which SATA(II) HDD for OSes?

[Lifthanger]

Hi.
What I need is the fastest possible HDD for my operation systems.
My Ultra-D supports SATA and SATA II discs.
Raptors are out of the discussion, because for every GB of raptor space you can get almost 4GBs of space on a 7200rpm HD. At least here in Germany.

After reading through some threads I found that the new Hitachi SATA II HDDs could be the best choice.

The 250GB is too expensive and I don't need that much space.
The 160GB model uses platters with lower density and has only 3 heads, compared to 4 on the 250GB model.

Does this cost much performace? Is the new 160GB Hitachi a good choice?
What would you suggest?

I tried to find reviews, but as always, only the bigger drive was tested.

Would it be a real improvement over my 200GB 7200.7 barracuda w/o NCQ?
If there are any other drives about to be released - waiting one,two months wouldn't be a problem to me.

Thanks for your input.

[Sucka]

I've been going over this the last few days myself, trying to find as much info as i could on this. From what i've read, i'm about to pull the trigger on the Maxtor 250GB 16Mb SATA-2. It has NCQ, it's performance is negligable to a single Raptor, and in many cases can beat it. Although NCQ doesn't really equate to real world performance on the desktop, it is a nice feature to have for later use from what i've read. I was also reading about the new 250GB Western Digital 16MB SATA-2 drives, but without NCQ the Maxtor becomes the obvious choice in its same class. I pride myself on being up to date on computer hardware, and ussually own the latest and greatest but Hard Drive technology is where i know very little about. My HDD's are the only component on my system that i don't upgrade every few months so i'm trying to make the best decision possible for myself as well. So bassically i'm in the same boat as you here. All i know is i want SATA-2, NCQ if possible (although afiak it won't really matter right now) and more space than a Raptor. Hope someone can give a difinitive answer, because HDD's aren't cheap when you're buying 2 :p

[Lifthanger]

Feel free to use this thread to get an answer :).

After all I'm searching for the very same drive!

[AEsnowboarding]

I've been going over this the last few days myself, trying to find as much info as i could on this. From what i've read, i'm about to pull the trigger on the Maxtor 250GB 16Mb SATA-2. It has NCQ, it's performance is negligable to a single Raptor, and in many cases can beat it. Although NCQ doesn't really equate to real world performance on the desktop, it is a nice feature to have for later use from what i've read. I was also reading about the new 250GB Western Digital 16MB SATA-2 drives, but without NCQ the Maxtor becomes the obvious choice in its same class. I pride myself on being up to date on computer hardware, and ussually own the latest and greatest but Hard Drive technology is where i know very little about. My HDD's are the only component on my system that i don't upgrade every few months so i'm trying to make the best decision possible for myself as well. So bassically i'm in the same boat as you here. All i know is i want SATA-2, NCQ if possible (although afiak it won't really matter right now) and more space than a Raptor. Hope someone can give a difinitive answer, because HDD's aren't cheap when you're buying 2 :p

No 7,200 drive can beat a Raptor. In benchmarks maybe but in real world performance the Raptor will always win.

[Sucka]

Feel free to use this thread to get an answer :).

After all I'm searching for the very same drive!

Thanks :)

I'm like half way in my garage about to go grab a set of these Maxtors. If someone doesn't come in here and stop me i'm gonna do it! I just can't decide between the Hitatchi and the Maxtor right now :bang head

Hope you (we) get some answers.

[Sucka]

No 7,200 drive can beat a Raptor. In benchmarks maybe but in real world performance the Raptor will always win.

As i said, performance is negligable. For office applications and game loading times the difference was a few percent. Unless you can provide evidence to the contrary i'm going to beleive what i've read.

Here's some "real world" tests.

http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/maxtor%20maxline%20iii_06240460610/2694.png

http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/maxtor%20maxline%20iii_06240460610/2706.png

http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/maxtor%20maxline%20iii_06240460610/2707.png

I would call those results negligable. Not to mention like you said, benchmarks it wins too. Makes my choice tough.

[Scott9027]

Hitachi Deskstar 7K250 and 7K400 would be the best choice IMO. I don't think the 160 GB model would be though because it doesn't use the same platters which are the big difference in performance.

[deception``]

Go for the Hitachi T7K 250's. I have two of them in a RAID 0 array and I am very satisifed. Before I had these drives, I went through some Diamondmax 10's and some Seagate 7200.8's; the Hitachi's are the clear winner in my book. Once I replace my dead processor, I will gladly post some benchmarks.

deception``

[AEsnowboarding]

As i said, performance is negligable. For office applications and game loading times the difference was a few percent. Unless you can provide evidence to the contrary i'm going to beleive what i've read.

Here's some "real world" tests.

http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/maxtor%20maxline%20iii_06240460610/2694.png

http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/maxtor%20maxline%20iii_06240460610/2706.png

http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/maxtor%20maxline%20iii_06240460610/2707.png

I would call those results negligable. Not to mention like you said, benchmarks it wins too. Makes my choice tough.

Here are some other benchmarks

The Raptor wins in just about every on of them.

http://www.storagereview.com/php/benchmark/compare_rtg_2001.php?typeID=10&testbedID=3&osID=4&raidconfigID=1&numDrives=1&devID_0=259&devID_1=265&devCnt=2

But, I would take the Hitachi Deskstar 7K250 if you dont like Raptors.

[Sucka]

Here are some other benchmarks

The Raptor wins in just about every on of them.

http://www.storagereview.com/php/benchmark/compare_rtg_2001.php?typeID=10&testbedID=3&osID=4&raidconfigID=1&numDrives=1&devID_0=259&devID_1=265&devCnt=2

I'm not here to argue if the Raptor is better, because that's not what we're after. I own 2 Raptors and they're great, but they offer no storage, they're loud, and they're extremely overpriced. And i can show benchmarks that tell the opposite. That's besides the point, neither me nor the topic starter are interested in Raptors :rolleyes:

[Sucka]

Go for the Hitachi T7K 250's. I have two of them in a RAID 0 array and I am very satisifed. Before I had these drives, I went through some Diamondmax 10's and some Seagate 7200.8's; the Hitachi's are the clear winner in my book. Once I replace my dead processor, I will gladly post some benchmarks.

deception``

I've seen the reviews and benchies. For me it's between those 2. You really think there is a noticable difference between the 2? I'm talking something that is mesureable, not just an opinion.

[AEsnowboarding]

I'm not here to argue if the Raptor is better, because that's not what we're after. I own 2 Raptors and they're great, but they offer no storage, they're loud, and they're extremely overpriced. And i can show benchmarks that tell the opposite. That's besides the point, neither me nor the topic starter are interested in Raptors :rolleyes:


Sorry didn't try to argue eaither. Any way I am getting myself 2 Hitachi Deskstar T7K250's and putting them in Raid 0. They are very fast but it is probably a toss up between them, the Maxtors and the new WD 16mb cache drive.

[Sucka]

Sorry didn't try to argue eaither. Any way I am getting myself 2 Hitachi Deskstar T7K250's and putting them in Raid 0. They are very fast but it is probably a toss up between them, the Maxtors and the new WD 16mb cache drive.

We got off on the wrong foot, it's all good :)

afaik the WD's have smaller platters, and therefore are slightly slower because it's not as dense :shrug:

They are ahead of all their other 7,200rpm drives in it's class, but still behind the Maxtor and Hitachi from what i've seen as far as 16mb drives are concerned. I was eyeballing a set of those as well, but decided against it this time around. It's been about 4 years since i've owned a hard drive that wasn't made by WD.

Unless someone can give me a good reason to go with Hitachi i think i'm going to go with the Maxtors. I hate being a noob with HDD's, why can't this be a CPU and memory :p

[silentdebuggers]

I have the 80GB Hitachi sataII. The one thing you should know is that Windows x64 crashes with the latest nforce drivers if you enable the ncq. Not sure if you're looking at XP or x64. Hopefully it'll be fixed in the next driver release.

[AEsnowboarding]

Hey guys while talking about hard drives, what do you use to copy an image of your Raid 0 array to a backup drive?

[Sucka]

Ok, after talking to deception`` i decided to go with the Hitachi if anyone cares. With slightly better seek times, there's really no reason not to. I think i'll be happy with my investment. Should have these up and running sometime tomorrow night if all goes according to plan.

Good Luck with your decision Lifthanger, i'll let you know how it goes.

[Lifthanger]

well, I do care. Gotta convince myself to shell out 50€ more and get the 250GB drive. I'll let you know tomorrow.

[Bad ConNecTioN]

If it aint gonna be a Raptor, it should be a Hitachi. However, I do own and use a 250Gb 16mb Maxtor that is no slouch. I think you would be satisfied with either drive.

[Lifthanger]

yeah I'm also convinced it should be the Hitachi, but as it seems, only the 250GB model seems to be that fast.
I don't need that much space and it's too expensive I think.

Do you have some initial results sucka?


Two Hitachi 7k80 SataII 8MB in raid0 would be 25€ (14%) cheaper than one 250GB drive. With one platter and two heads each, they also should be very fast.

I guess I'll just wait until the 250GB model is widely available here, which should drop the price a bit.

I'd still appreciate results and/or oppinions.

edit: the 7k80 have no NCQ.
another edit:

the seagate ST380817AS: 80GB 8MB Sata + NCQ 1platter 2heads.
and would be even 3€ cheaper per drive compared to the hitachi.
And in addition, they would make a great family with my 200GB barracuda ;).

2xseagate 80GB raid0 : 120€ -> 160GB
2xhitachi 80GB raid0 : 126€ -> 160GB and sataII
1xhitachi 250GB : 145€ -> 250GB
hmm

[Lifthanger]

Just to make the thread complete:

after a price drop to 135€ I went with the Deskstar T7k250.

The drive is really fast and much quiter than my seagate.

I guess measured noise would be almost the same, but the hitachi emmits it's noise on a lower frequency and the noise is also not as "hard" as the seagate's.
Together with my low rpm fans, the hitachi, is not audible at a distance greater than 3m.

Thanks again for your input,thanks to sucka for his raid-0 comparision between the hitachi and the raptor and thanks to desception who had the money to test all these new drives and gave his recommendations ;) .

One small question is left:

Using the feature tools, I set the transfer mode to sata II, but what about this spread spectrum clocking? Is it useful? And if I want to use it, do I have to enable sata spread spectrum in BIOS?

I also didn't get any data corruption with NCQ, like some guys are reporting. Maybe I'm just lucky.

[Sucka]

Glad to see you're happy with the drives.

I diable spectrum, and you should to :)

[Lifthanger]

all right, that's what I'll do.

thank you. :)