HDD Question

[tigz1218]

I have dell (unfortunately) and I have been having problems with its hard drive since day 1. They gave me 2 new HDD since i purchased it. Now my warranty is up and i have the Error Code 7. Which means my hard drive is screwed. The one my computer came with is Maxtor 160GB SATA 150. The prices for these are alot higher then the SATA 3.0gbs and I was not sure if my computer could use that. So i purchead a Seagate 250gb 16mb cache Ultra ATA100 since i know motherboard would support older tech and the price was very good. I havent opened it yet I was just wondering if since it is older tech am i going to see a performance hit in games ? If it is just a minor difference i wont mind , I would much rather stability over speed. And if my computer can support the newer SATA3.0gbs should i return this seagate and get the sata3.0 version ? Thank you for your time sorry for making this alot to read =(. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone.

 

[Seekermeister]

SATA II is backward compatable with SATA I, but would have the same performance as SATA I. I'm not certain about the Seagate, because it's ATA100, but a drive that I have similar is an ATA133, and it has a higher transfer rate than my SATA Is. As far as how noticeable the difference would be to you...I won't say. If there is a significant price difference, I would stick with the cheaper. I don't know where you bought it, but when I buy in a local store, it doesn't matter whether the box has been opened or not, they will still allow it to be returned, if not satisfied.

 

[tigz1218]

Thank you very much for your assistance =). I am deciding to keep it. One other issue if you would happen to know this. The only Windows install CD I have is the one that came with my dell. The guy at bestbuy told me if I install a new harddrive I would need to purchase an actual version of Windows cause the one that came with my computer wont work. Is this true?

 

[AmphibSailor]

Should be able to use the Dell Windows install CD on a Dell PC. IIRC the CD looks for a Dell bios. If it detects that, then you don't have to input the registration code. It will skip that part of the install routine and go onto the rest of the install.

 

[tigz1218]

Thank you so much for the advice =).