Help me pick my HD's for my new P4 system please...

[#ball3r]

I'm getting 2 sata drives for my IC7-G that is on the way and need some help. The system will be used for gaming/benching and have a couple choices. The drive size will not be a concern since i'm not even close to filling the 40gb I have now. I'm looking more at price/performance. I was originally looking at 2 raptors but if I'll get close to the same speed with 2 different ones i'll go that way if it's cheaper. I'll put up a vote with choices and price.

Thanks :).

[#ball3r]

should I even consider Seagate?

[TheDude]

If I were buying for myself...have to go with the raptors in a raid 0 stripe, :D

[#ball3r]

you think it will be a big difference in speed over the other kits? also will I even notice when gaming?

[TheDude]

I don't have any personal experience with them, but everyone who runs them loves them and says they BLAZE. Normally I would go with Maxtors, but I would really like to try those raptors. It is a hard choice with so many to choose from. I have a set of 100gb WD 8mb drives and they are really fast, but I have RMAed them 3 times. The 5yr warranty is a nice plus.

[#ball3r]

yes it is but what i'm trying to figure out is if it's worth the extra $100. I"m not in the best financial situation right now, but can just barely afford it.

[TheDude]

Yeah I understand, but to me the extra 4 yr warranty over the Maxtors is worth $100.

[Sarcastro]

Originally posted by #ball3r
should I even consider Seagate?

Only if you like your PC to be very silent. I bought one on Saturday and they are a major improvement over my previous wd 80gb 8mb's.

[TheDude]

Newegg has the raptors for $126 w free shipping..problem solved...case closed...get em while they got um. :D I am;)

[Alexandrus]

Tried WD, tried Maxtor, both failed on me and I lost a great deal of data. The WD is also loud as hell, at least the JB series, can't even imagine how the Raptors sound like.
The best option right now are the new Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 drives, at least from my point of view.

[mdzcpa]

Most definitely the Raptors. My RAID 0 set up is indeed "BLAZING" as TheDude so well put it.

Yes....you definitely will notice the speed while gaming. Maps and levels load fast enough for you to "feel' the difference from 7200rpm drives.

And they are not loud either:)

Between the awesome speed and the great warranty they are worth it.

[sandman]

I know you said sata, but what about a pair of WD Se drives with the 8mb cache?

those in raid would be pretty fast, especially for the money.

[TheDude]

That's what I currently run Sandman and they are quick...upgrading to the Raptors :D

[shogan191]

Raptors raid0, very fast.

[Metro]

My advise is not to go with the raptors. They are very fast. Yes. But they make so much noise. I will go with the Seagate 7200.7. in raid 0. They are fast and they almost dont make noise.

[mdzcpa]

"Loud" is something that is very subjective.

Compared to the SATA Seagates I have, yes, they do make more noise. BUT, I wouldn't consider them "loud" by any stretch. I certainly cannot hear them anyway. I do have 4 low speed 120 fans (2 case intake and 2 case exhaust/Radiator fans) whichmake some noise. But they are run through a rheobus and even at the lowest settings I still cannot hear those Raptors.

Any incremental increase in noise is far and away offset by the performance and warranty. My Seagate SATA drives are indeed nice drives, but they are undoubtedly the slowest SATA drives out there. The quietness is not worth the performance difference IMOHO.

But, everyone's needs are different:) I chose speed and quality over quiet.

[#ball3r]

well here's my situation now. I need to buy a router also so i'm left only with these options right now....

1) get 2 Maxtor 80gbs and router
2) get 2 maxtor 120gbs and router
3) get 1 raptor and router and get the second down the road


What do you think? Like I said the only use of this system will be for gaming as I play in an organized league and run a clan.

Oh and thx for your replies :)

[TheDude]

Where are you located? Newegg has the raptors for $126/free shipping...shop around and find them for that and get them both and the router, and save $20 over the Maxtors:D

[#ball3r]

I'm in Canada so those are Can funds :)

[Metro]

Originally posted by mdzcpa
"Loud" is something that is very subjective.

Compared to the SATA Seagates I have, yes, they do make more noise. BUT, I wouldn't consider them "loud" by any stretch. I certainly cannot hear them anyway. I do have 4 low speed 120 fans (2 case intake and 2 case exhaust/Radiator fans) whichmake some noise. But they are run through a rheobus and even at the lowest settings I still cannot hear those Raptors.

Any incremental increase in noise is far and away offset by the performance and warranty. My Seagate SATA drives are indeed nice drives, but they are undoubtedly the slowest SATA drives out there. The quietness is not worth the performance difference IMOHO.

But, everyone's needs are different:) I chose speed and quality over quiet.

I agree 100% with you. But I found out that I cant live with the amount of noise the Raptor deliver. Maybe my two raptor make a bit more noise than normal. I dont now. After one week with the Raptor for me the quitness is more important than speed.

[mdzcpa]

Originally posted by Metro
I agree 100% with you. But I found out that I cant live with the amount of noise the Raptor deliver. Maybe my two raptor make a bit more noise than normal. I dont now. After one week with the Raptor for me the quitness is more important than speed.

Fair enough. We all have differing priorities and it all comes down to what users are looking for. One size does not fit all:)

[#ball3r]

so which you think I should do?

1) get 2 Maxtor 80gbs and router
2) get 2 maxtor 120gbs and router
3) get 1 raptor and router and get the second in a couple weeks

????

[Hentai-san]

I think you should buy one raptor now, and another one later.

[#ball3r]

just ordered it :).

[Hentai-san]

Nice! :)

[TheDude]

Congrats! I think you will be happy with your decision.:D
:toast:

[#ball3r]

yes now i have a 2.4C, IC7-G (that will do 300fsb+), 2x256 ocz 3700 gold, 2x256 twinx4000, slk-900 w/92mm tornado and vantec nexus, and then this new raptor which will soon be running raid 0 in this gaming setup. Can't wait

[TheDude]

SWEET! :D
:toast:

[Ewok]

as for raptors being noisy, i do know this.

officially the raptors are rated QUIETER than the WD 7200rpm 8mb SE drives. I have had 2 such 7200rpm drives and literally cannot hear either of them unless i open the case and put my ear to within 6 inches of them, and if the raptors are quieter as in their specs, then i dunno how anyone could complain they are too loud unless they are sitting with their head inside the pc when they use it :rocker:

[Metro]

Originally posted by Ewok
as for raptors being noisy, i do know this.

officially the raptors are rated QUIETER than the WD 7200rpm 8mb SE drives. I have had 2 such 7200rpm drives and literally cannot hear either of them unless i open the case and put my ear to within 6 inches of them, and if the raptors are quieter as in their specs, then i dunno how anyone could complain they are too loud unless they are sitting with their head inside the pc when they use it :rocker:

I only can say that with my case (4 fans) the cooler Zalman 7000 graphic card, a IBM 40 GB and Seagate sata 80 gb I have a very quiet system. I changed the IBM for two raptor raid 0 and I cant support the noise. That is my experience.
I will say it time and time over again. They are noisy. No matter the official version.
In this link you can see they have diferent samples of the Raptor. Maybe mines are a bit more noisy than the usual. I have made my mind. I will change it for seagate.
http://www.storagereview.com/php/benchmark/bench_sort.php

[bigjohns97]

the raptors are only 125 bucks at newegg