150GB Raptor problems

[GameRehab]

I wanted to know if some of you could help out a guy like me that doesnt know much about PCs. This is the first hardware install I have done myself.

I just got a 150GB Raptor drive for gaming. I play DODS, BF2, and COD4. Installed it, formatted it, installed all my drivers, and everything seems to be working fine. But then when I got ready to reinstall DODS, got it downloaded and try bringing up my server list, the server list is really really laggy/choppy. Then once I try to connect to a server, it takes forever to load up the game/map. I bought this Raptor drive thinking that it would load up my games/maps faster. My old 7200 RPM HD loaded the game/maps faster than this Raptor. But once I get ingame, my game play doesnt seem to be any different. The Raptor is also making alot of chirping/ticking noises at times.

Am I doing something wrong that the Raptor isnt loading games/maps faster than my old HD??? Could it be a bad HD?? All the reviews that I read about the Raptors say that they are noisy as far as high RPM spinning, but are they suppose to chirp/tick as much as this one???

If anyone has any suggestions, I sure would appreciate it.

I dont know about all this RAID stuff, so I havnt messed with any of that.

[nitrobass24]

Where did you get it?
What filesystem did you format it in?
Try reinstalling the game completely.

[GameRehab]

Ill try reinstalling the game again and see what happens.

I got the Raptor drive from http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136011&Tpk=Raptor%2bX

Filing system as in OS?

[SatTech]

Filing system as in OS?

Yeah, FAT or NTFS is what he's getting at.

[GameRehab]

Yea NTFS full format.

[DonDon]

The Raptor line is an "Enterprise" class hard drive, and has a higher than average life expectancy and reliability, but you could have some issues with your new drive.

I would go to the WD website, find the support section, and download their Data Lifeguard (I think) tools for dos. Get the CD iso file if they have one. Burn the CD or floppy. Reboot with the disk with only the drive to test connected, and run the complete or long test. If it finds any problems, RMA the drive.

You can also find the utility HD Tune and benchmark your drives performance. Your Raptor should be around (estimate) 80 MB/sec sustained read and a seek time around 8 ms.

All things being equal, the Raptors have a reputation of being louder than most other drives. If you really listen, you can hear the read heads moving in most drives. If you can hear it at a normal distance with the covers on, then that is getting a little loud.

A Raptor may help in game or level loading times a bit, but will have absolutely no affect on performance once inside a game. If you have half a gig or less of ram, it may help in situations when the system has to swap ram contents out to the hard disk also, like when you first start a game.

Good luck, and let us know what you find.

Don