourslf2012]

Yes, the WD Raptor is a 10,000 RPM drive - it will be faster than second one you linked, which is a 7,200 RPM drive

[yeoamuca]

honestly the raptors arent really all that great anymore
the only reason i have one is because my friend practically gave it to me
i would just go with the sata3.0
more space good buffer good speed cheaper
and you wouldnt notice a difference between the two

i would just recommend setting up a partition for your operating system like 40 gig or 50 and the rest for storage

[rspassey]

Many are now claiming the drives with the 16mb cache that are 7200rpm perfom nearly as fast as the 10k rpm raptors. So the raptor will be slightly (very slightly) faster.

[TJohn]

Thanks for the comments, much appreciated :)

[TJohn]

honestly the raptors arent really all that great anymore
the only reason i have one is because my friend practically gave it to me
i would just go with the sata3.0
more space good buffer good speed cheaper
and you wouldnt notice a difference between the two

i would just recommend setting up a partition for your operating system like 40 gig or 50 and the rest for storage

Do you use your raptor for your os? I already have a external Maxtor 120 GB drive I can use for storage. Would you still recommend partitioning the internal? And pardon my ignorance but is that standard procedure anyway?

[jfk]

I use a Raptor for my OS. No matter what is said about caches', buffers, etc., the bottom line is still speed. The fastest SATA drives out there are Raptors at the present time. Everything else may be "close", but it isn't faster. Ultimately, you need to figure out what you want in your system. When I game, I am ALWAYS one of the first couple people in the server/map etc. Part of that is memory, part is processor, part is HDD. For me, I'd always have a faster HDD for my OS and programs, but that is MY PREFERENCE in my PC. You may decide differently. When I put mine together, I factored the total cost/gig of HDD space vs. performance. I felt a Raptor on the OS and programs with a solid, large volume HDD for storage was the way to go. I feel no different now, three months later.

[jayb1234]

One thing to consider is that a lot of people find the Raptors to be pretty noisy.

[Stuey]

One thing to consider is that a lot of people find the Raptors to be pretty noisy.
From what I've read, the raptors are a bit noisier and require good airflow in a case due to increased operating temperatures. HOWEVER, the raptors are designed for abuse and are rated higher than your typical drives, with longer average lifespans. Raptors are also safer to use in RAID arrays due to their lower likelihood of failure.

[yeoamuca]

Do you use your raptor for your os? I already have a external Maxtor 120 GB drive I can use for storage. Would you still recommend partitioning the internal? And pardon my ignorance but is that standard procedure anyway?

sorry it took so long to get back
yes i use my raptor for my os
as a rule (for me at least) i dont have a drive over 120 gig (partitioned) on any of my boxes
my 300 gig drive is seperated into 45 gig for a backup of my os drive
and then 120 and 120
(about that since its not actually 300 its like 280somethin)
i think its alot easier to organize data that way
i have another box with an old athlon xp that has a 200 gig hard drive
i have it partitioned into 40 for my operating system and then 80 and 80 (again approximate)
i find it alot easier to back up the whole drive that way and keep things organized (i a 40 gig that i use for backup)
i guess its more of a personal preference but i find it very handy
i dont know how other people partition there disks
ive been doing it for a while
(i seem to remember reading something about partitioning a large drive helping it with speed since it doesnt have to search the whole drive it can just jump the the partition but im not sure if thats true or not)

but the common thing i have in my systems is i have two hard drive
that way if one goes bad i still have the other with the backup (or the original) which you would be able to do with your external

overall i dont really notice a speed difference between my raptor and my 300 gig
i watch movies off both
do a bit of video editing and run alot of cad software
the one thing i dont do is hardcore gaming so i dont know what to say for that
if you do alot of heaving gaming you might want to go with a raptor because it is optimal performance
but if you can deal with a not even noticable difference i would just go with the 200 gig one

[TJohn]

sorry it took so long to get back
yes i use my raptor for my os
as a rule (for me at least) i dont have a drive over 120 gig (partitioned) on any of my boxes
my 300 gig drive is seperated into 45 gig for a backup of my os drive
and then 120 and 120
(about that since its not actually 300 its like 280somethin)
i think its alot easier to organize data that way
i have another box with an old athlon xp that has a 200 gig hard drive
i have it partitioned into 40 for my operating system and then 80 and 80 (again approximate)
i find it alot easier to back up the whole drive that way and keep things organized (i a 40 gig that i use for backup)
i guess its more of a personal preference but i find it very handy
i dont know how other people partition there disks
ive been doing it for a while
(i seem to remember reading something about partitioning a large drive helping it with speed since it doesnt have to search the whole drive it can just jump the the partition but im not sure if thats true or not)

but the common thing i have in my systems is i have two hard drive
that way if one goes bad i still have the other with the backup (or the original) which you would be able to do with your external

overall i dont really notice a speed difference between my raptor and my 300 gig
i watch movies off both
do a bit of video editing and run alot of cad software
the one thing i dont do is hardcore gaming so i dont know what to say for that
if you do alot of heaving gaming you might want to go with a raptor because it is optimal performance
but if you can deal with a not even noticable difference i would just go with the 200 gig one

Thanks yeoamuca, I've done a little reading too and I've decided to go with the WD 250 16mb sata2 drive alone for me internal and use my maxtor 120 external for storage and backups for now, but even looking back I've never even used much of my 60 gig drive in my laptop let alone that much on my current main machine so why waist money on that when I can put it towards more video punch.

[yeoamuca]

sounds like you got a good plan
sometimes its good to read about it
the manufacturers web sites are surprisingly helpful for stuff like this
as is googling this
if we run into an error at work the first thing we do is google it
its amazing how easy it is to find the fix
google is useful to help you maximize your computer use as well



vanquish
if zzf has a 100gb and a 300gb sata 10000rpm hard drives i would like to see them

[TJohn]

vanquish
if zzf has a 100gb and a 300gb sata 10000rpm hard drives i would like to see them

Me too ;)

[Cricket]

vanquish
if zzf has a 100gb and a 300gb sata 10000rpm hard drives i would like to see themMe three! I'm only aware of two 10,000 RPM SATA HDDs...the 36GB WD Raptor and the 74GB WD Raptor. Unless vanquish has SCSI HDDs...SCSI is available in 10,000 and 15,000 RPM versions but those cost mucho dineros.

:) Cricket

[Calpolyjb]

Sorry guys your both wrong though ive never heard of a 300gb theer is a 150gb raptor


Western Digital Raptor WD1500AHFD 150GB Serial ATA 10,000RPM Hard Drive w/16MB Buffer ***Free Shipping***

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=101257-1

[glc]

Cal, there was no 150gb Raptor when this thread was posted - it's a few months old.