Quick Question for HDD Setup

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Valaire

Gawd
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Dec 16, 2005
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I'm planning on purchasing an Intel SSD in Q4 for my system drive but right now they remain a bit too expensive for me.

I'm using an old 74 GB Raptor drive, from around 2002, as my system drive, and have a WD 640AKS drive from about 2 years ago partitioned into games and data because games don't fit on the raptor.

I've run out of HDD space. I always intended on running an Intel 160GB+ system/app drive, and a green 2 TB drive for data as my next upgrade. I'm going to have to purchase the green drive now, and basically wanted to know what to do with the remaining drives with regards to OS/Apps.

Is it worthwhile to even use the Raptor at all or is the 640AAKS drive better for small read/writes for OS/apps operation? I'm not really "up" on the stats of these two drives and how they compare for OS performance.

I'd probably prefer to retire the Raptor if only because it's so old and is more likely to fail, but I want to make sure I'll get either similar performance or perhaps better performance with the 640AAKS drive.

Thanks.
 
HD Tune: WDC WD6400AAKS-22A7B0 Benchmark

Transfer Rate Minimum : 33.6 MB/sec
Transfer Rate Maximum : 110.1 MB/sec
Transfer Rate Average : 83.8 MB/sec
Access Time : 12.4 ms
Burst Rate : 145.8 MB/sec
CPU Usage : 4.9%


HD Tune: WDC WD740GD-00FLA0 Benchmark

Transfer Rate Minimum : 29.6 MB/sec
Transfer Rate Maximum : 68.6 MB/sec
Transfer Rate Average : 58.6 MB/sec
Access Time : 8.0 ms
Burst Rate : 101.3 MB/sec
CPU Usage : 4.0%


I guess what I'm asking is whether the lower access times of the Raptor necessarily mean it is the superior OS/Apps drive?
 
The age of the Raptor drive pretty much negates any potential higher performance you'll get from it IMO. I'm fairly sure the WD 640GB Blue will be a good sidegrade at the very least from the WD Raptor.
 
Yeah, if you had a VelociRaptor things might be different. But you will get better transfer rates out of the 640GB, and the difference in access times will be somewhat mitigated if you're running Vista or Win7. The 160GB SSD is still the best choice for a boot/OS drive by far, but if you have to make a move now it's probably OK to retire the Raptor and enjoy the extra space of the 640GB.
 
Thanks. I should have mentioned that I have had a Windows 7 upgrade CD from last summer with the pre-order offer but was waiting til an SSD to make the switch. What I'm going to do now is install Windows 7 and then just commit to wiping and reinstalling Windows 7 once I get the SSD.

I'd like to keep my system down to 2 harddrives, so that's why I asked this question; wanted some reassurance that removing the Raptor from my system wasn't completely dumb.

Can't wait to get an SSD, but I think in the immediate term I'm going to upgrade to one of those 27 inch Asus monitors (and maybe upgrade to the 460 video card since my 9800 GTX+ might not cut it), and wait for price drops/improvements in the Intel line in Q4.

Been installing the Intel 25-V in computers I've built for family and friends, and can't recommend it more. SSD's are key to overall performance, especially for the non-savvy user.
 
Dude, spend $60 and get a Samsung F3 1TB. They are dirt cheap and will smoke the snot out of the WD green. It will more than tide you over until you buy the SSD.
 
I am really only interested in a 2TB drive for storage, and the greens seem to be cheap/quiet. I'm a little concerned about their reliability though.
 
Valaire said:
I am really only interested in a 2TB drive for storage, and the greens seem to be cheap/quiet. I'm a little concerned about their reliability though.
Click to expand...

I was too, but I purchased 4 2TB Samsung EcoGreen drives and they've been flawless. If you need 2TB I'd recommend Samsung, WD, or Hitachi.
 
The WD's seem to come in slighter cheaper than the Hitachi/Samsung's at $110 for 64 MB cache (not sure if this even matters), vs. $130 for the Samsung or Hitachi. Now while the Samsung does have more positive reviews and less negatives regarding drive crashes, ultimately the sample size on both review quantities seems insufficient.

I've been watching the 160 GB X-25M price on Newegg, and it just dropped back down to $399 if anyone cares; I'm gonna wait til Q4 for one of those bad boys though.
 
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