help me pick a harddrive

[Gloryfieldzi]

I would like it to be about 140 dollars, certainly not more than 160 dollars

I need it to be 8 mb cache and 7200 RPM with plenty of space i play FPS games.

what brand do you guys think I should I get, my 4 months old IBM 40 gig just crapped out on me, so i need a reliable low failure rate hard drive that would last about 3 - 5 years.

thanks.

my rig:
Athlon ThunderBird 1333 OCed to 1405 mhz
256 DDR Samsung Ram pc2100
Sapphire Radeon 9500 Pro OEM stock speed
Asus A7A266 Motherboard.
15 inch Sony LCD

 

[Schadenfroh]

Try this one

 

[DaveSimmons]

Welcome to AT forums. The Western Digital drives offer the best performance and you can find 8 MB models with 3-year warranty, but the down side is more noise & heat. Check out www.storagereview.com for detailed reviews.

If you want cool & quiet, but lower performance and only 1-year warranty, Seagate 'cuda IV is the best choice, the V series has had mixed reviews (some say the seek noise is much louder than IV series drives).

Maxtor "fluid-bearing" drives offer a decent compromise (but again 1 year warranty), but some people have gotten nosiy drives so quality control seems to be spotty for these models.

(ed) and Newegg.com is a great place to buy any of these (Schadenfroh linked to a 60 GB WD but you could get up to a 120 GB on your budget)

 

[NumbaJuan]

This is one of the best imho and its in your price range

 

[HalfCrazy]

Welcome to the AT forum. How about a WD 120gig 8mb cache hard drive? You should be able to pick one up for that price without any problems. I been having very good luck with all the WD's hard drives I owned. Never once had one form any bad sector or fail for any reason. I owned a few Maxtor hdd's in the past also without any problems. I sold them off because I did not care for the dual jumpers they had on them at the time.

 

[Texun]

I got mine here. It's the 120g WD-Special Edition. It is pretty snappy but runs a little warm. I had back luck with WD's several years ago and would never have dropped Maxtor if they had not changed their warranty.

 

[everman]

I got a WD 120gb 8mb cache, a few months ago for $100. Great hd so far.

 

[Gloryfieldzi]

Originally posted by: NumbaJuan
This is one of the best imho and its in your price range

hey yea, i went to newegg for couple weeks now and saw that, but then i saw a thread in this forum and many people said the WD crapped out on them. Is this drive reliable? I don't ever want to lose my docs, vids, and mp3s again, I couldn't even backup because it just crapped out suddenly and won't boot so i had to reformat for it to work, right now it's running slower than before.

if WD is pretty reliable than i'll go with it

thanks for the suggestions.

 

[Gloryfieldzi]

if I get a WD hd, where would be the best place to get it (easy customer service, price)

i will sacrifice 10 dollars if one place has really good customer service

 

[LikeLinus]

Originally posted by: gloryfieldzi
if I get a WD hd, where would be the best place to get it (easy customer service, price)

i will sacrifice 10 dollars if one place has really good customer service

Newegg is definately one of the best online retailers.

 

[Gloryfieldzi]

so If I buy from newegg, and if the HD crapped out on me in 3 years, how easy would it be to replace my HD? IBM won't replace my harddrive. And would i have to play any fee to replace it?

 

[Texun]

hey yea, i went to newegg for couple weeks now and saw that, but then i saw a thread in this forum and many people said the WD crapped out on them. Is this drive reliable? I don't ever want to lose my docs, vids, and mp3s again, I couldn't even backup because it just crapped out suddenly and won't boot so i had to reformat for it to work, right now it's running slower than before.

if WD is pretty reliable than i'll go with it

thanks for the suggestions.

I haven't RMA'd a drive in a long time but I doubt that any retailer will cover the mfgr's warranty for more than a few weeks. Anybody else have information otherwise???

As far as "never losing" data again: The deck is stacked against you here. Drives are mechanical and they all fail over time. Several years ago I have terrible luck with WD. I've had probably 10 Maxtors since and only 1 failed after 2 years. As mentioned in my previous reply, if Maxtor had not cut their warranty to 1 year I would have gone with them again in a second. WD's have hopefully improved since my last purchase about 5 years ago. If not, I don't see how they would have remained in business and I certainly don't see how they could keep their 3 year warranty. My only shot at having success in the event of a possible failure is that I can RMA the WD until 03/2006 if it craps out. Until then...... back ups are essential!

 

[Gloryfieldzi]

i found a 120 gig 8 mb cache Wester DIigital special edition harddrive for $109 after rebates, is it a good deal???

www.outpost.com

 

[Ionizer86]

The Maxtor DiamondMax 9 series are really fast; it looks like they're faster than the WD1200JB and similar to the WD2000JB (Western Digital drives go faster when you buy larger ones because each series only comes in one size, whereas other manufacturers spread their series over a wide range of sizes).

A week or two ago, 120gb Maxtors were seen for $69 or $79 or something, and by digging through inventory, many people got 8mb drives (they're distinguishable since a L0 on the barcode indicates 2mb buffer, and P0 indicates 8mb buffer).

 

[optimistic]

Originally posted by: texun
I got mine here. It's the 120g WD-Special Edition. It is pretty snappy but runs a little warm. I had back luck with WD's several years ago and would never have dropped Maxtor if they had not changed their warranty.

Are you cooling yours in anyway? I'm consiering putting mine in a cooling bay or next to one of my fans.
<~ Little worried that it runs so hot.

 

[billyjak]

Iv'e been running the 120 gig WDJB for almost a year and it performs real good. Right in you ballpark figure.

 

[Texun]

Originally posted by: optimistic

Originally posted by: texun
I got mine here. It's the 120g WD-Special Edition. It is pretty snappy but runs a little warm. I had back luck with WD's several years ago and would never have dropped Maxtor if they had not changed their warranty.

Are you cooling yours in anyway? I'm consiering putting mine in a cooling bay or next to one of my fans.
<~ Little worried that it runs so hot.

I'm almost a constant tinkerer. I cool it not so that it will feel better, but that I will feel better. I had some fans and more time on my hands that I should have had, so in went the fan.

The drive has a three year warranty. Even if I didn't cool it, I know full well that I would and will RMA it if necessary.

My only concern stems from horrible experience with WD drives about 6 years ago. I can't believe they could still be that bad and stay in business. Millions of users swear by them now instead of at them. I can say this much for it... it has a speed that I can feel notice.

Thanks!