SATA and IDE get-along and more...

[minty]

Hello

I have a IDE HD (120 GB Maxtor, old, I dont know much about RPMs but I think its 5xxx).
Im thinking, for my next intel rig, to get this "Seagate 500 GB Barracuda 7200.9 SATA Internal Hard Drive ( ST3500641AS-RK )"
So I was wondering

1. Do you guys recommend a single 500 GB HD, or should I be better off getting lets say, 300 GB + 200 GB for performance?
2. Is there any drawback or bottleneck or anything at all that will affect performance if I continue to use my trusty 120 GB IDE HD with my new SATA one?
3. If you guys think Seagate is not a good brand (been told it is), what others would you recommend?

Thanks very much

 

[minty]

Is there anyone out there that can gimme a hand please?

 

[choirbass]

the 120GB is most likely 7200rpm, unless its a laptop hdd

but, for performance reasons, youll be better off getting a single fast hdd to install windows on, such as a seagate 320GB 7200.10 sata hdd, for ~$90

as far as continuing to use your current 120GB hdd, i would actually move that to being a backup hdd, it wont hurt performance that way, seeing as how it would only be used for storage, and not for the OS anymore

here are the thg interactive hdd charts, so you can pick and compare benchmark performance between different hdds http://www23.tomshardware.com/storage.html?modelx=33&model1=117&model2=676&chart=34

as far as hdd brand, you really cant go wrong with any brand... all brands have bad batches, so its really just the luck of the draw

 

[minty]

Oh thanks for your response

as far as continuing to use your current 120GB hdd, i would actually move that to being a backup hdd, it wont hurt performance that way, seeing as how it would only be used for storage, and not for the OS anymore

So you mean like slave HD in Z: :lol: And used only for MP3s or something?

 

[choirbass]

yep, pretty much just use the 120GB for only storing pictures, movies, music, documents, stuff like that, itll basically be your storage hdd where speed isnt at all a concern... you can use it for redundancy if you want too, making periodic backups of stuff that you keep on your boot drive, that way incase one hdd fails, you still have data you would consider valuable

@StevenT yep, the interface itself makes no difference, since no consumer hdd is fast enough to benefit from the increased bandwidth above pata100 (eg. raptors are still the fastest consumer hdds available, but are only on sata150)

 

[minty]

Ah ok gotcha, thank you both for your help