Need help on HDDs for storage/backup

[corpfan1]

Putting together a Sandybridge system (2600k + Asus P67 Deluxe).

Have an OCZ Vertex 2 160GB SSD as the main drive and need to figure out the backup and storage drives.

Have about a $200 budget for them.

Here is what I am thinking...need some help deciding:

A) 2 x WD Caviar Black 1TB

B) WD Caviar Black 1TB + WD Caviar Green 2TB

C) 2 x WD Caviar Green 2TB

Any pros cons to each option?

Any other options I should consider? The Spinpoints seem hard to find here in Canada.

Any other setups I should consider...don't want to slow the system down in any way.

 

[stargazr]

I'd say B) WD Caviar Black 1TB($100) + WD Caviar Green 2TB($89.99) ~ Newegg

Use the black internally for data because it's faster, and the green for BU. You could jump up to a Blue for BU but that would go over your budget. It's nice to have the BU drive in an external enclosure, isolated from your system. Maybe later you could buy an enclosure, especially if you have USB3 or esata, really speeds things up.

I have a similar arrangement, 120 GB Intel SSD for OS & programs, 1.5 TB Black for data and a 2 TB Seagate enclosure. I haven't had any trouble with WD. The Samsung Spinpoint drives seem like a better deal and are often recommended here. Can you buy from Newegg? Of course the sizes you choose should depend on how much data you have/will have.

 

[corpfan1]

Thank you for the answer!

Ya, kind of stuck with what I want...I keep reading that the Caviar Green are slow as heck and have a high failure rate.

Why did you say it would be better to have the back up drive external (in enclosure)? What is your angle with that?

At first I was considering just getting the 2TB Caviar Black as I heard it is a great drive, but I wasn't thinking about backup!

Comp will be mostly used for photo work, video editing, light gaming, everyday tasks.

Here is the build:

CPU - i7 2600k
Motherboard - Asus P8P67 Deluxe
SSD - OCZ Vertex 2 160GB
CPU Cooler - Noctua NH-D14
GPU - Evga GTX460 FTW
Case - Coolermaster HAF X
PSU - Corsair AX850
Windows - Win7 64 bit Home Premium

Just have to figure out the Hard Drives and memory...looking at 8GB of either 1333 or 1600 G.skill RAM - not sure about CLx at this time.

 

[stargazr]

I've heard that the Green series are prone to fail as well. I don't own one, so that's why I mentioned the Samsung even though you seem to like WD. You never know, there are always a few bad ones but is there more to the story with Green series? I don't know. I heard the same thing about one of the Blue 500GB series, really a lot of horror stories after I bought (2) of them. They have been working great.

I like external backups because I think it's a little safer. I only have mine connected when backing up, so it's mostly isolated from possible infection from malware. You should have some kind of backup, if it's internal it's better than nothing at all.

I think Sandy Bridge uses 1333 ram. Safest way is to download the motherboard manufacturer's list of approved memory.