Raptors, good or bad?

[killerkid]

Hey all, i was just wondering if a raptor or any 10k rpm hdd, is worth getting? I need a knew hdd because right now i have a 13.9 gig hdd from a gateway select 2000, not even sure on the spin speed. Either way, ive got some extra cash and looking for a good hdd. My choices that i have seen are either going with 1 10k rpm, possibly the 74gig type if i can mooch the money from my mom, or 2 regular 7200rpm hdd's and raiding them, or, i guess i could get 2 36.7gig 10k rpm hdd's and raid them. I have an nf7-s mobo, that can raid correct?

thanks,
killerkid

[{PMS}fishy]

The NF7 can only run RAID on the SATA channels.

"Worth" is also relativte. To me its not worth it to spend that much money on HDDs. Prices will come down, like everything does, then Ill get some SATA HDDs. Remember these are really the first fast SATA HDDs that we have seen, soon there will be many more players out there with 10k and probally 15k drives. Im personally waiting for something from seagate in a 10k or 15k in a large size.

If you are looking to just get a larger HDD I would take a look at the Seagates, they have the least failures, they are the quietest drives too, the only down side is that they are a few ms slower across the board than WD and Maxtor.

I also have a Maxtor 60gig HDD that is pretty nice, its going to 2 years and still working great, it runs hotter than my seagate, but thats not a big deal. Ive never had any luck with the WDs, so Im not going to reccomend them at all.

One other thing that will slighty increase the speeds of the HDD is the buffer, look for ones with 8mb buffers.

[killerkid]

hey, thanks for the speedy reply. when in your opinion do you think we will see some of the newer hdd's come out? And how much do you think hdd's will drop in price, do the prices fluctuate alot or do they usually stay the same? Ive never boughten a hdd before heh. thanks

killerkid

[jlin453]

I went from 2x36gb raptors in raid0 to a single 74gb raptor. For the time being, no matter what I'll be sticking to a raptor. I made a backup to my 7.2k harddrive and when testing on that harddrive, I could tell it was a bit slower in loading windows and other things in general.

If money is an issue and you NEED more space, you probably shouldn't get raptors.

[killerkid]

is your 74gig faster then your 36.7gig considering the seek time is lower?

[obsolete]

The newer 74 gig raptor has been proven to be faster then the 36 model. If memory serves me correctly the Raptor speed was actually discovered in error. I believe WD made the Raptor originally to prove that 10k SATA drives can exist. They did not know that it would do so well. Pretty much how the Bh-5's came about for memory.

I personally have the 36.7 Raptor & would not go back to anything else. Windows installation is a breeze as well as everything else that is HD dependant. You WILL notice a huge difference. The 74 gig Raptor model is supposed to be faster. I use a 80 gig WD SATA drive for storing information on. Just use my 36.7 Raptor (main drive) for applications, games etc.......

-ºb§

[Boomstick]

They're a bit noisier than I would like, but overall I love mine.

[killerkid]

can someone help me find the CHEAPIST 36.7gig raptor? i dont care about sound, i obviously want a good name brand, but i want it extremely cheap, if possible, refurb is outta the question cuz refurbs scare me.......unless its uber cheap. thanks
killerkid

[theELVISCERATOR]

Originally posted by killerkid
can someone help me find the CHEAPIST 36.7gig raptor? i dont care about sound, i obviously want a good name brand, but i want it extremely cheap, if possible, refurb is outta the question cuz refurbs scare me.......unless its uber cheap. thanks
killerkid

LOL

ALL raptors are WESTERN DIGITAL...

there is no brand selection.

:p :p :p

[Edge386]

there are other 10k rpm Harddrives but they run on SCSI extra wide that you need a SCSI controller card for, so thats something else inside your case taking up space, I'd go with a 10k raptor a 74gb raptor costs $211 on NewEgg, but NewEgg also has a 120MB 7200rpm Western Digital IDE for $90 with an 8mb buffer. Very nice deal if you ask me, I posted the link in the Cyber Deals section, the harddrive and price is in the thread name. I myself want a raptor but Im upgrading my old 10gb backup drive to that 120gb one real soon first. Then Im gonna get dual 74gb raptors on top of that! Hoo Waa!!!!

[killerkid]

actually, for the price, im leaning more towards this. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1055388011217&skuId=5566979&type=product&cmp=%20%20

its 100 dollars and then theres a 50 dollar mail in rebate.
Do you guys think i should go with this hdd, or a raptor?

ps: what i ment by other brand names didnt necissarly mean, Western Digital, but other 10k rpm hdd's like the seagate CHEETAH, MUAHAHHAHA CHEETAHS!! lol.

killerkid

[nissmo300]

$50 for 80GB is a good deal

[jlin453]

Just installed my 74gb Raptor, replacing my 2x36gb raptors. Ran hddtach, access time: 8sec, max of 73.4MB/s, avg of 65.2MB/s

[johan851]

Killerkid - the drives that you're talking about are all SCSI interface. You'd need to buy a pretty pricey controller card, plus the cost of all the HD's. SCSI isn't cheap.

[killerkid]

hey all, just for a quick update i went with the one from bestbuy. i provided the link above. im getting ready to install windows now heh. thanks.
killerkid