Which hard drive with the best performance for the price.

[ahtze]

My HITACHI Deskstar 7K250 HDS722516VLSA80 (13G0254) 160GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM's responsive time isn't good because when I play games, I always have hiccup(FPS can drop to 0) and it is really annoying. Not sure what's going on with it.

I am thinking to get a new hard drive.

I have 2 model on my mind right now,

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

and

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Which one do you prefer? Or you have better recommendation?

Well, don't recommend raptor please, it is way too expensive.

 

[chuckshissle]

Well, I've been a loyal fan of Western Digital and I'm a Raptor user. But in your case I can recommend you the 320Gb Seagate more quantity and besides I think the two has a big difference in game loading as far as I know. So I'm with the Seagate on this one.

You say your system have hiccups while gaming? What kind of games do you play, and how much ram do you have in your system?

Post your system specs as well while your at it.

 

[ahtze]

Before, my computer was

AMD Althon 64 3000+ 939
Nvidia 6600GT 128mb PCI-E
1GB PC 3200 Corsair
It was already choking in the game I think. I didn't check throughly though, can't remember.


Recently, I changed my graphic card to x1950pro 256mb PCI-E with suitable PSU.

I usually try games after I upgrade my system, I try Half-Life 2, and Stalker.

The average and MAx FSP is good at recommended setting but then, it will hiccups example in Half Life 2 when I see 3-5 people at once especially when one of them speak to me, my PC will Stuck(hiccups) for 1-2 seconds(No matter how low I put the graphic setting).

For Stalker, it will CHOKE too, when I see new thing. for example, from stairs to outdoor. I really hate the choking.

I thought my CPU is not fast enough so I changed to AMD X2 5600 with 2GB PC6400 Corsair Latency 4 DDR2 ram.

Basically, it still hiccups, maybe 0.5-1s less hiccups.but sometimes still stuck for 1-2 seconds.

I am so frustrated.

My PC still not fast enough? :/

 

[rammedstein]

get the seagate, maybe 2 of them , lol, they are good, lol

 

[choirbass]

well... it does sound like the hardware is fine for gameplay... seems like it might be a driver/software issue possibly then

when you upgraded your whole system, did you reinstall windows too?, or are you still using everything the same as it was before... when someone upgrades their system as drastically as you did, usually an OS reinstall is recommended too

as far as a faster hdd though (since you might be reinstalling windows anyhow after an overhaul), newegg has a WD1600AAJS 160GB 8MB sata hdd for $54, which is one of the fastest 7200 hdds available, the capacity is typically more than enough for an OS hdd too

 

[ahtze]

I already reinstall new OS.

But I didn't full format. What I did what quick format. and doesn't change anything

I just bought the 320gb seagate 7200.10 perpendicular technology. Hopefully this fix my problem

 

[choirbass]

yeah, your current configuration definetly sounds capable though

like, my current configuration below can handle most of whatever i throw at it without much problem at 1280x1024, and if there is a slowdown, i just reduce a setting or 2... and your current configuration is at least on par with it:

s939 X2 3800+ @ 2.4
2GB PC3200
7800GT
74GB ADFD Raptor
600w x-finity psu

but, the stuttering i dont think is really a problem with the rated performance of your hardware... either way, i hope the new hdd fixes your problem though

 

[ahtze]

Too bad you are wrong. :/

I am using 32bit Windows XP Pro with updated drivers. By the way, How do I know if my Widnows XP pro is 64bit? Maybe mine is 64bit? ;

At 1st I change to ATI X1950pro PCI-E 256MB(appropriate PSU). I am not sure if the hiccups happen in my 6600GT or not.

Hiccups is there so I thought is my CPU, then I change a new Motherboard with AMD X2 5600 with 2GB of Corsair 6400 C4 ram run in dual channel.

The hiccups exist but not that obvious but it is still there =_=;

It drives me crazy man. I already format my PC for few times....

My cousin's computer is slower than mine now but then he have no hiccups..

:x

Edit: Ops.. Didn't notice I already talk about this in my previous message.

 

[ahtze]

yeah, your current configuration definetly sounds capable though

like, my current configuration below can handle most of whatever i throw at it without much problem at 1280x1024, and if there is a slowdown, i just reduce a setting or 2... and your current configuration is at least on par with it:

s939 X2 3800+ @ 2.4
2GB PC3200
7800GT
74GB ADFD Raptor
600w x-finity psu

but, the stuttering i dont think is really a problem with the rated performance of your hardware... either way, i hope the new hdd fixes your problem though

choirbass, if some games slow down at higher configuration, does your games hiccups(I mean like FPS drop from 40 to 0-10) ? Or it will just run at lower FPS example 15 fps but not 0...

 

[fredgiblet]

The best bang for the buck is the Seagate 7200.10 320GB

But the problem you are describing may be caused by insufficient RAM, how much do you have?

 

[choirbass]

yeah, your current configuration definetly sounds capable though

like, my current configuration below can handle most of whatever i throw at it without much problem at 1280x1024, and if there is a slowdown, i just reduce a setting or 2... and your current configuration is at least on par with it:

s939 X2 3800+ @ 2.4
2GB PC3200
7800GT
74GB ADFD Raptor
600w x-finity psu

but, the stuttering i dont think is really a problem with the rated performance of your hardware... either way, i hope the new hdd fixes your problem though

choirbass, if some games slow down at higher configuration, does your games hiccups(I mean like FPS drop from 40 to 0-10) ? Or it will just run at lower FPS example 15 fps but not 0...

generally the fps tends to decrease as a whole... even if im gaming at a resolution of 2560x1024 (horizontal spanning mode with 2*19" displays), the framerate is still fairly smooth (relatively speaking)... im definetly inclined to think though that its the particular drivers youre using, even more specifically the gpu drivers (though it honestly could be any other drivers really, but, try using and switching out different drivers to eliminate the different hardware involved as a potential problem)

hmm... try disabling your sound card, see if that improves things any

 

[ahtze]

before I use 1GB with X1950pro AMD Althon XP 3000+ (Should be more than enough for XP)

I tried uninstall my sound driver too.

I hope the Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB will solve the problem. :/

It is coming this Thursday.

and Regarding RMA harddrive, recently I RMA a seagate but then it seems like the drive is running but not that good. The hiccups is worst and I use HD tune and check the harddrive and there is 1 yellow bar on the Health Tab. Plus, the Harddrive sometimes will stop spinning for few second but not really terrible though. Better than my dead seagate(before rma).


My Hitatchi have 1 Yellow Bar on Reallocated Sector Count(I run half life 2 on it) not sure if that's the problem.

Do u think RMA is a good thing to do? Is there a way to tell them not to exchange for a factor recertify Hard drive >.> I want a brand new!

 

[ahtze]

I have tried that too >.> Basically it improve 5-10 fps but the hiccups still exist.

 

[ahtze]

I will post a video clip to describe my problem in about 5min.

Edit: Ah, the file is big, please wait for another 10-15 min for me to upload it >.>

 

[ahtze]

Here's the Video Clip. this is on High setting. I heard Stalker use hard drive a lot.

http://files.filefront.com//;7269513;;/

Please have a look and let me know if the problem is normal.



Here is the clip for LOW setting. Basically, I notice no hiccups at the opening.
Please start the clip from 50sec.

http://files.filefront.com//;7269588;;/

 

[ahtze]

I search around the web and it seems like stuttering is normal for games.

I guess everyone hiccups, so do CPU just they hiccups more than me do. heh

 

[fastin]

The best bang for the buck is the Seagate 7200.10 320GB

But the problem you are describing may be caused by insufficient RAM, how much do you have?

I picked up at Fry's a WD 320gb SATA drive today for 79...trying to figure out if I should return it for the Seagate. Is it that much of a better drive?

Model of the WD

WD 3200AAJS
WD Caviar SE

 

[ahtze]

WD Caviar SE is no good. U need WD Cavier 16 or Seagate 7200.10

 

[ahtze]

Just found the solution! ATI just release their catalyst 7.4 which fix the stutter! Less stutter now. I am so happy.

I was so dissapointed after I receive the new hard drive because my games still stutter alot. Now I know its not my drive(old or new drive)

 

[ZOldDude]

Just found the solution! ATI just release their catalyst 7.4 which fix the stutter! Less stutter now. I am so happy.

I was so dissapointed after I receive the new hard drive because my games still stutter alot. Now I know its not my drive(old or new drive)

Well now that you have a newer and faster HD copy all your games onto it and change your shortcuts to point to the new drive (first put your swapfile onto the new drive with a FIXED size).
That 7200.10 will really load up things fast.

 

[ahtze]

I am using it as my main drive now, for both gaming and OS.

My old harddrive will be as backup and music.

"first put your swapfile onto the new drive with a FIXED size" How can I do that?