Hard drive question

[Tullphan]

I just bought a WD640, but am pondering purchasing a 150gb Raptor...the 640 for storage & the Raptor for both OS, but I don't know if 150gb would hold both OS's & programs & I don't really want to invest in a 300gb Raptor.
Ideas? Suggestions?
Thanks in advance.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Well, what programs will you be loading? 65GB for each OS should be adequate unless you plan on loading up huge video games or something.

 

[Tullphan]

About the only programs i'd be loading would be an Office-type program, pdf reader, AV, Everest.
I don't game alot, but if I see one that catches my eye, I might install it.

 

[jgigz]

If you're only installing a few games and office programs, 65GB for each OS would be more than sufficient, tbh I doubt if you would even come close to 20GB used on each if thats all you're installing /using.

 

[Tullphan]

Considering a "preowned" Raptor (150gb) goes for ~$140 & a new WD640 sells (right now) for $99 shipped, is there $40 performance difference?

 

[jgigz]

As far as I know, Raptors are worth their money in terms of performance, though I can't say for sure since I've personally never used one. Though I don't know if a hard drive is one of those things that I would buy pre-owned. In that case I would just go for the 640GB WD, they seem to be quite popular on the forums here. But I could be wrong.

 

[Tullphan]

The things that bother me about the Raptors are the heat & the high RPM...makes me think that they might be more prone to failure.

 

[jgigz]

I have heard that they tend to run hot and noisy, but to be honest I've never really heard much about the drives failing. Thats not to say that they have never failed before, but WD probably does some damn good testing to make sure they can handle 10k RPMs, and the drives have been out for quite some time now, so I don't think failure should be on the top of your list. Depending on the case you have, most of the HDD bays are positioned by the front intake fan, and as long as you have air movement on HDDs you should be fine.

Edit: The raptors may offer a bit more performance, but I highly doubt you would be unsatisfied with a WD640.

 

[0roo0roo]

i don't think server drives are more prone to failure, and their rpm is also fast.
thtat being said, never buy preowned drives.

if your case is decent cooling is a non issue

 

[0roo0roo]

os generally takes no more than 4gb+ office, maybe 10 gb after a bit of bloat time. extra apps? 20gb? and thats if you dump in games.