Some Hard Drive help please...

[husker4life]

Ive had 2 WD drives die on me, ive RMAed again and waiting on the 3rd WD drive to arrive next week, its a WD1200JB SE 120gb btw. Im currently using an old Maxtor 5400rpm drive from my old pc which is 5 years old and ive had ZERO problems with it in 6 months. Am i having a power supply issue with the newer WD 7200rpm drive or am i having bad luck? Specs below thanks...

Athlon 64 3000+@2.0ghz(stock)
Evga 6800GT 350/1000(stock)
Asus K8N-E deluxe nforce 3 250gb mobo
pc3200 ddr400 1024MB(2x512) XMS Corsair memory
80GB IDE Maxtor HD
Lite-on DVD/CD RW
Sound blaster audigy 2 zs
Antec SLK3700-BQE Case with 350W PSU(21a on 12v)
Windows XP SP1, directx 9.0c, Nvidia 76.41 forceware drivers, nforce 5.10 mobo drivers

 

[wipeout833]

I know in the years I have worked on computers I have seen many harddrives go bad and all I can really say is sort of a game of chance in my opinion. It is possible that your power supply is sending more voltage to the drive but I believe is more due either heat issues or just bad hds in the batch.

 

[BillR]

I agree with wipeout, I’ve seen whole batches of bad drives from one company or another. One thing I have noticed is when I see a bad bunch it is as a rule from the same source, retail or wholesale.

I’m pretty convinced bad shipping and mishandling is responsible for more bad drives then actual manufacture defects. As far as WD, it’s about all I use and I’ve had very few issues.

A few weeks ago I put an array together for a client and he had purchased all his drives at the same Staples, (Maxtor) 3 of the 4 failed within hours. We got fresh ones from Office Depot, (also Maxtor) no problems at all. Anecdotal, but I feel relevant to your question.

 

[Drucifer]

After I went through 4 WD drives in 72 hours, I quit buying them. What started it was when, without warning, my old WD200 Caviar 20GB drive bought it. Replaced it with a WD800 80GB drive, died in 11 hours. Its replacement was an identical WD800, died before I even got Win2K on it. Its replacement was a WD400 40GB, it died in 23 hours. Finally, I said **** it, and replaced it with a Seagate, that just keeps on ticking. All three drives were PATA, and from different lots, etc. I won't touch a WD drive now as a main drive for any system.


But that is my $.02 worth.
In my opinion, Samsung SpinPoint and Seagate Barracuda IV are the best PATA drives out there. Period.

 

[unhappy_mage]

Antec SLK3700-BQE Case with 350W PSU(21a on 12v)

There's the problem. 350w is not enough, especially with a 6800 and a 3000+. Spend the cash for a good PSU, check out the stickies in the power supply forum.

 

[Vertigo Acid]

There's the problem. 350w is not enough, especially with a 6800 and a 3000+. Spend the cash for a good PSU, check out the stickies in the power supply forum.

Especially considering it is probably one of Antec's lesser offerings, like the Smart Power or SL line. They really are sub-par supplies compared with their high-end stuff, or even budget stuff from Sparkle/Fortron or Enermax.

 

[husker4life]

There's the problem. 350w is not enough, especially with a 6800 and a 3000+. Spend the cash for a good PSU, check out the stickies in the power supply forum.

How has my pc ran without any problems for 6 months with the maxtor 5400rpm, are you 100 percent sure its the PSU? Does the 7200rpm drive demand more power? I really dont want to spend anymore cash on this PC

 

[unhappy_mage]

How has my pc ran without any problems for 6 months with the maxtor 5400rpm, are you 100 percent sure its the PSU? Does the 7200rpm drive demand more power? I really dont want to spend anymore cash on this PC

No, I'm not 100% sure. Just more like 85%. 7200 rpm drives do draw more power, and it's the straw that broke the camel's back in this case.

http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104973
Fortron 500w psu. 500 *real* watts. $95.
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=844691
Why you need a bigger PSU
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=792566
List of good psu's.

 

[husker4life]

Are you recommending that fortron 500w PSU it only has 18a on the 12v rail, less than the one i have now. Here is the one im gonna get...http://www2.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817103437 36a on all rails

 

[E4g1e]

Are you recommending that fortron 500w PSU it only has 18a on the 12v rail, less than the one i have now. Here is the one im gonna get...http://www2.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16817103437 36a on all rails

It's just that the Antec 350W Solution Series PSU uses a shared +3.3V/+5V rail, which limits its power capability from those rails. Never mind the 21A rating on the +12V rail; in fact, most devices that draw current from the +12V rail will also draw some current from the +5V and/or +3.3V rails as well.

And the reason why your 7200rpm hard drives are failing is that the SL350 cannot deliver quite enough current from the +5V portion of the shared rail.

 

[husker4life]

What about the PSU i linked above its a good PSU right? Enermax 550w 36a on all rails booyaa!!

 

[unhappy_mage]

What about the PSU i linked above its a good PSU right? Enermax 550w 36a on all rails booyaa!!

Yes, that's a fine one to get - I actually have it running 6 hard drives right now. No problems at all.

The fortron I linked without even looking at it. Apparently they have some holes in their product line - the one I have in my machine has 2 12v lines at 15A each. I honestly don't know how they managed to rate that at 500W with those kind of specs. Thanks for pointing that out.