hard drives - random access time?

[Xenozx]

OK, well I am thinking of buying another harddrive or 2 because my current setup doesnt have enough space for me. Currently I have 1 74GB raptor and 1 150GB Raptor X.

I have been looking at the 640GB WD hard drives, and was even thinking of picking up 2 of these and RAID-0 them. But I noticed they have a rather high access time of 14 seconds or so, where my current raptors average about 8. My question is what exactly does access time effect? Like what would be a noticable difference on my desktop in windows? Running applications or office? Playing a game?

It seems the 640GB WD drive and my 150 raptor are pretty much on the same page except for access time, so im just wondering what the difference would be.

Also, I guess I have a couple solutions

Buy 2 640GB WD drives and run in raid 0
Buy 1 more 150GB raptor X and raid 0 them
Buy 300GB Velociraptor and use it w/ my 150 Raptor X

 

[Xenozx]

bump

 

[tiraides]

Check out the thread on HD Tune scores. It has information on the Raptor X and the WD6400AAKS in various configurations, and it will give you a general understanding as to how well each drive will work.

 

[Xenozx]

Thanks, I decided i am just going to hold off until I find a good deal on a velociraptor, or a good SSD like the intel one.