1 hardrive or two? Seagate or WD?

[lokodezine]

Is it better to have one large hardrive or 2 seperate hardrives.

For instance if I would to get 2 hardrives, I would probably use one for my os, AV, and random files for school or designing.

Then the other for media (movies, tv, or music) and games.


Heres the thing, I am buidling a pc on monarchcomputer.com and I can get

80 GB Seagate - 69
120 GB Seagate - 77

or I can get a
200 GB Seagate - 110

Same rpm and cache ... is there some big plus in getting 2 hardrives or would it be better to get one large and save some cash?

Also is Western Digital better than Seagate b/c they are more expensive than Seagate on monarchcomputer.com

[Stryker]

I would go with the 200GB. If you want seperation, you can always partition it as you like. Also, I would suggest Seagate. Very quite and reliable, great quality, and a full 5 year warranty. Can't beat that in the world of hard drives.

[rspassey]

Seagate has the best warranty on hard drives, and you can partition your drive if you want to divide up your data as you said. The advantages of more than one drive come into play with RAID set ups and not so much with just putting different data on different drives. The 200gb sounds right for you, then you can save the money like you said.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by lokodezine Is it better to have one large hardrive or 2 seperate hardrives. For instance if I would to get 2 hardrives, I would probably use one for my os, AV, and random files for school or designing. Then the other for media (movies, tv, or music) and games.

It's really up to you...but if you're working on projects that you absolutely can't lose then it might be better to go with two hard drives...one for the OS and programs and the other for the critical work files. Of course it would also be a good idea to have an external hard drive that you can backup the critical files to.

Originally Posted by lokodezine is there some big plus in getting 2 hardrives or would it be better to get one large and save some cash?

There is no performance advantage between running one hard drive or two hard drives. The reason to use two hard drives is it's very unlikely both drives will die at the same time so if you keep duplicate critical files on both drives and one hard drive dies you still have the other hard drive with your critical files on it.

Originally Posted by lokodezine Also is Western Digital better than Seagate b/c they are more expensive than Seagate on monarchcomputer.com

No, one isn't better than the other just because it costs more.

Cricket

[Karnevil9]

Since it sounded as if you wanted the drive to keep different files on a different hard drive, and not for fear of losing something, I would go with the 200 gig hard drive. You get the same space as you would buying two but you get it cheaper. You can still have two areas for different uses by partitioning the drive. Later on, if you feel the need to you can invest in a USB drive for a back up location.

[lokodezine]

Thanks

I currently have a 129 mb flash drive and a 80 GB External HD. I also have a somewehat old, but still working... 80 GB Desktar harddrive. I know IBM DESKSTARS are not the best but this from a 2 year old pc that the PSU went out on. How can I tell if that hardrive is compatable with my new pc?

[lokodezine]

just re-uppin becuase im hoping to order my pc tonight.

[Karnevil9]

If your hard drive is IDE or Sata drive and you have IDE slots, which you do, or Sata compatability, which you may or may not, then your hard drive is more than likely compatable. Other than really old technology or the new Sata drives which some newer boards will take others may not, all the hard drives are pretty standard size. The External hard drive, if USB, and you have USB ports on your computer is compatable. Most external hard drives are just internal hard drives put in a case. Pull the hard drive out of the case and you have an internal hard drive.
You didn't say how your flash drive ataches to the computer but providing you have a port to plug it in, it should be compatable.

[lokodezine]

im basically just asking if my old DESKSTAR is compatable. I know the external and FLASH is (all usb).

The new pc Im getting is a SATA DRIVE. HOw can I tell what my deskstar is?

[Karnevil9]

The connection is what is going to tell you if it is cpompatable. If you can plug it in you can use it. RPM speed, cache size, or gig size have no bearing on it's compatability. You may have to erase and format the deskstar if there is an old operating system on it, but you can use it. Even if the other hard drives are Sata, you can still use the IDE hard drive. You can tell SATA from IDE by it's connectors. Look in the back of your old Deskstar. If it is IDE it should have a 40 pin connector on the back. 20 pins on top row, 20 on bottom. This is an IDE set up. Your CD and DVD players hook up using the same IDE wiring. If you have a DVD or CD to look at and compare to the Deskstar you should be able to tell. Look at the top of HD, it should have some identifying information posted. It may say IDE or EIDE. They are the same thing. You can also go to the manufacturer of the Deskstars website. Search out the model and it should tell you about it.

[zelira]

Here's some pics. The cable on the left is IDE and one on right is SATA. Thanks to http://www.directron.com/patasata.html

I vote for 2 drives. As Cricket said "it's very unlikely both drives will die at the same time so if you keep duplicate critical files on both drives and one hard drive dies you still have the other hard drive with your critical files on it."

[lokodezine]

thankyou...

After viewing the website I see that it indeed is a IDE drive.

I have not ordered my pc yet from monarch. WOuld you still recommend getting the SATA hardrive?

So is it ok or will it not even work to have 1 SATA and 1 IDE?

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by lokodezine WOuld you still recommend getting the SATA hardrive?

As your main hard drive or the secondary hard drive?

Originally Posted by lokodezine So is it ok or will it not even work to have 1 SATA and 1 IDE?

As long as the motherboard supports both SATA and PATA (IDE) you can run both just fine. But many of the newer motherboards only come with 1 PATA (IDE) connection and you normally connect your optical drives there. So you should find out how many PATA (IDE) connections are on that motherboard you're getting.

You could always install that IBM in an external housing and use it as a portable storage drive instead of installing it in the computer.

Cricket