Need HD suggestion [Archive] - Overclockers Forums

ou_phidelt

04-05-09, 07:54 PM

I am building a new system for a co-worker. Initially he was going to re-use two old 80GB drives he had but I have convinced him to get a new one. Capacity isn't a big issue so much as reliability and speed. Right now I am looking at the 320GB Western Digital WD3200AAKS (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136074) and the Seagate 7200.11 410AS 250GB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148262). I am leaning towards the WD due to the larger capacity. Over the long term I think he would get better value out of the larger capacity than the slightly quicker speed of the Seagate. His uses are you typical joe six pack, internet, office, and music. Nothing heavy like gaming or encoding.

Know Nuttin

04-06-09, 04:29 AM

I'd do the 320GB, it should be the single platter and faster than the 7200.11 due to areal density. I think you have to tweak the AAM to get the full speed out of the WD.

ou_phidelt

04-06-09, 06:45 AM

Thanks, I had pretty much decided on it as well.

KTE

04-06-09, 05:08 PM

The Caviar Blue is my choice too and its fast. I have 4 of them here of two different revisions, both much faster than the older 80GB ones they replaced.

Old Thrashbarg

04-06-09, 05:36 PM

The WD is a good choice, but I wonder if it might be worth the extra $10 for the new Seagate 7200.12 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148395) with a single 500GB platter. Anybody know anything about those, i.e, have they fixed all the issues they had with the .11 series? I should think they probably have, and it's got good reviews.

Provided it works reliably, it should be a bit faster than the WD, with more capacity to boot.

KTE

04-07-09, 04:45 AM

The Barracuda 7200.12 is actually quite a bit slower than the Caviar Blue/Black series in everything but for maximum sequential read speed, where it's faster than the best WD drive. This is one decent review of quite a few HDDs: http://techreport.com/articles.x/16472/2

rommie

04-07-09, 05:46 PM

The WD will be fine for such low-end apps and run cooler

ou_phidelt

04-08-09, 06:43 AM

The 320GB blue is $85, to much. I love Seagate's(pretty much to the point of a fanboy) and if it was a personal build I would have went with them, but its not. Unfortunately with their recent issues they are going to have to reprove themselves before I'll put them in someone esle's system. I went with the AAKS. Thanks guys.