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How future proof is raptor?

M

Monkey_feces

Gawd
Joined
Jun 27, 2006
Messages
702
First question, is there a big diffference in performance between a raptor with 74gb 8mb cache and a raptor with 74gb 16mb cache ? It is extremely convenient for me to get the http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=6924206&type=product&id=1097580128836 (8mb cache version) because I can just walk into a B&M and buy the thing without a rebate. However, if the performance difference is huge, I can settle for the http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136033 (16mb cache version) , but it will be a pain in the ass because my mom is reluctant to let me use her credit card and I don't want to have to wait for a rebate.
With that aside, how long will the raptor be the premier consumer's hard drive and when can a drastic price decrease be expected? I don't want to buy a raptor at the huge price you pay per gigabyte (still better than an Ipod ;) ) to later find out that the new bigger, badder raptor has made mine obsolete and worth $50 in two years. :mad:
 
Well, I doubt that the raptors will go down in price too much unless a new raptor will be released soon. That is unlikely as they just released the 150gb version. I like the raptors, but the space is so limiting. Getting 2 150gb raptors to have ample space would be costly.
I have the 74Gb raptor 8mb cache version and since owning it 6 months ago, the price on this thing has not gone down much at all, despite my maxline III (which just died yesterday) depreciating by $30+ (about 25%).
 
I doubt that you're going to go wrong with a raptor. In my main machine i have the 150gb version and in my other machine i have two 74gb raptors in RAID0. They work great. Western digital probably isnt going to come out with a newer bigger version for another 2-3 years seeing as how long it took to get the 150gb version. But you never know that seagate and hitachi have hidden up their sleeves....
 
This morning NewEgg just dropped the price again on the new 74GB 16mb cache Raptors.

$134.99 AMIR - Pretty smokin' on these HDDs if ya ask me.
 
raptor prices have been somewhat stable. Even in the second hand market. Considering that nobody knows the future, nobody can guarantee that your raptor won't be make obsolete in 6 months by some ultra-cheap flash drive. It's unlikely, but it can happen.

You can compare the Old Raptor to the 150GB new one and consider that many other reviews found the WD740ADFD to be faster in order to make your choice easier.
 
I just got the best buy 8mb cache raptor. Here are the factors that made me go for it:
1. No rebate
2. Convenient drive w/o all the shipping hassle
3. Has a box, newegg one is oem
4. I can return it in 30 days if I don't like
5. Didn't evoke my mother's fury which usually manifests whenever I ask to use her credit card
Here are the things I regret
1. Could have gotten Dell 150gb raptor for $160 if I weren't so slow
2. Not as fast as 16mb cache version
3. No rebate wait for 16mb cache version
4. Was expecting 4 second windows boots, 40 seconds is fine though
5. Huge price per gb
6. very low capacity (74gb easily becomes 69gb after windows installed)

Personally, I think the pros outweigh the cons. All other opinions about my purchase are welcomed and encouraged.
 
Update!
After one day of playing with my new toy, I do notice a negligable difference in load times, however, I don't think it justifies the $130 I spent on it. I am thinking of returning this drive to BB and going for the 16mb cache version. Will I notice the difference between the 8mb and 16mb cache versions or will the differences be hardly noticable?
 
Monkey_feces said:
Update!
After one day of playing with my new toy, I do notice a negligable difference in load times, however, I don't think it justifies the $130 I spent on it. I am thinking of returning this drive to BB and going for the 16mb cache version. Will I notice the difference between the 8mb and 16mb cache versions or will the differences be hardly noticable?
Click to expand...
No way.
 
Monkey_feces said:
1. No rebate
Click to expand...

Rebates aren't so bad if you can get an item quite a bit cheaper when one is available.

Monkey_feces said:
2. Convenient drive w/o all the shipping hassle
Click to expand...

What hassle? You have to wait maybe three or four days usually at the most to receive it but i wouldn't call that a hassle.

Monkey_feces said:
3. Has a box, newegg one is oem
Click to expand...

What are you going to do with the box now that you installed the drive?

Monkey_feces said:
4. I can return it in 30 days if I don't like
Click to expand...

Most online vendors like Newegg and ZZF allow you to return the drive as well for a refund if you dont like it. The return policy with Best Buy and a few other B&M's is nice though in the fact you dont have to pay return shipping or eat a restocking fee. I can't really think of a reason that you would return a raptor though because most people will enjoy the performance advantage.

Monkey_feces said:
5. Didn't evoke my mother's fury which usually manifests whenever I ask to use her credit card
Click to expand...

Newegg accepts Debit and PayPal as well. I guess if you are young and dont have any of those things then maybe Best Buy is better for you.

I would personally definitely go with the 16MB version unless you could get the 8MB version for under $100 because the new 16MB is actually a little faster then even the 150GB Raptor according to the current benchmarks available. I wasn't too crazy about the Dell raptor deal because it only comes with a 1 year warranty which isn't very long.
 
drizzt81 said:
iirc the benches that I have seen were ~9 seconds.
Click to expand...


Foir sure, if his boot up is 40 seconds, he has too much crap starting on his system,
 
I think he was talking about the Gigabye I-ram. Anyway, i got 40 second boot times on a fresh install of windows. How long does it take for windows to boot for other raptor owners here?
 
"Rebates aren't so bad"
My mom won't look at the AR price, as far as she is concerned, I just spent $160 on her credit card, not $130.
"What hassle?"
I live in an apartment complex, fedex, usps, and dhl all have idiots delivering my stuff to the wrong apartment(could be scared of a tenant's dog). 3-4 days usually becomes a week.
"What are you going to do with the box now that you installed the drive?"
I don't recall if newegg specified that it included the cables, software, and manual that came in the retail box version.

I'm still thinking of getting the 16mb version, but as far as I know, 8mb raptor = 150gb new one, 16mb raptor is a little > 150gb raptor = 16mb raptor not much faster than 8mb raptor. Is this assumption correct?
 
burningrave101 said:
Rebates aren't so bad if you can get an item quite a bit cheaper when one is available.



What hassle? You have to wait maybe three or four days usually at the most to receive it but i wouldn't call that a hassle.



What are you going to do with the box now that you installed the drive?



Most online vendors like Newegg and ZZF allow you to return the drive as well for a refund if you dont like it. The return policy with Best Buy and a few other B&M's is nice though in the fact you dont have to pay return shipping or eat a restocking fee. I can't really think of a reason that you would return a raptor though because most people will enjoy the performance advantage.



Newegg accepts Debit and PayPal as well. I guess if you are young and dont have any of those things then maybe Best Buy is better for you.

I would personally definitely go with the 16MB version unless you could get the 8MB version for under $100 because the new 16MB is actually a little faster then even the 150GB Raptor according to the current benchmarks available. I wasn't too crazy about the Dell raptor deal because it only comes with a 1 year warranty which isn't very long.
Click to expand...

Good Job Burningrave. :rolleyes:

You got to be kidding right? I would rather buy something at a store over newegg any day if the price including shipping is comparible. Same goes with retail over oem. If you don't realize it, Best Buy, WalMart, etc, do not charge restocking fees.
 
Met-AL said:
Good Job Burningrave. :rolleyes:

You got to be kidding right? I would rather buy something at a store over newegg any day if the price including shipping is comparible. Same goes with retail over oem. If you don't realize it, Best Buy, WalMart, etc, do not charge restocking fees.
Click to expand...

Avoiding the 15% restocking fee would be about the only reason i can see for most people to go and buy the drive at a B&M like Best Buy but a Raptor isn't exactly an item most people will return very often. Usually Best Buy's prices don't compare to Newegg's for computer hardware but right now i see the 8MB cache 74GB is on sale for $129.99 so its a decent deal but at Best Buy you also have to factor in tax, cost of gas to drive there, and your time spent if you purchase in-store. Online your a couple of clicks and done and only a couple of states have to pay tax. He could purchase online at BestBuy.com but then he would be defeating some of his advantages over Newegg he listed earlier. He also bought the 8MB model which isn't as fast as the new 16MB 74GB and 150GB drives. I didn't realize they were on sale for $50 off at Best Buy at the moment so thats a good buy for retail at a B&M even though its the older 8MB model but most likely they are on sale to clear inventory for the new model.
 
Monkey_feces said:
I think he was talking about the Gigabye I-ram. Anyway, i got 40 second boot times on a fresh install of windows. How long does it take for windows to boot for other raptor owners here?
Click to expand...

I have a Maxtor MaxLine III 250GB SATA w/ 16MB cache and I boot windows (fresh installation) in under 30 seconds. With 2 of them in a RAID 0 it was around 25-28, and 4 in a RAID 0 almost did 23. These are all subjective though, with me counting ("one-thousand one, one-thousand two...), and it's with a fresh installation, so nothing in the system tray or startup. Oh, I also had automatic updates turned off as well as the windows monitoring system. Pretty much when I booted into windows i had only 98MB of ram processes.

...And yes, I realize I'm not a raptor owner. I was just giving a times comparison.
 
burningrave101 said:
Avoiding the 15% restocking fee would be about the only reason i can see for most people to go and buy the drive at a B&M like Best Buy but a Raptor isn't exactly an item most people will return very often. Usually Best Buy's prices don't compare to Newegg's for computer hardware but right now i see the 8MB cache 74GB is on sale for $129.99 so its a decent deal but at Best Buy you also have to factor in tax, cost of gas to drive there, and your time spent if you purchase in-store. Online your a couple of clicks and done and only a couple of states have to pay tax. He could purchase online at BestBuy.com but then he would be defeating some of his advantages over Newegg he listed earlier. He also bought the 8MB model which isn't as fast as the new 16MB 74GB and 150GB drives. I didn't realize they were on sale for $50 off at Best Buy at the moment so thats a good buy for retail at a B&M even though its the older 8MB model but most likely they are on sale to clear inventory for the new model.
Click to expand...

I just walked out of BB with $84 kilpsch promedia 2.1's after 6% sales tax :D

don't know what you mean about those prices ;)
 
If you use autopatcher to update windows with service packs (no choice with a modem and fresh install) there is an option to speed up boot times. My pc rips into windows pretty fast, no 5 seconds but pretty damn fast.
 
computerpro3 said:
I just walked out of BB with $84 kilpsch promedia 2.1's after 6% sales tax :D

don't know what you mean about those prices ;)
Click to expand...

I was looking to go pick up a set of those last week but they were sold out at my local BB. Its alright though cause i just got a set of Z-5500's from Amazon but i think i'm going to go headphones and sell my PC speakers anyways since 5.1 takes up so much room and i dont have a place for the rear channels to get proper positioning.
 
I live in California and Newegg charges sales tax here (which is why I prefer monarchcomputer.com over it, hook me up monarch advertiser if there's any chance you are reading this ;) ), which essentially turns into BB prices with shipping + tax. On a final note, can someone input their opinions about the 74gb 8mb cache raptor in comparison with the 16mb cache? Personally, I think the difference is marginal, but if you can enlighten me, please do.
 
Monkey_feces said:
I live in California and Newegg charges sales tax here (which is why I prefer monarchcomputer.com over it, hook me up monarch advertiser if there's any chance you are reading this ;) ), which essentially turns into BB prices with shipping + tax. On a final note, can someone input their opinions about the 74gb 8mb cache raptor in comparison with the 16mb cache? Personally, I think the difference is marginal, but if you can enlighten me, please do.
Click to expand...

http://tweakers.net/reviews/621
 
Can anyone put into perspective how much a 20% improvement actually is in regards to the 8mb and 16mb versions?
 
burningrave101 said:
I was looking to go pick up a set of those last week but they were sold out at my local BB. Its alright though cause i just got a set of Z-5500's from Amazon but i think i'm going to go headphones and sell my PC speakers anyways since 5.1 takes up so much room and i dont have a place for the rear channels to get proper positioning.
Click to expand...

Good move. Neither my 2.1's, z680's, or full fledged home theatre system including Dantax mains and an SVS sub can hold a candle to my Rs-1's (or super.fi pro's for that matter) in terms of cohesion, musical clarity, and just overall sound quality.

anyway back on topic....you have no idea how pissed I am that I missed the $160 dell raptor deal....
 
I'm pretty pissed about that deal too, however, I feel much better now that burning grave pointed out it only has a 1 year warranty (shit happens, and shit happens much more frequently to dells in my experience, I had a dimension 8400's mobo crap out on me after my 1 year warranty). Also, I think there was fine print about it shipping in 3-5 weeks.
 
Monkey_feces said:
Can anyone put into perspective how much a 20% improvement actually is in regards to the 8mb and 16mb versions?
Click to expand...
How much more in perspective can someone put it than to say "it's 20% faster" ? You'd need to look at their methodology to find out what the storagemarks mean. From what I understand they ran a couple of programs, took traces and those are replayed on the drives.
 
LOCO LAPTOP said:
~5 secs with a few things on my comp

Specs below
Click to expand...

Wow, this is as fast as using iram with 4gb...this I have to see...5secs to windows or just to turn on and see the first bios screen?
 
it all depends what time he is measuring. "booting up windows" is a very vague term.
 
The only thing that matters to me is the time from pushing the power button to being able to open programs...
 
LOCO LAPTOP said:
If i can find a cam i will prove it.
Click to expand...
Are you sure that is not the time it takes your computer to come out of suspend mode?

Hell most harddrives take near 3-5 seconds to spin-up from a cold stop and since you are using a RAID-0 your controller wont touch either one until both have spun up. That leaves you with at most 2 seconds to load windows?
 
futureproof? hahahaha. No such thing.

Anyways, your question was how long the raptor would be the "premier consumer drive".

Well, the raptor you mentioned already lost that title. It belongs to the 150 gig model(without the window, don't get me started), not the 74 gig drive.

Sounds more like you want it for bragging rights than anything else. Might want to put your money somewhere it'll do more for you, honestly.
 
magnuspah said:
5secs to windows or just to turn on and see the first bios screen?
Click to expand...
just to load windows 5 secs. i didnt count with bios.

Are you sure that is not the time it takes your computer to come out of suspend mode?
Click to expand...

No, what I am saying is to load windows. after the drives are on.
 
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