Gaming Harddrive...Which one

[vikingblade]

What is the best choice for a gaming pc. I dont do any real multitasking and quietness isnt very important to me. Speed, Reliability and Stability is what i want. Ive read good and bad things about each of these, so im not sure which way to go. Also, ease of WinXp installation is very important. I dont want any hassle. Just install and go...

Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 250GB Serial ATA150

Maxtor MaXLine III 250GB Serial ATA150

HITACHI Deskstar T7K250 250GB SATA 3.0Gb

Western Digital Caviar SE 250GB Serial ATA150

SAMSUNG SpinPoint P Series 250GB SATA 3.0Gb

 

[zest]

The Seagate propbably best..Samsung is good too it runs well and quiet.

 

[imported_rod]

Seagate is good. Unless you want to fork out the cash for a raptor, or a 16MB cache drive, the seagate is probably your best option.

RoD

 

[vikingblade]

i just saw this western digital with a 16mb cache...id like to add to the mix

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb

 

[daniel1113]

I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure that the Maxtor MaXLine III SATA shows some of the fastest pure data transfer speeds of any drive available, which is key for games.

 

[stelleg151]

Seagate got the best for game loading that I have seen.

 

[Corporate Thug]

raptor FTW

 

[vikingblade]

Forgot to mention... Im looking for a 250gb drive and under 120 bucks.

 

[SumYungGai]

I'd say go for the Hitachi Deskstar. I've seen great reviews; and even though it doesn't have a 16MB cache, it still outperforms most others that have the large cache size. Though (probably because of the cache size), burst rates may not be as high as others, but it doesn't really matter when everything else is better.

 

[alimoalem]

http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=2454&p=10
this review shows that the Seagate has the fastest overall game load times out of all the drives.

i'm thinking of buying the WesternDigital 16mb cache one but i may change it

 

[l Xes l]

seagate or samsung.. take ur pick

 

[alimoalem]

you could wait for the seagate 7200.9 reviews. i just saw anandtech post an article on it. i'm not sure how they fair or if they are worth the price increase.

 

[modedepe]

Originally posted by: daniel1113
I could be wrong, but I am pretty sure that the Maxtor MaXLine III SATA shows some of the fastest pure data transfer speeds of any drive available, which is key for games.

I believe I've heard it's the fastest also. Probably what I would go with.

 

[V00D00]

I would go for one of the drives with Native Command Queing. The seagate one supports it, and has that sexy 5 yr. warranty. I'd go with the seagate.

 

[vikingblade]

haha...thanks guys. see my problem.. no real clear winner. its a tough choice.

 

[w00t]

seagate or samsung.

 

[SumYungGai]

Originally posted by: V00D00
I would go for one of the drives with Native Command Queing. The seagate one supports it, and has that sexy 5 yr. warranty. I'd go with the seagate.

NCQ really is pretty insignificant.

Originally posted by: vikingblade
haha...thanks guys. see my problem.. no real clear winner. its a tough choice.

The Hitachi one even got good reviews in that article someone posted. Plus it's actually cheaper than some of the others.

 

[alimoalem]

i'm pretty sure NCQ will actually help later on...otherwise why would seagate have it and the raptors have TCQ?

 

[i1o0i]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144701

 

[jfall]

Hitachi

 

[mike3uz]

I would go with seagate because that is what we mostly use. Have an 80 and 160 GB seagate and running fine.

 

[Andres3605]

Actually running the same seagate in your post, 250gb SATA, good speed, and 5 years warranty.

 

[ChiBOY83]

HITACHI Deskstar T7K250 250GB SATA 3.0Gb .... I have this hard drive (the 160gig version) and i am SUPER happy w/ it.. always fastest loads in startin UT2004 online maps (ALMOST always the fastest....)

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I have both a 7K250 and a 7200.8. 7200.8 is faster but a T7K250 will rape it anyday. Same with the new WD 16mb cache drives. I like seagate cuz it runs cool and quiet and has a long@$$ warranty.

 

[eastvillager]

Originally posted by: alimoalem
i'm pretty sure NCQ will actually help later on...otherwise why would seagate have it and the raptors have TCQ?

They have it for when they're utilized in a server environment. The access patterns that can make use of ?CQ don't regularly occur in a single-user environment. They're just buzzwords when it comes to desktop computing.