SATA - way to go ? 10k rpm/8mb cache... what HD would you get next ?

[flexy]

reading the WD raptor p/reviews...and i am not sure what to make out of it...SATA...hmmm.....

Currently i have a Maxtor DiamondMax 40Gig 133 ATA with 2MB cache...

Wondering what 8mb cache will do for me ? How about 10k rpm ?

Is SATA really worth it (eg. WD raptor) or is it just hype and i'd be off better with a Maxtor drive with 8mb cache ?

Need some input for some decent HDs in the next few months and what to expect in terms of performance compared to my current 7200rpm/2mb cache Maxtor..

thanks !

 

[IanthePez]

well, sata is not any faster right now, unless you use the raptor, but it will be the standard in a few years.

 

[PCMarine]

Well the Raptor would be signifcantly faster, due to it's 10,000 RPM and 8mb Cache. However, this drive is currently pretty expensive ($150-$200) so for the cost difference, your current drive is fine for now.

 

[Cosmic_Horror]

at the moment the big plus for SATA is where you have 2 devices on the same IDE controller in a master/slave setup. SATA would do away with the limitation of being able to access only one device at anyone time on the same ide controller. Once we see chipsets support SATA hard drives natively then i would expect to see much more action on the SATA hard drive front.

 

[BurnItDwn]

I go by the GB per the dollar formula ... I like reasonably fast drives ... and Its nice to have something you can count on.

The Raptors aro too small for my tastes ... though the 5 year warranty makes them mighty Tempting (Would be a great boot drive)



If you want cheap storage .. than go with 120 or 80GB IDE 7.2K RPM drives
If you want cheap storage with a little boost .. than go with 120 or 80GB IDE 7.2K RPM drives that have 8mb Buffers (or raid 0)
If you want Well performing Drives that have a great warranty and wont bust your wallet ... Go with SATA WD Raptor
If you want the best performing drives with a great warranty and a proven track record, I can only recommend 10K or 15K SCSI drives which fall in the ... "outta my price range" category

Get whatever you want ... I'd recommend WD SE drives as they perform decently, and come with 3 Year warranties. If you dont need Gobs of space, and your budget is not super tight ... than pick SATA ... its all a matter of $$$

 

[thorin]

SR Head-To-Head Comparison Beta vs Production vs 2000JB.

I would definately get a Raptor for your next system drive. It simply blows all other PATA/SATA drives out of the water. The performance listed above is even using an add in controller not a chipset integrated or mobo integrated controller.

Thorin

 

[Thraxen]

I go by sound now. I had a WD SE drive and it was pretty loud. Then I added a second WD SE drive and the noise was unbearable. My entire computer table would vibrate and there was some sort of of resonance in my case...I would get this cyclic vibration noise from my case. So I sold one and am now using the second as a back-up drive. I replaced them with two Seagate SATA drives and the difference is amazing. Both together in RAID 0 are quieter than either WD SE drive was individually. Sure, they aren't as fast as the new WDs or the Maxtor drives, but damn, I'll take than any day over that freaking whine and vibration coming from the WDs.

 

[DOOPYLOOPY]

hmm nice to hear the recommendation Thraxen.

 

[AtomicDude512]

You are all getting it wrong, many people will buy this because of it's performance boost. However, for most people the drive will be limited by the speed of your PCI bus (unless you have a higher-class PCI bus than normal), the only current way to achieve the full speed is by using Intel's new ICH5 (which you read about in AT's latest 875P article). The ICH5 has a SATA controller integrated into itself so the SATA can use the North-South chipset data path, which is significantly more bandwidth then the PCI bus.

Sorry if I didnt phrase this very well.

 

[thorin]

Originally posted by: AtomicDude512
You are all getting it wrong, many people will buy this because of it's performance boost. However, for most people the drive will be limited by the speed of your PCI bus (unless you have a higher-class PCI bus than normal), the only current way to achieve the full speed is by using Intel's new ICH5 (which you read about in AT's latest 875P article). The ICH5 has a SATA controller integrated into itself so the SATA can use the North-South chipset data path, which is significantly more bandwidth then the PCI bus.

Sorry if I didnt phrase this very well.

It's 99% irrelevant if the SATA controller is on the PCI bus or on it's own since no drive currently manufactured (even the Raptor) comes anywhere near 133MB/Sec (max PCI bandwidth). (At best the Raptor pushes 63.1MB/Sec ... Average is ~54MB/Sec). Check the above linked Head-To-Head comparison it uses a PCI controller, so unless you have another device hogging more then half of your PCI bus (not likely) then it's a non-issue.

Thorin