Non-Raptor Performance HDD

M

Mr. Scarface

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Mar 27, 2007
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I'm building a new system in August...and I'm in the market for hard drives.

I've been researching since February or so on the newest parts and still haven't been able to find a conclusive answer to this question:

What is the best performance drive cheaper than a Raptor? I don't have the money for two raptors, and I'm looking for a great performance HDD that's < or = $100 or so.
 
In August things will be different. Ask then ;)

If you were to buy now... the 500GB T7K500 is over-budget but awfully tempting. The 250GB version is under budget, but you might find you want the extra capacity. Of course, in August this may be a bad purchase. Re-evaluate then.
 
unhappy_mage said:
In August things will be different. Ask then ;)

If you were to buy now... the 500GB T7K500 is over-budget but awfully tempting. The 250GB version is under budget, but you might find you want the extra capacity. Of course, in August this may be a bad purchase. Re-evaluate then.
Click to expand...

How much could possibly change between now and August on the HDD front?

It's not like 10,000RPM HDDs are going to be even close to my price range by then.
 
Mr. Scarface said:
How much could possibly change between now and August on the HDD front?

It's not like 10,000RPM HDDs are going to be even close to my price range by then.
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The 1TB drives from Hitachi will hit shelves soon, followed by Seagate's version. That'll drive prices on older models down into your price range. Hard drive capacities are growing exponentially (and have been for years) and thus the prices shrink pretty fast. 5 months is a long time.
 
unhappy_mage said:
The 1TB drives from Hitachi will hit shelves soon, followed by Seagate's version. That'll drive prices on older models down into your price range. Hard drive capacities are growing exponentially (and have been for years) and thus the prices shrink pretty fast. 5 months is a long time.
Click to expand...

Good point.

But as of right now, which would you most recommend: a Deskstar, Caviar, or Barracuda 7200.100 in my price range?
 
The model number for the Seagate drives is "7200.10". For boot disk use, I'd recommend the Deskstar first, the WD second, and the Seagate third. This will probably change with the 7200.11.
 
unhappy_mage said:
In August things will be different. Ask then ;)

If you were to buy now... the 500GB T7K500 is over-budget but awfully tempting. The 250GB version is under budget, but you might find you want the extra capacity. Of course, in August this may be a bad purchase. Re-evaluate then.
Click to expand...

I think the T7K500 500GB will be the drive I go with as well. Hitachi never has gotten around to offering advanced replacement on their hard drives though have they? The drive is around $10 cheaper at Newegg with FatCash but of course ZZF is noted for packaging hard drives better than Newegg.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145137
 
wd1600aajs all the way. $50. Screams. Tomshardware pursuaded me w/their hard drive charts. Also, for gaming, this drive compares to that of the raptors. I've read multiple reviews. Xbitlabs also has a nice review giving hitachi some points,and they'll have a part2 for the new up and coming barr. (maxtor diamondmax20&21's, (some of the same components w/diff. sizes)) that's on a maxtor drive.
 
unhappy_mage said:
And for a hundred bucks, SCSI should be compared to nothing. A drive, cable, and controller will run well over a C-note.
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Yeah you're right. =-( Luckily, it's now possible to economize in other areas, like CPU, mobo and RAM. I'd put the bulk of my investment towards storage and graphics.
 
burningrave101 said:
I think the T7K500 500GB will be the drive I go with as well. Hitachi never has gotten around to offering advanced replacement on their hard drives though have they?
Click to expand...
Western Digital is the only hard drive manufacturer that I know of to offer advance RMA.
Al Shades said:
Yeah you're right. =-( Luckily, it's now possible to economize in other areas, like CPU, mobo and RAM. I'd put the bulk of my investment towards storage and graphics.
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Economize on ram? I don't think so... I'd buy at least a gig or two of value ram.
 
unhappy_mage said:
Western Digital is the only hard drive manufacturer that I know of to offer advance RMA.

Economize on ram? I don't think so... I'd buy at least a gig or two of value ram.
Click to expand...

Well, so would I. And considering you can now buy decent ddr2 800 for $150, I would call that very economical. Last november I paid $280 for Corsair XMS2 2x1GB PC6400 before rebate. At that time, DDR2 was in high demand owing to C2D's introduction over the summer and everyone switching platforms from s478/amd. But DDR2 800 even qualifies as overkill for nForce based boards, according to all the reviews I've read.

I am talking about spending $200 or less for CPU, RAM, and motherboard each. And this is not for a "budget rig", but for a system that is quite capable of giving you 10k+ in 3dMark06 and playing every game maxed out (provided you shell out for graphics&storage, as noted earlier).

I am waiting for the 650i ultra for the sole reason that it will provide me with 3 usable PCI slots, unlike the SLI counterparts. One soundcard, one SCSI adapter, and I'll probably toss a gaming NIC in there too eventually. I can't wait. Never has there been a better time to have this as a hobby.
 
ohhh my, I can't agree more. I love the sport.
Bear lake come home! I hear it's 'bout the same, w/1333straps.
Recently rma'd a ds3 3.3, quit on me all of a sudden.
+$137. now what/[H] will deliver the goods.
 
unhappy_mage said:
Western Digital is the only hard drive manufacturer that I know of to offer advance RMA.
Click to expand...

I haven't checked lately but unless their policies changed Seagate and Maxtor both offered Advanced RMA as well. Hitachi was one of the only major hard drive manufacturers not to.
 
burningrave101 said:
I haven't checked lately but unless their policies changed Seagate and Maxtor both offered Advanced RMA as well. Hitachi was one of the only major hard drive manufacturers not to.
Click to expand...

I can't find a link supporting this on Seagate's website.
 
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