Time for a new HD...

[Insane3D]

It's time for me to buy a new 160-200GB HD for one of my systems, and I'm looking for what the current performance leaders are, and the general favorites around the forum. It's been awhile since I've picked up a new HD, and my favorite back then was the Maxtor DM+9's. The drives can be IDE or SATA, but I'm leaning SATA for this particular setup.

I know the Seagates are usually the quietest, but tend to be a bit slower than the rest. The WD's I have had in the past were way too loud, so I think I'll avoid them for awhile. So, I'm leaning towards a Hitachi or the Maxtors, but the Hitachi meow thing would drive me crazy...do they still have that?

Thanks in advance!



Edit:

Currently leaning toward this Maxtor 200GB, 8GB DM10.

The 250GB model with the 16mb cache would be nice, but I don't need the extra space, or the $75 price premium...

 

[Sandor]

Seagates are quiet and have a 5-year warranty, so that's what my last two drives have been (plus there's been a few deals on them lately, like a 160GB for $50 after rebate or a 200GB for $80 after rebate). If you get another brand, check the warranty- some Maxtors are 3 years and some (usually retail kits) are 1 year. To me, speed is negligible- I base my purchase on price/GB, sound, and warranty (especially after having had 3 IBM drives fail on me).

 

[Insane3D]

I've been happy with the Maxtor's, and the Seagate's just don't interest me. All Maxtor OEM drives with a 8mb cache or larger, and capacity of 120GB or more, have a 3 year warranty. That's fine for me.

 

[imported_Lucifer]

MAXTOR!! I had 3 seagates, 2 40 gig ATA drives and 1 SATA drive. The SATA drive lasted 2 weeks till it died, and the 2 40's took about a year till they died. Never had a dying Maxtor drive.

 

[dug777]

WD- go the Caviar 160GB- awesome value for money, fast, quiet, 3y warranty-what more do u want...?

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: dug777
WD- go the Caviar 160GB- awesome value for money, fast, quiet, 3y warranty-what more do u want...?

No. Please read original post...

 

[thermalpaste]

Originally posted by: Thin Lizzy
MAXTOR!! I had 3 seagates, 2 40 gig ATA drives and 1 SATA drive. The SATA drive lasted 2 weeks till it died, and the 2 40's took about a year till they died. Never had a dying Maxtor drive.

Bad luck man, I never had problem with seagate. Ooh, and you are using your HDDs on your mac???

 

[dug777]

i DID read the original post, and the bit where u said 'in the past'-
i am assuming that this was a couple years ago, and IMHO my current (brand new) WD is extremely quiet with the FDB tech...just my 2 cents

 

[Mik3y]

seagates are very reliable, very quiet, and are faster then wd and maxtor by a tad bit. they are perhaps the top right now.

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: Mik3y
seagates are very reliable, very quiet, and are faster then wd and maxtor by a tad bit. they are perhaps the top right now.

No, actually they aren't. Please go read Storage Review.

The two leaders are the Hitachi's, and now the new Maxtor MaxLine III's and DM 10's....

 

[Subhuman25]

Seagate all the way.Maxtor sucks.Over the years nothing but dud drives with Maxtor/Quantum.Many others have had bad luck with Maxtor,unlike Seagate.

 

[Insane3D]

Ok, thanks everyone. I was really hoping for people that had been doing some drive research on the latest models, not the typical "I have these drives so they are the best" type of responses. Looks like I'll go with the Maxtor. What ever happened to Pariah?

 

[Akira1224]

How can you get upset with the responses you have gotten. Do the research yourself....you expect to be able to post and have everyone run out and do the research for you and report back?

It sounds like you had your mind made up to begin with, so go get the Maxtor. I have had a lot of bad luck with Maxtor and as such no longer use them in my system builds. Their new 250 gig w/ 16m cache is supposed to be a hair slower than a Raptor (which is what I would advise getting and running two 74 gig Raptors in a RAID 0+1 array with a 160 gig back up.) and that is impressive considering the spindle speed difference.

The new Seagates 7200.7 and .8 both feature NCQT which does improve read times. That?s what I use in my current office and GHU systems.

I have no experience with Hitachi but have heard they are good drives.

Good luck finding a new drive!!!

 

[Insane3D]

How can you get upset with the responses you have gotten. Do the research yourself....you expect to be able to post and have everyone run out and do the research for you and report back?

I'm not upset per se, but if you read the repsonses it's the usual I have XXX drive, so it's better. I was hoping for someone that had done research, and wasn;t just going to prattle off their favorite brand.

As for the Seagate, I realize it has NCQT, which the new Maxtor has as well. Only problem with the NCQT is it only works with certaincontrollers that can handle it from what I've read. To date, the only one I've seen that does is the ICHR6, which none of my boards have anyway. I used to love Seagates, and WD, but this was really between the two faster drives out now, the Hitachi's and the Maxtor. Seagates are great drives, but they are usually a bit slower than their counterparts.

My mind wasn't made up when I posted this, and after the answers I got were as expected, I did do my own research. In my OP, I mentioned it was primarily between Hitachi and Maxtor...not Seagate, WD or others. I have several DM+9's here and they have been my favorite for all my customer builds and my own machines for awhile now, and I've had no problems. All the "Maxtor sucks" or "I've had xxx Maxtor's die" are irrelevant to me.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Hey brudda I have both a 120gb 8mb Maxtor and Deatstar and prefer the deathstar, HTH :beer:

 

[Akira1224]

I'm not sure about the controllers and NCQT. I may look into that myself as I have a 7200.7 160 gig and have noticed improved read times on my NF7-S rev 2. Nothing spectacular but less hangs and slightly quicker load times.

As a system builder I (we) am always on the lookout for quality components that will bring value and performance to the end user. For now I have found that with Seagate and WD (Raptors...which aren?t exactly "value" but high performance)

Again I used to use Maxtor but had some difficulties with them. If the same thing happens with Seagate or WD then I will search again.

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER
Hey brudda I have both a 120gb 8mb Maxtor and Deatstar and prefer the deathstar, HTH :beer:

Hey man! How have you been? How's the little guy doin?

I assume by the Deathstar you mean the Hitachi, which I only didn't get over the DM+9's because of the annoying meow noise. I've heard the MP3's of that sound and it would drive me...well..Insane. I was aware they were the faster drive.

I decided on the Maxtor since SR just gave it the new performance lead over the Hitachi. The DM 10's are the same as the MaxIII's, but my drive will only have the 8mb cache, so I'm sure it will be a step down from the 16mb models, but hopefully not too much. Either way, I'll finally have a "true" SATA drive to mess around with on the ICHR5 on my IS7.

I'm essentially getting it free anyhow. I'm selling off a bunch of old stuff, and getting a second 9800Pro, Artic Silencer cooler (9800), and the Maxtor 200GB for about...ohhh...$7.

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: Akira1224


I'm not sure about the controllers and NCQT. I may look into that myself as I have a 7200.7 160 gig and have noticed improved read times on my NF7-S rev 2. Nothing spectacular but less hangs and slightly quicker load times.

As a system builder I (we) am always on the lookout for quality components that will bring value and performance to the end user. For now I have found that with Seagate and WD (Raptors...which aren?t exactly "value" but high performance)

Again I used to use Maxtor but had some difficulties with them. If the same thing happens with Seagate or WD then I will search again.

Hey, that's fine and I don't disagree. I was just trying to explain my reasoning. I have favored various brands back and forth over the years...hell at one point years ago, the 75GXP was THE drive to have.

Look how well that went...

Anyway, I was a WD guy before I went over to the Maxtors. I was NOT a fan of the early MAxtor/Quantums, but since the D740X, and then the DM+9, they have been making some nice drives. If not for the meowing, the Hitachi would probably be a favorite now. For my customer builds, I may start looking harder @ the Seagate's since they didn't have the 5 year warranty last time I was shopping. The combination of their quietness and the 5 year warranty sounds like they are a sound decision.

I just happened to have some free spending $$$ as I mentioned above, and one of the things I was selling was an older HD. I needed one to replace it anyhow, and I wanted the best "bang for the buck" I could get right now.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: Insane3D

Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER
Hey brudda I have both a 120gb 8mb Maxtor and Deatstar and prefer the deathstar, HTH :beer:

Hey man! How have you been? How's the little guy doin?

I assume by the Deathstar you mean the Hitachi, which I only didn't get over the DM+9's because of the annoying meow noise. I've heard the MP3's of that sound and it would drive me...well..Insane. I was aware they were the faster drive.

I decided on the Maxtor since SR just gave it the new performance lead over the Hitachi. The DM 10's are the same as the MaxIII's, but my drive will only have the 8mb cache, so I'm sure it will be a step down from the 16mb models, but hopefully not too much. Either way, I'll finally have a "true" SATA drive to mess around with on the ICHR5 on my IS7.

I'm essentially getting it free anyhow. I'm selling off a bunch of old stuff, and getting a second 9800Pro, Artic Silencer cooler (9800), and the Maxtor 200GB for about...ohhh...$7.

Doin great! Thanx for asking Little man is hitting up the educational software next to me, and growin' like crazy.

Looks like you have all your ducks in a row :beer: I can't comment on the meow because I have my Venus 12@5500rpm

 

[dug777]

quote:
quote:

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How can you get upset with the responses you have gotten. Do the research yourself....you expect to be able to post and have everyone run out and do the research for you and report back?
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I'm not upset per se, but if you read the repsonses it's the usual I have XXX drive, so it's better. I was hoping for someone that had done research, and wasn;t just going to prattle off their favorite brand.


Or maybe they r trying to help answer your question, based on their own experiences...that was my basis for saying what i did, ESPECIALLY since you asked for our 'general favourites'...

perhaps next time i should think twice befire posting- dont want to get flamed for trying 2 be helpful do i!

 

[Insane3D]

Originally posted by: dug777

perhaps next time i should think twice befire posting- dont want to get flamed for trying 2 be helpful do i!

Actually, your post wasn't really one of the ones I was speaking about. I wouldn't flame you for answering, it's a public forum. I wasn't upset at the other responses , they just weren't exactly what I was looking for.

No offense I hope...

 

[DrCool]

Originally posted by: Insane3D

How can you get upset with the responses you have gotten. Do the research yourself....you expect to be able to post and have everyone run out and do the research for you and report back?

I'm not upset per se, but if you read the repsonses it's the usual I have XXX drive, so it's better. I was hoping for someone that had done research, and wasn;t just going to prattle off their favorite brand.

... I used to love Seagates, and WD, but this was really between the two faster drives out now, the Hitachi's and the Maxtor. Seagates are great drives, but they are usually a bit slower than their counterparts.

Please don't post a "give me your opinions please.." and then insult the people giving them.. if you don't want others opinions DONT POST!

and as far your statement about Seagates being a tad slower, your talking synthetic benchmarks, not real world.. sometimes we get caugth up in raw numbers, and don't realize how really minor the difference really is. Just use common sense, and purchase products that are Quality and have strong Company support.

my personal experience:
Great, would highly recommend (SEAGATE, MAXTOR / QUANTUM, IBM / HITACHI)
Poor, would not recommend (WD, SAMSUNG)

again, this is based of my own personal experience, and factors in much more then raw performance
1) Stability - Longevity
2) Noise Generated
3) Heat Generated
4) Vibration Sensitivity
5) Performance
6) Warranty
7) Past Experience
8) Manufactuer Reliablity - Longterm support

There are many factors to consider when making smart purchasing decisions. As long as you take the time to do your research and use the guidelines i mentioned, you should have no worries.

 

[dug777]

no worries

none taken guv.

 

[whattaguy]

Don't the Hitachi's have a firmware upgrade to get rid of the "meow"?

 

[Insane3D]

Please don't post a "give me your opinions please.." and then insult the people giving them.. if you don't want others opinions DONT POST!

I didn't insult anyone. This is a public forums and I'll post whatever I want...k?.

Thanks for the the information, but those are the basics I learned long ago. Same with synthetic benchmarks..stopped paying attention to those a long while ago. Thanks anyway.

As a rule, the Seagates are a bit slower than other drives of the same generation...this isn't something I'm just making up. Seagates also tend to run a bit hotter. I'm not knocking them, they make great drives.