20 or 40

[xCarne_Asada]

should i get a 20 gig 7200 rpm hard drive for $90

or

a 40 gig 7200 rom hard drive for $105

My 10gig isnt cutting it anymore, I cant install any games cause i only have about a gig free. The new hard drive will be for OS, games, and programs. Thanks

[Fightingpiper]

15 bucks for 20 more gigs-I think you have your answer.

[Shadow ÒÓ]

double the size for 7% more money...sounds like a silly question doesn't it?

[William]

MMM, nothing like more space and for that wee bit extra, its a no brainer.

Just put it my 80 GB drive, don't know what to do with it, I have 7 partitions on it :D. Well, I guess I will never ever have to uninstall a game, at least for three months(when I will realize 80 isn't enough :rolleyes: )

[xCarne_Asada]

I decided to go with the 40gig, hopefully I will have enough money to get my Alpha Pan8045 w/ 80mm Panaflo H1A

[Garfield]

Nice deal!!! Where is this? I'm looking for a new harddrive (look at the memory forum for my post, 'External or Internal harddrive???'). Sounds nice.

--Garfield

[Shadow ÒÓ]

Originally posted by Garfield
Nice deal!!! Where is this? I'm looking for a new harddrive (look at the memory forum for my post, 'External or Internal harddrive???'). Sounds nice.

--Garfield

umm...why would you put a hard drive question in the memory forum?

[Garfield]

A harddrive is memory. Where else would I put it?

[Shadow ÒÓ]

a hard drive and memory are 2 totally different things. Memory is electronically stored information. Considering the average PC has 256 megs of memory, there's not enough room to install windows, much less any other software. Also, once you turn off your computer, the memory is erased.

A hard drive, on the other hand, is magnetically stored information. The average drive is probably upwards of 40 gigs on most systems now. That's about 160 times the size of the average memory installed. Once you turn off your computer...everything on the hard drive remains.

Memory is extremely fast compared to a hard drive as well. So the most common programs being used are temporarly stored in memory so you do not have to wait for the hard drive to be accessed, ever time you want to open a window or click on a new paint brush.

Then there's virtual memory....but we'll let you soak this in first. =)

[xCarne_Asada]

Originally posted by Shadow ÒÓ
Then there's virtual memory....but we'll let you soak this in first. =)

What exactly is Virtual Memory, On my motherboard (Asus A7V133) it says i can have virtual memory, so what is it?

[Shadow ÒÓ]

oh gawd....knew I shouldn't have said anything. :)

if you need 200 megs of memory to run everything you have open, but only have 128 megs installed, your operating system will use a section of the hard drive to store the remaining 72 megs. This section is called virtual memory or a swap file. Considering access times are considerably slower on a hard drive than access times of memory, you can see how this would slow down a system.

Ideally you should have more memory and less virtual memory.

[Garfield]

Oh, sorry about the bad post. BTW, what happened to it? I think it was deleted. I can't find it, or I'm really looking over it :rolleyes:

Thanks for the info! :D

--Garfield

[xCarne_Asada]

Thanks Shadow that cleared it up for me

[Garfield]

Originally posted by Shadow ÒÓ
oh gawd....knew I shouldn't have said anything. :)

if you need 200 megs of memory to run everything you have open, but only have 128 megs installed, your operating system will use a section of the hard drive to store the remaining 72 megs. This section is called virtual memory or a swap file. Considering access times are considerably slower on a hard drive than access times of memory, you can see how this would slow down a system.

Ideally you should have more memory and less virtual memory.

Hmmm...so I guess I should go with an internal hard drive so the virtual memory isn't accessed slowly, right? Thanks...

--Garfield

[scoobydoo]

Originally posted by Garfield
Nice deal!!! Where is this? I'm looking for a new harddrive (look at the memory forum for my post, 'External or Internal harddrive???'). Sounds nice.

--Garfield

Actually those prices are a bit high!

You can get a 40 GB 7200RPM IBM from www.newegg.com for $97 shipped and a 60GB one for $119 shipped:)

The Seagate drives are a few extra bucks, but they offer an 80GB one for $164!

[Garfield]

I'm looking for a hard drive. Something good that will last. Should I go IBM or Western Digital? Is IBM any good? Thanks...

--Garfield

[Shadow ÒÓ]

Originally posted by Garfield
I'm looking for a hard drive. Something good that will last. Should I go IBM or Western Digital? Is IBM any good? Thanks...

--Garfield

the answer to that will be dependant on who you ask. I prefer WD, but that's because I've had excellent experiences with them.

Internal will be a whole lot faster than external. IDE transfer rates go up to 133 Mb per second (depending on the mobo or controller card you're using) where a USB connection running around 10 Mb per second.

[eobard]

Originally posted by Garfield
I'm looking for a hard drive. Something good that will last. Should I go IBM or Western Digital? Is IBM any good? Thanks...

--Garfield

Lately I've noticed that IBM drives are in the top 3 for components that get slammed for being crappy. I'd take the WD if those were my two choices.

[Garfield]

Yeah, WD is what I wanted to go with from the start. Then I saw some IBM prices and I got a little intrigued. But, I'll go WD. Thanks. Now, I need another bay port to have another hard drive, right? How/where would I check this?

--Garfield

[KeyboardCowboy]

Originally posted by William
MMM, nothing like more space and for that wee bit extra, its a no brainer.

Just put it my 80 GB drive, don't know what to do with it, I have 7 partitions on it :D. Well, I guess I will never ever have to uninstall a game, at least for three months(when I will realize 80 isn't enough :rolleyes: )

don't you just hate that feeling, i need one of thoose 120gb 15,000 ibm screamers

[hunter00]

actually those prices really aren't that great.
just off newegg, a seagate barracuda iv 40gb 7200 is only 85 bucks (plus 7 shipping)
a 20 gb is only 70.

so my answer is . . . :eh?: . . . you shouldn't get either . . .

[xCarne_Asada]

I dont like seagate that much. I rather have a WD, Maxtor, or IBM. Just because I have had good experiences with all 3.

[Shadow ÒÓ]

Originally posted by Garfield


Hmmm...so I guess I should go with an internal hard drive so the virtual memory isn't accessed slowly, right? Thanks...

--Garfield

no...you use more memory so you don't need a swap file as bad. With 2k or XP you won't need a swap file at all with 512 megs of ram or more.

Go with an internal drive so it will run programs faster and save data faster. External drives are only internal drives with slower connection wires. Instead of plugging into an IDE channel, they plug in to a USB or FireWire port which is a whole lot slower than IDE.

[Garfield]

This might sound a little illiterat (sp?), but...

Are all hard drives, "the same"? In other words, is there a hard drive that I shouldn't get, or do they all "fit" and will work properly. Is there something I should know before buying one?

[Fightingpiper]

Originally posted by Garfield
This might sound a little illiterat (sp?), but...

Are all hard drives, "the same"? In other words, is there a hard drive that I shouldn't get, or do they all "fit" and will work properly. Is there something I should know before buying one?

Yes all the hard drives that have been debated in this thread will work and are essentially the same. Its like comparing a Ford, Chevy, or Chrysler. They are manufactured by different comanies and will all do the job but you buy the one on personal preference and experience.

[Garfield]

So I can go buy a 40gig WD, any 40gig WD, and I don't have to worry about problems with it not being "right"?

[Shadow ÒÓ]

Look for first and foremost the RPM. 7200 is about 50% better than 5400. ATA 100 is nice, but not as drammatic an improvement as 7200 is to 5400. (plus your board has to be compatable with ATA 100...there are no requirements for RPM's)

[Garfield]

Originally posted by Shadow ÒÓ
Look for first and foremost the RPM. 7200 is about 50% better than 5400. ATA 100 is nice, but not as drammatic an improvement as 7200 is to 5400. (plus your board has to be compatable with ATA 100...there are no requirements for RPM's)

How would I know if it's compatable?