WD VelociRaptor HDD?

T

TheOrangeJuicer

Gawd
Joined
Jun 12, 2009
Messages
731
I just found this deal at newegg for this WD VelociRaptor 150GB HDD. Here is the link.

With a 15% off promo code , a $20 MIR, and 10% bing cashback the total comes out to $145.61 unless I did my math wrong. I have never used Bing cash back but it seems like a good deal to me.

Should I go ahead and purchase this for $146? It is a 150 GB 10k RPM Internal SATA drive that I would like to use as my OS drive. I currently have a 1 TB Hitachi drive that currently has my OS and all my data on it. I was planning on getting a new drive for the OS anyway and I have heard these drives are very nice to use as an OS drive.

Should I go for it or hold off a little longer and save for a SSD drive? I want something that is going to last and something that is reliable.

Thanks for the input.
 
A lot of 7200rpm drives aren't far off the mark these days. That said, I use one of the original 150GB drives, I have liked having it as an OS drive a lot.

They are kind of noisy, chattery, which can be annoying.

If itw as me, today. I would get a high speed SSD, or if on the cheap get a WD 640GB Black. Nothing really in between like the 10k drives. But that's a personal opinion.
 
Get an SSD. I sold all of my Velociraptors and have all SSDs - there's just no comparison.
 
So it wouldn't be that much of an improvement over lets say a regular 7200 RPM 150 GB drive is what you're saying? So I might as well hold off till SSD's get better or just buy a standard 7200 RPM drive and save some money?
 
Brahmzy said:
Get an SSD. I sold all of my Velociraptors and have all SSDs - there's just no comparison.
Click to expand...

I have heard that SSD's speed slows down as time goes on? Since they are relatively new I am also kind of hesitant because I really don't want it to fail. Plus these Raptors have a 5yr warranty. I haven't checked the warranty on the SSD's but 5 year is a good amount of time for a drive and by that time SSD's will be much better priced.

I am also kind of skepticle at the SSD's because of the price. This OCZ 60 GB SSD is $217.99 for only 60 GB. Factor that in with every one saying how it slows down over time and its a fairly new technology makes me want to go with the cheaper buy because it is double the space, more reliable, and comes with a 5 yr warranty. I know I am just going to be using this as an OS drive so 60 GB will be enough but is it really worth the extra money?
 
TheOrangeJuicer said:
So it wouldn't be that much of an improvement over lets say a regular 7200 RPM 150 GB drive is what you're saying? So I might as well hold off till SSD's get better or just buy a standard 7200 RPM drive and save some money?
Click to expand...
BAD NO, you misunderstand.

A 150GB 7200rpm drive is likely ancient and slow. I'm talking modern 7200 RPM drives with very high density platters, like the example of a WD 640GB Black drive.
 
the WD black drives are all pretty good, can't go wrong there.

edit: the 300GB velociraptor is great; i have one of those. not sure about the 150
 
i have that $99 Windows 7 Pro Upgrade preorder that i'm waiting on. Oct. 22th release date is so far away; plenty of time for price drops.
 
Menelmarar said:
BAD NO, you misunderstand.

A 150GB 7200rpm drive is likely ancient and slow. I'm talking modern 7200 RPM drives with very high density platters, like the example of a WD 640GB Black drive.
Click to expand...

Ohh I see my bad. So the black would be almost be a better option than the Raptor due to it being cheaper and almost the same performance?

Okay I will search around. What is wrong with the 150 GB versus the 300 GB? I don't think I need 300 GB just to install my OS I was thinking the 150 will be plenty. I may just wait till SSD's drop in price I just don't want my drive to slow down after a certain amount of use since I just built this rig and hoping it will last some time.

Tough decisions to make here!
 
the 150 should perform the same as the 300 as far as i can remember, and the blacks perform almost as good as the velociraptors. I'd get a black now, and a SSD in 6 months to a year.

edit: i read somewhere if you go from a normal harddrive to a SSD you should do a clean install of the OS. keep that in mind. in other words, i wouldnt do a clone to migrate an OS to SSD
 
Last edited:
TheOrangeJuicer said:
I have heard that SSD's speed slows down as time goes on?
Click to expand...

Not anymore. The Vertexes use Garbage Collection which keeps them running at full tilt (read AND write) all the time. No worries. Problem has been solved. The OCZ Summits (Samsung) have GC, and the intel's use their own form of GC.

SSDs are the way to go period. The tech is here. The only issue is budget for some.

WELL WORTH IT.
 
Alright I appreciate all the input from everyone. I am in a pickle here at this point. I may save another 100 bucks and a smaller SSD for the OS drive. As for installing a clean copy I was planning on doing it that way anyway. I don't want to image anything. So the raptor is out it is now between forking over another 100 bucks for an SSD or just get a WD Black drive and wait a few more months for the SSD prices to come down.
 
for $150

you can get 2 640GB WD blacks AALS model, and put them in Raid 0 if your mb supports it and then you would have more storage.. plus high bandwidth the only thing the raptor would have on you is seek time.
 
I would personally save the money for an SSD down the road, unless you're really itching to improve disk I/O performance, you'd be better served with a good 640GB/1TB drive and you probably won't notice the difference so much.
 
Brahmzy said:
Not anymore. The Vertexes use Garbage Collection which keeps them running at full tilt (read AND write) all the time. No worries. Problem has been solved. The OCZ Summits (Samsung) have GC, and the intel's use their own form of GC.

SSDs are the way to go period. The tech is here. The only issue is budget for some.

WELL WORTH IT.
Click to expand...

I got in on the Newegg Shellshocker deal today. Will the SuperTalent UltraDrive 64GB also use the same or similar "Garbage Collection" to keep it running at full tilt (read AND write) all the time?
 
Gravestone Doji said:
I got in on the Newegg Shellshocker deal today. Will the SuperTalent UltraDrive 64GB also use the same or similar "Garbage Collection" to keep it running at full tilt (read AND write) all the time?
Click to expand...

SuperTalents use Samsung or Indilinx controllers, I can't remember which, but as long as it's not the JMicron JMB602, our favorite controller, you should be fine.

As for garbage collection, that seems to be an OCZ firmware thing only for the time being, so YMMV on SuperTalent SSDs for that feature.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top