Is it worth going from HDD to HDD purely for speed?

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fattybear

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 14, 2004
Messages
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So I have this Seagate 320gb 7200.2 HDD I bought in 2007:

http://www.seagate.com/ww/v/index.jsp?name=SV35_7200.2_SATA_320-GB_Hard_Drive&vgnextoid=ded69acb3b630110VgnVCM100000f5ee0a0aRCRD&locale=en-US#tTabContentSpecifications


I'm thinking about upgrading to Samsung's F3 1tb:

http://www.samsung.com/global/business/hdd/productmodel.do?type=94&subtype=98&model_cd=507

But honestly I don't really need all 1tb, I was just hoping that it would be significantly faster than the Seagate I have now. Looking at the numbers on the specs it seems like there's no difference, so would I be better saving my $89.99 and put that towards an SSD?
 
Here's the HDTune score for the Maxtor 320GB which was based on the same design as that Seagate 320GB IIRC:
HDTune_Benchmark_MAXTORSTM3320620AS.png


And here's a HDTune score of a more recent WD5000AAKS drive:


Close to double the performance. And all that for only $50 off Amazon.com.

So if you want to do a HDD upgrade and don't want to go SSD (even though a decent 30Gb to 40GB one is about $115 these days), the WD5000AAKS is a good alternative to the F3 1TB.
 
I'd say go for it and get the hard drive. SSD is nice but, the fact that it's still so expensive, that it's still so limited in the scope of available storage space...

There are just too many reasons not to get one and only one reason to: speed, which ain't everything.
 
Bahamut said:
I'd say go for it and get the hard drive. SSD is nice but, the fact that it's still so expensive, that it's still so limited in the scope of available storage space...

There are just too many reasons not to get one and only one reason to: speed, which ain't everything.
Click to expand...

Still pricey yes, but amazon just had a deal on an OCZ 120GB 2 Series for $230AR I believe. Speed isn't the only thing SSD has going for it, reliability, less energy consumption, and your hard drive is generally always the SLOWEST thing in a computer. The OP said he wasn't in the market for a capacity drive, he wants speed. The kind of speed that a SSD can deliver.
 
HD502HJ is the 500GB version of the F3. Just as fast, and obviously less expensive.
 
Thanks for the excellent advice everyone. I think I'll compromise and get a 500gb drive and save up for an SSD down the road. Thanks again.
 
Danny Bui said:
Here's the HDTune score for the Maxtor 320GB which was based on the same design as that Seagate 320GB IIRC:

And here's a HDTune score of a more recent WD5000AAKS drive:


Close to double the performance. And all that for only $50 off Amazon.com.

So if you want to do a HDD upgrade and don't want to go SSD (even though a decent 30Gb to 40GB one is about $115 these days), the WD5000AAKS is a good alternative to the F3 1TB.
Click to expand...

LOL, your second one is slower where you notice an SSD the most.. LATENCY!!

I used to think the same way you did, hell I even bought mechanical drives to run in an array and then researched it more and more and SSD shine for their access time!

And boy was that research well worth it.

Transfer rates only mean so much in real-world applications but seek time is used EVERY TIME you click.

OP - Save up another 100 bucks and get an intel 80gb SSD, then get a 640gb WD Black if you want a storage drive.
 
I upgraded a 500GB to 2x1TB in RAID0 so I could FRAPS in HD@30FPS and not miss a beat (bandwidth and space). For that it worked great for me.

But if your not looking for huge space, SSD is awsome. I had a 120GB Patriot, then I moved up to the 160GB Intel and put the Patriot in a laptop. Now I want more SSD's ^_^

SSD's get rid of all the annoying stuff.
 
I built a cheap rig ($700) with a ssd, after using I could never go back to a hdd. They are great, sure you lose space but you can get a storage drive for that. Everything is faster with a ssd, boot is like 10sec, applications are instant, my load times in games dropped aton.
 
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