WD or Maxtor? Help me choose...

[DanQ]

I think my old HD (Old Quantum) is the problem to my system performace.
So which one is the best?
MAXTOR 720380 740DX6L 80GB, 7200rpm ATA 133
or
WESTERN DIGITAL WDC080-72 80GB, 7200rpm ATA 100

Which one is faster? And I heard there's 8 mb cache WD that's supposedly fast, is this the same version that I mention above?

I can buy them in relatively same price.

Thx

 

[Poncherelli]

The 8mb cache WD is the special edition, i think its WD800JB or something, the model number ends in JB. Its on sale at dell software and peripherals if you order today (the deal ends 7/28) so you can 15% off and free shipping. I dont own the drive but i've heard good things and am putting it in my system i'm building in a week.

 

[Biggs]

Storage Review

Performance-wise, the extra 6MB of cache the WD have will give you more performance than that of the "unofficial" ATA133 bandwidth of the Maxtor.

P.S.
Welcome to AT Forums.

 

[Booster]

I second and third the WD choice.

 

[Gretzky]

I would go with WD also, i have a 40 gig now for a year and its working great. My neighbor just put his new PC together and already his 2 week old Maxtor has died on him. It was a 60gig 7200rpm maxtor.

 

[DanQ]

Thx for the reply guys,
So WD is better choice if it has the 8 MB cache. I'll have to check with the store first on that.
But what if it don't have 8 MB cache, would WD still be a better choice?

 

[manko]

/WD fans please ignore

My second WD 60GB just started dying on me a couple days ago (after 8 months). The first died within 3 or 4 days. Everyone said to "calm down, drives fail all the time" after the first one died, but 2 in such a short time tells me the odds are bad enough to stay away from them.

I'm currently in the process of trying to recover as much data as I can and back up everything to a new Maxtor I picked up to replace it. I've never had a problem with Maxtors or IBMs after years of use.

I'm going to RMA the WD, but it seems pointless to actually install the replacement, since I can't count on being able to access any data I store on it. :disgust:

/rant

 

[Mem]

But what if it don't have 8 MB cache, would WD still be a better choice?

I would go for the Maxtor in that case,infact I did .

 

[amdskip]

I would go with maxtor or seagate personally.

 

[Acanthus]

everyone can tell you horror stories from every brand, no hard drive is 100% reliable (hell it'd be tough to go for 90%) they all fail. From a performance standpoint nothing will beat the Special Edition series from western digital.

I also reccomend Seagate drives.

and negate ATA133 as almost all drive only pull 40-45 MB/sec anyway. 133 is only the theoretical maximum.

 

[gizbug]

I have a Maxtor 80 gig, and enjoy it

 

[jstultz]

Right now I'm a bit angry at Maxtor (Quantum/Maxtor 30gb Fireball Plus AS just died on me last week), so I'd say WD simply because of the higher performance. If its 8mb cache, that is.

 

[kornermi]

I have WD1200JB, that 8 MB cache drive. My first hard drives a few years ago were IBM's. Experienced some RMA incidents and switched to Maxtor with the introduction of ATA 66. Generally satisfied with Maxtor, and this 1200JB is my first Western Digital. Simply the best so far. But I have to say WD customer support is worse than Maxtor's.

 

[Dogsbody]

I've used a dozen or so Maxtors over the past few years with no problems. Also had a Seagate last year, and was impressed by it's quality. I currently have an 80 GB Western Digital that I'm happy with, and have just ordered a 120 MB WD with the 8 MB cache and can't wait to see how it performs. I don't really think you can make a bad decision, unless you're unlucky enough to get one of those infamous IBM disasters!