help looking for a new hard drive...

[eklass]

okay guys, i'm putting this one in your hands...

i'm looking for a new hdd. space isn't really a concern, as 80GB will more than suffice

what i'm looking for is a roack-solid ide hard drive that is fast. i'm thinking a brand name 7200rpm with 8mb cache would be quite a sweet upgrade from my 6gb 5400rpm 2mb maxtor. i've always used maxto and always had good luck with them, but i have no reservations about sticking with them

so it's up to the users of the anandtech forums. let me know what you think, what you use, and why you like or don't like it thanks a bundle

p.s. i have serial ata and would love to use it if possible, but it seems sata hdd have far too high of a premium

p.s.s. i'm not looking to spend a bundle. please keep in the $100-$150 range

 

[Jeff7181]

Link

Link

Link

These should give you some information.

 

[ukiro]

I just got a 120MB Maxtor with 8MB cache. Speed is excellent and it's surprisingly quiet. I had never cared about harddrive noise before, but now I realize how sweet it is to have a quiet drive.

Regarding stability and reliability, there are people who have had problems with every single brand, so judging if a make is more prone to failure than others based on forum feedback isn't recommended. Major brands are generally very reliable.

80MB and 120MB drives should close up on eachother in price about now, so even though you don't see yourself needing much space I'd recommend going with 120. When I bought a system in early 2000 I though 20 gigs would be plenty... but I soon found out that it wasn't. And with internet connections getting faster, you'll thank yourself for going with the larger drive 🙂

 

[Ardan]

I have a Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 80Gb hard drive and it is very fast. I found it online for $105 and it is now on Newegg as well. I suggest you look at those as well. They are very fast (something usually not found in Seagate's Barracudas) and come with the rock-solid reliability of a Seagate drive. I have done benchmarks, but the main thing is it does real world apps (large and small ones) very fast. I don't see any difference from my 80Gb Western Digital Special Edition drive in the 1600+ PC except that it is totally silent (not that the WD is loud to begin with). I would strongly urge you to look at that Hard Drive because it is noticably fast and it only has a 2meg cache...so if you find the one with an 8-meg cache, well...then you have yourself a good deal!

The DiamondMax Plus 9 has seen mixed reviews from people I know. They all agree that it is fast, yes, but some have had to RMA it. I have 3 Maxtors and they are good, and I haven't used a DM+9 but i'm just telling you what i've heard. So I would have to say to go with a Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 or the Western Digital Special Edition drive.

 

[Markfw]

I have installed probably 20-30 Maxtors for my friends when I build or update their computers, and never had one fail. The new one with fluid bearings and 8 meg cache is quiet and fast.

 

[LouPoir]

Maxtor or Western Digital are both excellent 8mb cache HD's

 

[Thraxen]

I had two WD SE drives (still have one) and they were loud and both caused quite a bit of vibration. Good performers, but I just couldn't take the noise anymore (I'm going for a silent PC). Go with Seagate or the new Maxtors.

 

[TronX]

Seagate makes some super silent drives, but you need to
research which drives those are before you buy the wrong kind.
For everything else the WD800JB should be overkill.

WD WESTERN DIGITAL "SPECIAL EDITION" 80GB 7200RPM EIDE HARD DRIVE MODEL # WD800JB - OEM, DRIVE ONLY
Specifications:
Size: 80 Gigabytes
Interface: IDE ULTRA ATA100
Seek time: 8.9ms
RPM:7200
Cache 8MB
OEM(Drive alone) 3 Year Manufacturer Warranty --*

$89.00 http://www.newegg.com