How do Raptors compare now?

[oddyager]

A few years ago when I was assembling my AMD system the consensus was that if you wanted fast read times and access you would drop money for WD Raptors. I didn't feel like splurging for something with so little disk space at the time (I wasn't gaming at all then either). Now that I'm building a new PC (will more than likely start off with a 8400 on a P5Q Deluxe or E) and that I have been gaming on both Oblivion and R6V2 I feel I will probably need a faster HDD than the ones I have now. Are Raptors still cream of the crop? Or are there better alternatives? The only issue I can forsee is that my area is quite warm and can get humid (can't run AC all day as electric rates here in NY are off the charts) so maybe Raptors (if they are still massive heat generators) are not a good idea?

 

[Adam8281]

bump because I really want to know the answer to this too

 

[dakels]

oddyager I am in NYC area too and my comp is in a subfloor, semi basement so the humidity is often fairly high as well.
This is what I read and deduce on my own, I am not an expert in HD tech but I will give you my opinion.

I have an older 74gb raptor and in many tests they are still faster then most drives for your day to day needs, especially gaming. While the new generation of drives such as the Seagate Barracuda 7200.11, Hitachi desktar 7k1000 series (750-1tb), and Samsung Spinpoint F1 (750-1tb) are really fast and provide much more storage, most day to day usage and fast access time are better on raptor. The new velociraptor is even faster with incredibly fast access times. How does that equate to real day to day experience? From what I can tell not a whole lot (less then 10%) compared to the price. Unless you are doing heavy I/O server style high random access usage where the higher rpm would have a clear advantage, the 7200rpm drives are incredibly cheap, providing a lot of storage, and in most day to day usage, will be a better value for the buck.

HD chart
another chart

I just got a 750gb Spinpoint to go with my Raptors and I love it so far. If I didn't already own raptors which I bought several years ago, I wouldn't recommend buying them to the average user. I would recommend a Seagate 7200.11 or Spinpoint F1 750gb+

As for the heat situation. A well ventilated case should give you no problems. Even high humidity shouldn't be too much a factor as long as it's not condensing in your case which it shouldn't.

 

[deepinya]

If you are talking pure performance and not price/performance then get a velociraptor. It is tops in just about every category and your system will feel snappier.

 

[oddyager]

Dakel, awesome links. Thanks for them.

Originally posted by: deepinya
If you are talking pure performance and not price/performance then get a velociraptor. It is tops in just about every category and your system will feel snappier.

Price/Performance to a degree. Velociraptors are too pricey for me right now.