Best Sata II drive?

[cholfa]

Hi,

I am builduing my new rig and I want to be sure to get the best parts...
3700+ SAN DIEGO
MSI K8N NEO4 PLATINUM
ATI X850 XT
OCZ EL PLATINUM REV 2 1GB (2X512)

I´m having some troubles deciding on the hard disk.I would be needing 200 gb or more.

I having problems deciding between these 2:
Hitachi Deskstar T7K250 250GB (Sata II, 8mb) $136
Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB (Sata II, 16mb) $170

I´m also thinking on the posibility of getting a 36 gb Raptor (for the OS) for $105
and some other storage drive like hitachi sataII 160 ($95) or maxtor diamond max 10 200 gb (115) or some similar drive.

So I have 3 questions

1- Is it worth it to get a Raptor , is there a noticeable difference against the new sataII drives ?

2- which of the first 2 drives is better? the hitachi t7k250, the WD caviar SE16, or would you reccommend another drive?

3- What combination of drives for around $ 200 -220 would be the fastest setup?

[cholfa]

I forgot a question..

4- Do all sata II drives feature NCQ?? Do wd caviar se16 feature NCQ??

[ic3m4n2005]

Yes all sata2 drives feature ncq

[RaptorRaider]

Not true. A lot don't.

SATA2 means nothing. Link (http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=2450).

[perkam]

Not true. A lot don't.

SATA2 means nothing. Link (http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=2450).

Says the guy with the nick: "RaptorRaider" :shakes:

Running two SATAIIs in Raid 0 gives unparalleled loading times...it even surprises scsi drives ;)

Though yes, if you want truly extreme speed you need some Raptors ;)

Perkam

[RaptorRaider]

Says the guy with the nick: "RaptorRaider" :shakes:

Running two SATAIIs in Raid 0 gives unparalleled loading times...it even surprises scsi drives ;)

Though yes, if you want truly extreme speed you need some Raptors ;)

Perkam
Says the guy with 2,617+ posts with the title 'Xtreme Mentor'.

How about reading the link I posted before telling me I'm wrong?

[cholfa]

SO, a Raptor 36 gb + a 160 hitachi sata II (or maybe the 250) would be the fastest setup for that price range???

[perkam]

SO, a Raptor 36 gb + a 160 hitachi sata II (or maybe the 250) would be the fastest setup for that price range???

Go with either Two SATAII Drives if you need the space or Two 36GB Raptor drives if you need the speed. One of each doesnt help much.

Perkam

[ChongL]

if you ahve the money get the 74gb raptors...they have a faster seek time

[Ugly n Grey]

Skip it and go straight to ultra SCSI 320's at 15K.

[turtle]

I personally think that two Hitachi T7K250 SATA II's in raid would be enough space and speed for almost anyone...those things look killer. Space, speed, and a damn good price. NCQ too.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=100594-2&affiliate=pricegrabber

There's reviews all over the place...But here's one by Solo, he did a really good job:

http://www.net-forums.net/forums/Hitachi_SATA_II_250_Gig_Hard_Drive_Review-t21127.html

[Foxie3a]

I was impressed with the Raptor when switching from a 5400rpm 20GB drive. Since then I've experienced other drives like a Maxtor 250GB, and a Seagate 80GB. The maxtor and Seagate definately feel faster than the Raptor, and even score higher in benchmarks(except for write performance). And no matter what I do(fresh install+defrag) my access time according to sandra is always around 20ms on the raptor, and around 10 on the maxtor/seagate.

The raptor is a nice drive, but I'm not sure if the price is reasonable considering the small size.

[Ugly n Grey]

I tend to stick to the larger Raptor, I found the small ones a little weird , meaning they vary greatly depending on the interface chip used on the controller. I had best luck with some of the sil chips on stand alone SATA RAID adapters on the 36G model. The larger drive worked better on all chips - I didn't get performance degredation if I moved them around. I suppose first gen gear is always weird.

[gonx_me]

I've own an WD 2500 JS. Great performance, low noise, low heat.
Read http://www.techreport.com/reviews/2005q2/wd-caviarse16/index.x?pg=1

[pRS317]

I've own an WD 2500 JS. Great performance, low noise, low heat.
Read http://www.techreport.com/reviews/2005q2/wd-caviarse16/index.x?pg=1


looks like the bottom line of that review says to go with the hitachi. that, and newegg has it for $125 shipped. not bad. too bad hitachi didn't go with the 16mb cache :\

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822145087

[krille]

How come the 8MB drive beats the 16MB drive? That's just plain sick.

Which drive would be better in a RAID-0 array with four drives? Still the hitachi?

[pRS317]

well, according to page 10 of that review, the hitachi burst rate blows all the others away, but it would appear that the raptor is still the overall king of the non scsi hill. if you're looking for a TB, go hitachi, if space is not an issue and you just want speed, go raptor.

[ImportantAwareness89]

Says the guy with the nick: "RaptorRaider" :shakes:

Running two SATAIIs in Raid 0 gives unparalleled loading times...it even surprises scsi drives ;)

Though yes, if you want truly extreme speed you need some Raptors ;)

Perkam

Raptors = overrated. They're not that fast. New SATA2 and NCQ closes the gap significantly. Anandtech had that bench showing the 7200.8 and DiamondMax10 beating Raptor in LOAD TIMES. Forget synthetic tests, and think about real world tests. IF they can come close and even beat the Raptor in SOME tests, then the raptor is really dead.

Just wait for the next gen raptor... November I heard?

[pRS317]

page 5 of that review has the raptor leading in boot time and d3 and far cry level loading times. granted, we're only talking about a few seconds, but it's still leading. i'll have to search for the anandtech review and see what that has to say. either way, i wouldn't shell out the $ for the raptors, i'd go with the hitachi's :)

november is a long wait. maybe hitachi will release a 16mb version?

[SPiKE]

Hitachi's T7K250 performs really well and have one of the best access time of the segment.