How well does this Maxtor hard drive overclock? EDIT: It doesn't work at all

[Eug]

30.7GB EIDE 5400rpm Ultra VL30 512K DMA 66 9.5ms 3.5LP *OEM*

Manufacturer's Number: 93073U4 (Maxtor)

I don't care that it's slow, because it's only for MP3 files. In fact, if the slowness means that it runs cool that would be a bonus. I'm just concerned that it's not gonna overclock well. (Older 5400 rpm Maxtor seemed to choke on odd PCI speeds.)

The reason I'm considering it is because it's cheap as borscht. CAD$185 (US$125) shipped. The 7200 drives are CAD$245 and up and I know my IBM Deskstar runs hot. By the way, the 40 Gb DiamondMax 5400 rpm costs about the same as the 30 Gb 7200 drives.

Edit:

By the way, is it quiet? My other hard drives are whisper quiet.

Edit again:

Well this thing completely refuses to work at any overclocked speed. Write errors galore and BSODs. :| I think I'm gonna get another IBM drive or something.

 

[Warrenton]

The maxtor 7200RPM drives run a lot cooler than the IBM drives.

MAXTOR 30.7GB ST53073H EIDE ULTRA-ATA/100 9MS 7200RPM 2MB BUFFER (Bare drive w/3yr warranty) $149.00 at www.mwave.com

 

[bonkers325]

dont worry they can handle buses upto 150fsb

 

[Eug]

Sounds good.

Can I partition this thing into one 30 Gb partition? I'm using FAT32. How big are the minimum file sizes gonna be? I'm guessing with MP3 files I won't be wasting too much space.

 

[LXi]

Yes you can partition it almost anyway you want as long as you use FAT32. The new Maxtors handle those funny FSBs really well.

 

[AlphaIVT]

What do HDs have to do with OCing? I've always been puzzled at this

 

[Eug]

<< What do HDs have to do with OCing? >>



The PCI bus is 33 MHz. When you overclock you also change the PCI bus speed. I have found that with some drives they will get errors or even crash if you run too fast.

This was esp. true in my brief inexperience with older Maxtor 5400 rpm drives even with the 37.5 MHz PCI bus (75 FSB for overclocking in the Celeron I days). I'm glad this is no longer true.

 

[AlphaIVT]

But the HD is run off the IDE (slots?)

 

[Eug]

<< But the HD is run off the IDE (slots?) >>



It runs off the PCI bus.

Anyways, thanks people. I've ordered the 30 Gb DiamondMax drive. The Onvia specs don't seem to agree with the Maxtor specs, but as long as it plays MP3 I'll be happy.

Edit:

P.S. That brings my system to 60 Gb. :Q

 

[LXi]

You should've ordered the DiamondMax 80, it has a bigger platter size than the 60. But its only available in 60GB or 80GB.

AlphaIVT, so now you turn to Anand huh? Guess no body on the FS board liked you.

 

[troubledshooter]

As long as we're evaluating drives...how well do Wester Digitals match up? I too had no idea this would be an issue (rookie here) when I just set up my system and snatched the cheapest 20 gb 7200 RPM drive I could get.

I have no idea the model number heh, its just 20.5 gb, and 7200 RPM by WD

thanks guys

 

[Ausm]

I got two 30 gig 7200 RPM drives in my box running at 150 MHZ FSB with no probs at all...



Ausm

 

[Eug]

LXi, I went with the other drive simply because it was cheaper, and because I don't need 60 Gb.

ausm, Thanks, but I know the 7200 rpm drives work fine, but I also know that some of the older 5400 rpm ones didn't. Hopefully the references to the &quot;new&quot; Maxtors include the newer 5400 rpm drives, like the one ordered. Otherwise I'm SOL.

Also, 150 FSB is (usually) 37.5 MHz. That's not such a big overclock. I'm talking more the 39+ MHz range (although I'm currently running only 38.3).

 

[Warrenton]

Western Digital 7200RPM Expert drives are made by IBM. If its a Caviar, then return it, they are very unreliable.

 

[troubledshooter]

how would I know?

 

[Insane3D]

&quot;The maxtor 7200RPM drives run a lot cooler than the IBM drives&quot;

Where are you getting your info from? Do you have something to back this statement up with, or are you just stating your opinion. Also, are you referring to all IBM drives and Maxtor drives? If you make a statement like that, you should try to back it up. I have a Maxtor and two IBM 7200's and the IBM's are waaay cooler. I know this because I actually took temperature readings from each while running a defrag operation.

 

[Warrenton]

Well I have two 7200RPM IBM drives IDE, and a two Maxtor 7200RPM drives, the maxtors are cooler for me.

 

[LXi]

Insane3D: You must have one of those old model Maxtors, the new ones run really cool, Im not sure wheather its cooler or hotter than the IBM. You can check the IBM 75GXP for more info on this.

 

[bonkers325]

debates tiss tiss

ill give it to the winner ibm
maxtor is good too

 

[Insane3D]

My two IBM's are 75GXP's and they are running RAID 0. My Maxtor is older than the 75GXP's, but not that old. I believe it is a Diamond Max 40, but I could be wrong. I actually am not using it at the momemt because I like my ATA/100 RAID 0 set-up much better...and I ran out of IDE headers. I guess four is not enough... I am just stating may experience with my 7200 drives. I can't vouch for all Maxtor's or all IBM's...just mine.

 

[Eug]

Well, this POS Maxtor drive won't work at any overclocked speed. :| I should have known, since I've had problems with 5400 rpm Maxtor drives in the past. I figured that recent drives would not be a problem. Boy was I ever wrong.

It will be a long while I buy any Maxtor drive again. Now I'm thing IBM Deskstar 75 GXP.

 

[Eug]

Update.

This drive has now officially died. It won't even work now at 33 MHz. :|

This Maxtor drive was made in July 2000, but yet the quality still continues to suck.

I suspect this drive would have fried itself at 37.5 MHz, which is actually a legitimate PCI bus speed for certain Cyrix motherboards. (I was at 38.3 - not a crazy overclock by any means.) Even my ancient 1 Gb Fujitsu drive worked up to 41.5 MHz.

 

[Nick Stone]

Eug

I am supprised It's totally dead. Have you run some sort of test utility that tests the drive? There's usually one on the &quot;Maxblast&quot; floppy (or whatever they call it) that comes with the drive or you can download it from the Maxtor website if you bought an OEM. You'll probably have to run it anyway in order to get an RMA to send the drive back.
On the 2 year old Maxtors, you could run these at 37.5 PCI bus speed if you left the &quot;DMA&quot; block unchecked. Some people would select PIO mode 3 or 4 to overclock even more. When you get your drive replaced try some of these lower PIO settings since you only plan to store the MP3's on it.