Question about which HD to get

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robman_rob

Limp Gawd
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Mar 7, 2006
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I am looking for more space (aren't we all?) :p

i don't know if i should get 2x 640gb wd or like a 1tb hd (the seagate 1.5tb hd i read has problems and is expensive), I'm not sure which are better performers. I looked on storage review but i couldn't locate any information there about the 640gb wd (odd).

i was thinking of the wd black 1tb, as i think that would be a good performer, it beat the Samsung Spinpoint F1 on storage review, but this hd is more than two of the 640gb WDs.

2 hard drives take up more physical space, i only have 2 free sata ports left (can you expand and get more sata ports with pci slot cards?). 2 hds would produce more heat and suck more power too.

so should i get 2 smaller or 1 bigger?
 
are you going to use the drive for media storage or as a boot drive?
 
If you are worried about future upgradability, I'd get the 1TB drive now since it leaves you a free SATA port for later. Almost the same capacity (okay, 20% isn't almost, but still a lot of capacity) and lower heat and power than 2 x 640s.
 
robman_rob said:
do you know if there are any 1tb hds similar in performance to the 640gb wd?
Click to expand...

Isn't the Caviar Black 1TB basically the same drive with a larger capacity? I haven't been watching closely, but I thought the performance was pretty much on par.
 
Forceman said:
Isn't the Caviar Black 1TB basically the same drive with a larger capacity? I haven't been watching closely, but I thought the performance was pretty much on par.
Click to expand...

Is the Samsung SpinPoint F1 Desktop Class HD103UJ close?
 
Azureth said:
Is the Samsung SpinPoint F1 Desktop Class HD103UJ close?
Click to expand...

Pretty much, the WD Blacks have "Dual Processors" (according to WD's website, though I'm unsure what exactly that means) and has 5 year warranties. Samsung Spinpoint F1s are definitely comparable as the WD Blacks and the Spinpoints are 7200 RPM drives that both have three platters with ~334GB per platter capacities with 32MB of cache, so the performance is pretty similar.

The price is what makes the Spinpoint F1's appealing, though some may find the extra two years of warranty and the easier RMA processes, as well as advanced RMA that WD offers for free (*cough* I'm looking at you, Seagate! *cough*) worth the price premium.
 
Thanks. One thing I can't ignore for HDs is reliability, and I have used only seagates / WD in the past. So I don't know how reliable samsung is, the only thing I got to work by is what people say and that it only offers a 3 year vs 5 year warranty from seagate and certain WD HDs.

from a price though. F1 is much less than the WD Blacks, however it is also not as good as the WD (storage review comparison).

hey if one day I run out of sata ports, what can I do?
 
If space is your overriding concern, then stick with a 1 TB drive. If you don't, you will be kicking yourself in 6 months.

You would need to see a significant diff in benchmark results to see a real world diff. As long as you use one of the major brands, you should get a fairly reliable drive. Don not spend more money for more performance unless it is like >20% faster.

Don
 
WD 1tb Black Editions are fast... a lil more expensive then the other 1TB but are definately faster and that is good for a boot drive.
 
In my experience, Samsungs are very reliable and quiet; Seagates have tended to be louder and hotter than the Samsung equivalents, so that could be a factor for you (but don't take my word for it, check it out for yourself as well ;)).

IMO, the WD Black 1TBs are grossly overpriced for a slight edge over the previous 1TB performance king, the Spinpoint F1s, and for their price, you can't go wrong. :D
 
thanks for everyone's suggestions so far.
what happens when you run out of sata ports?

been reading : (if anyone is interested)
http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/15363/1

which compares many of the drives potentially for me, specially the WD SE16 640gb and the WD 1TB Black. Seems like they are generally good rivals, except the black is louder.
 
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