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Can't decide between three 80 GB HDDs :(

E

Elledan

[H]ard|DCer of the Month - April 2010
Joined
Oct 18, 2001
Messages
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I decided to perform a minor upgrade to my current main system, involving a mainboard upgrade (KT333-based GA-7VRXP to KT880-based ASUS A7V880) and getting rid of the 20 GB Quantum Fireball HDD which has served as the bootdrive for quite some years now.

I've decided to replace it with a 80 GB IDE HDD, only I can't decide between the following three:

- Hitachi Deskstar 7K80
- Samsung Spinpoint P80 SP0822N/SP0802N
- Seagate Barracuda 7200.7


Now, I would like a HDD with as few platters as possible and decent warranty, which I guess would mean Seagate. However, the Spinpoint is supposedly even more silent than the Barracuda. Both the Spinpoint and the Hitachi are a bit (the latter around 10 Euro) cheaper than the Barracuda.

The drive will be used for the OS, programs and download drive (three partitions).

Thoughts? :)
 
i have the seagate 7200.7 and its very quiet been running 24/7 for about 19 months now. and you cant beat the 5 year warranty seagate now has.
 
Seagate is your friend. Fast, quiet, and 5-year warranty.

Hitachi isn't bad, I'm sure, but no advance-replacement program if your drive does fail. This takes them off my list. Same for Samsung. Seagate does have advance replacement.
 
All solid one platter drives, so they compete equally there. Samsung has an edge on quiet operation, the Hitachi is probably the best performer, and the Seagate is backed by a five year warranty and advance replacement. Choose which of these is most important to you, and you have your choice in a drive.
 
DougLite said:
All solid one platter drives, so they compete equally there. Samsung has an edge on quiet operation, the Hitachi is probably the best performer, and the Seagate is backed by a five year warranty and advance replacement. Choose which of these is most important to you, and you have your choice in a drive.
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*sighs*

If the Hitachi is quiet enough, with no annoying high-pitched noises (any input on this?), I'd choose it for its fast performance, as it'll be the only non-storage drive in the system. As most drives which die prematurely do so in their first year, the 5-year warranty is nice, but not strictly necessary in my eyes.

Advance replacement is still slower than the half-hour it takes to drive to the shop, buy another HDD and swap it for the failed one. I've also got some spare HDDs (30+ GB) I could use in the meantime, in addition to a number of backup systems. As long as I remember to make backups, I'm set ^_-

I think I'll go with the Deskstar after all, unless it produces some really annoying noises.
 
Go with WD... u cant go wrong..

i have been a WD fan for a long time... decided to givve Maxtor a try.... and boy what a mistake that turned out to be... the loudest drive ever...
 
Saeid said:
Go with WD... u cant go wrong..

i have been a WD fan for a long time... decided to givve Maxtor a try.... and boy what a mistake that turned out to be... the loudest drive ever...
Click to expand...

I've decide to give WD a try a few months ago....and it was one of the most annoying whiny drives ever....Mistake

Luck of the draw.
 
dragontales said:
I've decide to give WD a try a few months ago....and it was one of the most annoying whiny drives ever....Mistake

Luck of the draw.
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The couple of WD drives (10 - 30 GB) I've used were quite noisy as well. I'd place them about on the same level as Quantum HDDs, though perhaps a bit more reliable :)
 
Quantum is now Maxtor, so it's a moot point there; aside from the Atlas SCSI line (which is noisy, due to high performance) I don't know of any Quantum models that Maxtor has kept in production, and its been a few years now.

Maxtor drives have been noisier for me than others. Not all start out noisy, but I've had a number develop a high-pitched whine, which doesn't seem to happen with other manufacturers. They're not my first choice in drives.
 
Maxtor still manufacturers the Fireball 3 line. You can bet it's a Maxtor drive through and through, but it does still have the Quantum name. It's a value drive, and all the stories I've heard about it point to significant reliability issues.

Elledan, WD took forever and a day to switch to FDB motors. If you installed one of the newer black topped FDB Caviars, you'd swear anyone but WD made it, as it is fairly quiet.
 
DougLite said:
Maxtor still manufacturers the Fireball 3 line. You can bet it's a Maxtor drive through and through, but it does still have the Quantum name. It's a value drive, and all the stories I've heard about it point to significant reliability issues.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the warning :)

Elledan, WD took forever and a day to switch to FDB motors. If you installed one of the newer black topped FDB Caviars, you'd swear anyone but WD made it, as it is fairly quiet.
Click to expand...
Only 'fairly quiet'?
 
Compared to older WD drives with ball bearing motors, the new FDB Caviars are whisper quiet. However, I was comparing them to current drives from Hitachi, Samsung, and Seagate, in which case they are merely fairly quiet.

As for the Fireball line, It's for bargain basement OEMs. WD has given up on their equivalent Protege line, and Hitachi/Seagate haven't had "value" drives for a long time. Samsung still has some, the V80 line. As far as prices have fallen on flagship 7200RPM drives, there is no reason to buy a value drive. When I make statements about hard drives being of roughly equal reliability, that doesn't include value drives ;)
 
DougLite said:
Compared to older WD drives with ball bearing motors, the new FDB Caviars are whisper quiet. However, I was comparing them to current drives from Hitachi, Samsung, and Seagate, in which case they are merely fairly quiet.
Click to expand...
Thanks for clarifying :)

As for the Fireball line, It's for bargain basement OEMs. WD has given up on their equivalent Protege line, and Hitachi/Seagate haven't had "value" drives for a long time. Samsung still has some, the V80 line. As far as prices have fallen on flagship 7200RPM drives, there is no reason to buy a value drive. When I make statements about hard drives being of roughly equal reliability, that doesn't include value drives ;)
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I think that the only people who'd want to buy value drives are OEMs and those ignorant of how fragile HDDs can be. Which means that I agree with you ^_^

I like Samsung's 5,400 RPM Spinpoint HDDs, though. They make great storage drives where access times don't really matter :)
 
I have two of those 7k80s in my system right now. I wouldn't consider anything else after them. They are extremely quiet, cool, and almost as fast as my maxtor drive in benches.
 
I have two 7200.7 - seems to be hit or miss with noise levels. Mine are audible (depending on where the case is sitting and what fans I have running) ... but I don't notice them any more. Had two running Raid 0 but I switched to a single drive and now I'm switching to a single Raptor (80GB Dell version) for $134.25 (plus tax). They aren't bad drives, anyway.
 
serbiaNem said:
I have two of those 7k80s in my system right now. I wouldn't consider anything else after them. They are extremely quiet, cool, and almost as fast as my maxtor drive in benches.
Click to expand...
That's the kind of reaction I like to hear :)
 
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