Need a new HD, help/suggestions.

by **Murgatroyd** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 3:46 pm

I need to move on to a bigger and better hard drive. I need suggestions/recommendations on what to get! I'm thinking in the 200gb range, something with fast read/write times, and a nice cache. I'm the kinda guy who likes to get a good amount of bang for my buck, so I'm looking for something relatively inexpensive, mid to high range performance. Ideas, please! If you're curious of my price range, I'd like to keep it under $250, preforably in the $150 neighborhood. And no, I burn all of my porn to CDs, so it doesn't clutter my HD. It's full of programming utilities and games..

honestly...

by **JimmyTango** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 4:07 pm

I like the WD speciel editions, they have the 8 meg cache.

http://www.newegg.com is the only place to shop.

by **-HaVoC-** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 4:22 pm

Parallel or Serial ATA?

by **Murgatroyd** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 4:27 pm

Originally posted by -HaVoC-
Parallel or Serial ATA?

How would one determine that? (I'm somewhat hardware inept). Thanks.

by **-HaVoC-** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 4:35 pm

Most likely a 40 pin ribbon that's parallel ata. The Western Digital drives with the 8mb cache are ok as mentioned above. I run the 80gb version. Not to mention I've had nothing but good experiences with WD and the service.

by **Murgatroyd** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 4:41 pm

Is there any difference (other than space and price) between an 80 gig and 120 gig?

by **WeSSiN** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 4:45 pm

Here's something if you don't mind rebates.

http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?oid=70860

You must purchase it before January 31st to qualify for the rebates. 250 - 70 - 40 = 140$

Here's a good list of current deals

by **Xenius** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 6:02 pm

Ok, well it's not 200 GB....

But, here is a 160GB Western Digital special edition IDE HD. 120 bucks with free shipping from http://www.newegg.com

Damn good deal if you ask me.

OR, even larger. A 250GB WD IDE special edition drive for 200 dollars with free shipping from http://www.newegg.com

Either of these look pretty good. Just depends on how much space you want.

by **Bullhead** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 11:58 pm

tsk tsk Havoc....you mean 80pin for most any modern HD......

I'ma BIG fan of Maxtor HD's, I've owned a bunch of varying sizes (as well as repaired & built a TON of pcs with all drives), and I've never really had any big issues. WD drives are not bad, I just tend to like the maxtor's better. I would NOT buy and IBM/Hitachi drives....

Make sure of a few things for best perf. :
1.7200rpm (no excuse not to have these speeds, even the big drives can run 7200 rpm)
2.8mb cache (this can have a HUGE diff. in perf.)

by **Irish** » Thu Jan 29, 2004 11:51 am

Anything under a 8MB cache is a waste. Stick with WD. I have one and many others in here also have one and we pretty much have the same opinion. Our IT group also make sure that the HD is under a three year warranty. They say many of the HD manufacturers are skimming on warranty. I would get the 120 or 160 GB listed above from WD. Don't go nuts. Many MOBO's coming out are going ATA for items such as RAID configuration and just the faster speeds. 5400 was the norm now its 7200. 10,000 is the next so don't go bonkers on a serial IDE drive now. Just get what you need.

by **igloo17** » Thu Jan 29, 2004 1:00 pm

I got the 120gb WD 8mb cache SE version from newegg and its great.

Well I found out the hard way with ordering online, I'll only buy from newegg now, I tried some others and opps I shoulda listend to glider, he warned me and he was rite, I either got poor service and/or doa parts from other online pc hardware retailers.

by **Agent-Commando** » Thu Jan 29, 2004 1:45 pm

Originally posted by C. Murgatroyd
Is there any difference (other than space and price) between an 80 gig and 120 gig?

no.

by **senwolf31** » Thu Jan 29, 2004 11:49 pm

In buy a HD make sure you get at least 8mb of buffer and that the drive has a 3 year warranty and has a low seek time 8.5 or under. Other than that the manufacture really does not make a difference. I prefer WD and formerly IBM now Hitachi. Personally I stay far away from seagate just had several bad experiences with the product and the company. Top 3 for service to me are Maxtor WD and Hitachi. With Maxtor and WD running neck and neck for top. Hitachi I like for tech reasons that said the top 2 choices is WD and Maxtor and Id say WD first as a bit ago I had 2 cases of 80 gig dirves from maxtor that had to be shiped back and replaced but then again 3 years previous I ran into similar problems with WD. Both companies with a credit card # as backup for me not sending the drives sent out replacesments right away and I just paid the shipping of the defective drives to go to the return center. So in my opinion WD and Maxtor are the top 2 choices in the IDE drive world ill not delv into the scsi for you

by **Fat Bastard** » Fri Jan 30, 2004 12:11 am

My friend has a 10k rpm HD he just installed abit back, man that thing rocks.

by **Murgatroyd** » Fri Jan 30, 2004 10:28 am

Thanks for all the advice guys! I'm going to get one of the WD 120gb drives from newegg.com (my new #1 place for computer hardware). Thanks alot!

Need a new HD, help/suggestions.

Need a new HD, help/suggestions.

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