View Full Version : Barracuda IV, Maxtor Liquid Bearings, or IBM 120GXP?
Xevuhtess7
05-04-02, 10:47 PM
im tryin to figure out what hard drive to get. i want 60gb, but im stuck between ibm's reliabilty problems but what about the new 120GXP's, are those any good? are maxtor's liquid bearing thingamajigee hard drives quiet and worth it? i heard the barracuda 4's are extremely quiet and decently fast. which one to pick? im leaning towards the barracuda cause its quiet and cheaper then the other two on newegg... help!! personal experiences will help a lot, thanks.
my personal choice is seagate.
here (http://www.storagereview.com/) you can find the best information on hard drives on internet.
Xevuhtess7
05-04-02, 11:16 PM
yeah ive already checked there and the barracuda 4 ranked VERY well in terms of noise, sumtin like 3rd or 4th place. any other experiences or info??
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In light of HDD failures from IBM being a common problem I would rather buy a HDD from the other 2 manufacturers that you mentioned. Why? I just don't like data loss. Do you?
Cooler666
05-05-02, 07:39 AM
Originally posted by sonny
In light of HDD failures from IBM being a common problem I would rather buy a HDD from the other 2 manufacturers that you mentioned. Why? I just don't like data loss. Do you?
actually this is not a problem of the 120GXP series, IBM have spent so much time on reliability on them that i bet they are the most reliable hard disks out there. I have not seen one person who's 120GXP stopped working, and IBM make far superior hard disks to Seagate. Also the 120GXP are faster than the Barracuda and the maxtor's as well. I would go for either IBM or Maxtor.
Xevuhtess7, I've either built or rebuilt five machines in the last month and a half, and all were refitted w/ Seagate Barracuda IV's. IMO I'd avoid the IBM's, given their reliability (or lack thereof) in recent months, and their decision to sell their disk drive business to Hitachi. I've read reports of the Maxtor FDB drives emitting a high pitched squeal.
The only time I'd avoid the Seagates right now is if you're going to RAID them. The current drives don't "RAID" well. Seagate has announced a change to the drives to address this, but there seems to be some issue re single vs. RAID setup w/ the fixed drives.
The Barracuda IV's are absolutely stone silent. I cannot hear it spin up, or do a seek.
Xevuhtess7
05-05-02, 09:29 AM
thanks for the info guys, the only problem is that in the future if i need more space i was planning on getting a second 60gb hard drive (whatever it is the one that i will get) and raid them together for 120gb, so does that rule the baraccuda IV out? whats the problem with raiding them together?
Arkaine23
05-05-02, 09:38 AM
The Seagates do not perform like they should when used in a Raid array.
The Maxtors on the other hand are silent and reliable. If you have an ATA133 Raid controller, all the better. They do outperform ATA100 drives most of the time. The Seagates are hard to beat though... but you're only looking at maybe a 1% performance difference between them. And the Maxtors make a great Raid array, or so I've heard.
Xevuhtess7, if you're considering adding a second drive for a RAID setup at a later time, then the Seagates are not a good choice. They have some issues in RAID.
Originally posted by sonny
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In light of HDD failures from IBM being a common problem I would rather buy a HDD from the other 2 manufacturers that you mentioned. Why? I just don't like data loss. Do you?
And I welcome you to the forums as well. I agree with sonny for the most part. I also agree with the thinking that IBM is probably working very hard to correct it. I am somewhat dubious about buying IBM right now as the drives should not have gotten out in the first place from such a large and reputable company. The pipeline on the drives may not be cleaned out as of yet as well. I personally am happy with Maxtor. Watch for IBM to once again produce some high quality drives however I would wait till "others" bought the problem drives.
Cooler666
05-05-02, 01:14 PM
Originally posted by Silver
And I welcome you to the forums as well. I agree with sonny for the most part. I also agree with the thinking that IBM is probably working very hard to correct it. I am somewhat dubious about buying IBM right now as the drives should not have gotten out in the first place from such a large and reputable company. The pipeline on the drives may not be cleaned out as of yet as well. I personally am happy with Maxtor. Watch for IBM to once again produce some high quality drives however I would wait till "others" bought the problem drives.
what do you mean "problem drives", show me one person who has had trouble with the 120GXP series, these drives are faster than maxtor and seagate and they're better too.
IBM has had many hard drive problems as of late that are well publicized. To stay away from them for now would seem to be the prudent thing to do and I surely would not recommend something that I was not comfortable with. The 120 may well be a great drive however I would avoid IBM at this time until they at least produce the quality that should have been in the hard drives they did have trouble with. When buying from a company of that status the quality should be without question and that in fact is not the case. Sorry, I would not recommend them at this time.
VIAHardware Dot Com
... expressed grave concern that the newly-emphasized 333 hour limitation is, in fact,
a tacit admission by IBM of problems with the 120, 75, and 60 GXP drives. ...
http://www.viahardware.com/ibm120gxp.shtm
More Results From: www.viahardware.com
According to the Travelstar series (the only other drive that appears to have the POH recommendation)...
Quote:
Service life of the drive approximately 5 years or 20,000 power on hours, whichever comes first under the following assumptions:
* Less than 333 power on hours per month.
* Seeking/Writing/Reading operation is less than 20% of power on hours.
This does not represent any warranty or warranty period. Applicable warranty and warranty period are covered by the purchase agreement.
http://www.theinquirer.net/08030205.htm
So in the case of the travelstar drives, yes the service life of the drive would be reduced to approximately 2 years and 3 months.
Now, how this is applicable to the 120GXP only IBM can say.
There have been reports of some units being completely quiet, and others that the drives made a lot of noise. that some of his 120GXP were silent, while others "makes a helluva racket". StorageReview reported that their sample was "Objectively speaking, the Deskstar 120GXP is one of the quieter 7200 RPM ATA drives around." However, differences in noise levels could be attributable to poor QA
Two Thumbs Down, Way Down 03-Apr-2002 10:12:23 am
1 2 3 4 5
Features
Value
Support
Quality
"IBM says 11 hours per day"
IBM says this drive can only spin 11 hours per day, 333 hours per month. Crazy. I have 8 IBM drives and would not buy another drive until they get their act together. Sad, very sad. My company quit buying IBM drives 6 months ago.
And of course you are aware of this:
[url]http://www.extremetech.com/article/0,3396,s=201&a=25645,00.asp (http://forums.storagereview.net/viewtopic.php?t=2162=Today, a user posted[/url)
Gotta go, will post more for you later if you would like. I am really surprised that you are not aware of this. The gxp line is questionable. If I were going to purchase one then it would be the gxp120 however I can not in good concientous recommend the drive. There are some complaining of 120 failure as well. Check out the forums related to this, many, many sites have many complaints on the gxp line in general. I stand by the original "I do not recommend this drive". Take Care.
Xevuhtess7
05-05-02, 03:24 PM
thanks for the info guys, but the thing is that im not buyin any parts for my comp til like august cause i still gotta get the money over the summer, im just planning REALLY far ahead (and also i have no life). i really wanna get the seagate, but you're all talkin bout how they dont raid well together. so do you think that seagate can fix that raiding problem come august? also im not even sure ill need to get a second hard drive for a REALLY long time cause just a few months ago i was living the lowlife with a 120mhz original pentium with a 1.5gb hard drive and somehow i was able to survive hehehehehe (that drive was a maxtor by the way). right now im on a dell *my dad is a fool for buying one* with a 9gb hard drive and ive still got room to spare on it. i think 60gb is like a mansion for me, let alone 120 if i raid two of them in the future.....
Originally posted by Xevuhtess7
i really wanna get the seagate, but you're all talkin bout how they dont raid well together. so do you think that seagate can fix that raiding problem come august?No they will not. Their stand on it is;Seagate technical support
The Seagate is so fast that the RAID controller can't buffer the data quickly enough and so the disk has to read everything twice and hence runs much slower. The disk is so fast it is actually much slower.
Seagate is prepared to accept returns for users with this problem - contact customer support. But then they come up with this;Seagate is now offering updated drives with improved firmware that resolves this issue. Contact Seagate customer support for details. So you can flash the HDDs firmware to get the performance..... theoretically
You can also buy an IBM BUT don't use it too much:D
Xevuhtess7
05-05-02, 06:21 PM
thanks, so i guess its ok to get the barracuda IV now? by the way what does it mean when you say flash it? ive been hearing that word a lot, like flashing the bios or sumtin but i have no clue what it means.
Gunslinger
05-05-02, 07:26 PM
I think it means updating a type of software... firmware for drives, bios for motherboards. This software is stored in the actual device , not within Windows, and controls vital functions. I think you have to "flash" the firmware and bioses from DOS mode.
But I'm just a nube. This is my 1st post.
Originally posted by Gunslinger
I think it means updating a type of software... firmware for drives, bios for motherboards. This software is stored in the actual device , not within Windows, and controls vital functions. I think you have to "flash" the firmware and bioses from DOS mode.
But I'm just a nube. This is my 1st post. That's has got to be one of the best first posts that I have seen. You are completely right:beer: Since the both of you are new how about clicking them big links in my welcome note which is now for the two of you:beer: Good info that will help you guys start off on the right foot.
Xevuhtess7
05-05-02, 07:59 PM
haha i was hesitant to click on the huge link before when i first saw it because i found it kind of annoying :p . oh well what the hell ill give it a click.
welcome to the sickness
first I never had an IBM so I will not vote for or against them
but I have both seagate and maxtor/quantum
Quantum by far is better!!!!!!! I see performance bandwidth from the quantum twqice that of the seagate!
Xevuhtess7
05-05-02, 08:17 PM
may i ask one thing, what the hell is a quantum? ive never heard of anythin like that.
Gunslinger
05-05-02, 08:39 PM
I read that Quantum's HDD division was purchased by Maxtor. They used to make drives called Quantum fireballs, or something like that.
Thanks Sonny! I checked out your links. I've been lurking on the forums for a while and have been reading those articles on the main page. Had some problems (email address issues on my end) registering though, so that's why I haven't posted until now.
I'd suggest Maxtor, I have some Quantum Fireball AS's and they are liquid bearings, and they are VERY quiet!
Most likely the Maxtor drives have the same tech.
Originally posted by jbell
Quantum by far is better!!!!!!! I see performance bandwidth from the quantum twqice that of the seagate! Exactly what the firmware update is suppose to fix since the Seagates were too fast for the controllers.
Originally posted by Gunslinger
Thanks Sonny! I checked out your links. I've been lurking on the forums for a while and have been reading those articles on the main page.I always link to those since a lot of the new members like to jump right into the forums & forget to read what's on the frontpage. It's great that you do a lot of reading since information is so important to what we do. Have fun posting in the Forums:beer:
Cowboy X
05-06-02, 08:20 AM
Seagate and Maxtor are good choices , my Barracuda IV is absoloutely silent ......... I'm yet to hear it make any noise . Incidentally I have a 60gig liquid bearing maxtor on the way :) so I'll soon be able to compare.
I don't need to add to the STAY AWAY FROM IBM statements........ nuff said already :)
im in this position also, whether to get a seagate cuda or something else. i have heard its quiet from lots of different forums so thats a plus, but what about the speed of the drive, compared to the ibm 60gxp i have now? is the speed noticable, for like internet, games etc.
also i would like to look at the maxtors, but ive heard reports of the noise they make, are the liquid bearing ones silent?
From experience get the Liquid Bearings. I'm defragging right now and can't hear ne thing from it.
Xevuhtess7
05-07-02, 09:04 PM
yo cowboy x, you get your maxtor yet? when you do could you post a comparison for me? thanks
Cowboy X
05-07-02, 09:28 PM
Sorry Xevuhtess7 .................. I'm ordering from newegg but i don't live in the U.S. so i have to get a friend to order it and send to a skybox . It will reach here within 1 week but then skybox here will take almost 3 weeks ............. sometimes more to clear my packages :mad:
I wish there was an easier way but it is very difficult to get ppl who will ship here . So I have a long wait :( . Tried my best to get it direct .
Xevuhtess7
05-07-02, 09:35 PM
private message me or sumtin when you get that drive ok? im dieing to get a 1v1 comparison of the barracuda IV and maxtor liquid bearings
MadMan007
05-07-02, 10:22 PM
On the Barracuda vs Maxtor:
The barracuda may be quieter, but only so much as you would noticeit if you had *no* case fans. It is also the slowest of the current 7200 rpm drives.
The Maxtor is definitely quicker, in seek time and in throughput.
Check www.storagereview.com
Xevuhtess7, it might be interesting to see a side-by-side comparison of a Seagate BIV and Maxtor L series drive. As I said, I've installed five of the BIV's recently, and all were stone silent. I also had a chance to set up a Maxtor L series 40GB drive and while it was quieter than most drives I've heard, it was no where near the BIV. And, I've read reports of the L series drives developing a high pitched whine w/i a few months of use. Can't argue w/ the L series performance though.
Xevuhtess7
05-08-02, 11:14 AM
ok thanks. since everyone's sayin the barracuda IV is quieter, and the maxtor L is faster, is the speed that much of a difference? cause i know that hardware has become so fast now, does it really make a noticeable difference? i dont do any server stuff or things with gigantic file transfers or anything, just day to day computer use and gaming and stuff, im only a teenager, not a webhost or sumtin. im also kinda afraid of gettin the maxtor L, cause of all those reports of high whining noises.
Originally posted by Xevuhtess7
ok thanks. since everyone's sayin the barracuda IV is quieter, and the maxtor L is faster, is the speed that much of a difference? cause i know that hardware has become so fast now, does it really make a noticeable difference? i dont do any server stuff or things with gigantic file transfers or anything, just day to day computer use and gaming and stuff, im only a teenager, not a webhost or sumtin. im also kinda afraid of gettin the maxtor L, cause of all those reports of high whining noises.
Then I would be very interested in price and durability.
MadMan007
05-08-02, 03:03 PM
Originally posted by Xevuhtess7
ok thanks. since everyone's sayin the barracuda IV is quieter, and the maxtor L is faster, is the speed that much of a difference? cause i know that hardware has become so fast now, does it really make a noticeable difference? i dont do any server stuff or things with gigantic file transfers or anything, just day to day computer use and gaming and stuff, im only a teenager, not a webhost or sumtin. im also kinda afraid of gettin the maxtor L, cause of all those reports of high whining noises.
Thing is, HD's are still largely bottlenecks in the system, especially when loading programs, or even just during light use. If your computer ever uses the swap file, you want a fast HD. Put it this way: if you had a system with a 2 GHz CPU but a TNT1 video card, you would say that the system is vid card limited. Well, a lot of systems are HD limited, in that a faster HD would speed up program loads and disk accesses.
Also, you could always get the non-fluid bearing Maxtor. ;)
OleChris
05-08-02, 11:38 PM
I just installed one of the Maxtor 80g L series hard drives. Almost immediately after installing the drive, bad sectors started showing up. My last count was 9 bad sectors. I am returning it for an IBM 80g deskstar. Maxtor has served me well in the past, so I'm not condemning their product.
OC-Master
05-09-02, 12:25 AM
My Maxtor D740X 80GB is a god-like hard drive.
Not one single issue so far other than the fact that its too quiet since I'm one of those people who actually likes to hear the Hdisk a little especially when fooling with diagnostic utilities.
Its not the liquid bearing version (LOL) pointless, and its still sooo quiet that I dont even care. I'm going for a second D740X soon! to start RAID0.
AXIA
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