HDD advice/recommendation

D

diztrukted

n00b
Joined
Mar 1, 2010
Messages
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hey fellow enthusiasts, I'm nearly done with my build and i need to make a choice for an HDD. Newegg is selling the Western Digital VelociRaptor WD6000HLHX 600GB (you know, the one with the crazy 10000 rpm's) it's a bit pricey but I'm more than willing to shell out the money for it ($279 to be exact). Now originally I had planned to get the Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB hdd which goes for $149.

Obviously, more space and cheaper would be the natural choice, but for a gaming pc which of the two would be best suit me? I was also suggested to ditch the 80GB SSD in my current setup- get a larger one and get the SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB...

Here's what I have so far (if it makes a difference)

=======HOME DESKTOP=======

(x) = purchased

+ Intel Core i7 930 2.8 GHz
+ MoBo -ASUS P6X58D (x)
+ HSF - CPU HEATSINK COOLER MASTER RR-UV8-XBU1-GP (x)
+ SSD -Intel X25-M Mainstream SSD (x)
+ GPU - Sapphire Radeon HD 5850 (x)
+ HDD1 - Western Digital Caviar Internal Hard Drive (x)
+ RAM - CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (2 x 2GB)
+ PSU - CORSAIR CMPSU-850TX (x)
+ HDD2- ??????????????
+ DVD DRIVE - DVD±/CD-RW: Samsung SH-S223F (x)
+ Chassis - Thermaltake Element T (x)
+ Logitech Keyboard illuminated (x)
+ ASUS VW246H Glossy Black 24
+ A30 Headset
 
Keep the x25-m ssd, and go with the samsung f3 1tb or the wd black 1tb. Keep in mind the wd black 1tb is about $20 more and only has minimal performance gains over the f3 but WD is a tad more reliable in my experience.
 
the black also has a longer warranty (5yr vs 3yr). I like the F3 because its quieter than my cavblack.

I'd definitely suggest keeping the X25-M 80GB. The VRaptors aren't worth their price premium. No mechanical drive can compete with an SSD's access times, IOPS, and small random write speeds. While the SSD won't do much for gaming except decrease load times, it will make everything else faster.

Dominators are overpriced. Go for some G.Skill Ripjaws and PI sticks instead for the same performance at a lower cost.
 
enginurd said:
the black also has a longer warranty (5yr vs 3yr). I like the F3 because its quieter than my cavblack.

I'd definitely suggest keeping the X25-M 80GB. The VRaptors aren't worth their price premium. No mechanical drive can compete with an SSD's access times, IOPS, and small random write speeds. While the SSD won't do much for gaming except decrease load times, it will make everything else faster.

Dominators are overpriced. Go for some G.Skill Ripjaws and PI sticks instead for the same performance at a lower cost.
Click to expand...

Ripjaws and PI sticks? which, ripjaws?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...1306&cm_re=ripjaws_6gb-_-20-231-306-_-Product
 
Go with this kit unless you're trying to overclock past 4GHz (otherwise, go with the RAM in your last post).
 
Last edited:
Eh, the 1600 PI sticks were the same price as the 1600 Ripjaws, but they seem to have increased since I last looked. Oh wellz, I agree with tiraides.
 
So I picked up to the 1TB spinpoint that some of you had suggested but I realized there was one feature missing, the spinpoint was SATA 3.0Gb/s and not 6.0Gb/s which was why i purchased the ASUS P6X58D. Is there a significant difference between 3.0Gb/s and 6.0Gb/s?
 
There are no mechanical drives out right now that will saturate even SATA300. The only time they reach 300MB/s is in bursts, but real world performance is less than half of that (sustained transfer rates are less than 150MB/s) -- a faster controller will not improve this, as it's still a limitation of the mechanical drives. It will be some time before mechanical drives start saturating SATA300. SATA600 was pushed out for SSDs, because those are the only things that can saturate SATA300.
 
Thanks a lot guys. By the time this is built I'll run some benchmarks and hopefully you guys can give me some more advice as to how to best optimize my computers performance.
 
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