New Hard Drive setup

[darkspreader]

I currently have a Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS in my system. It is the only hard drive, and it is getting close to it's lifespan end. HDD Health is reporting 65% health, and I've also noticed that Windows is getting more and more unresponsive.

So, I was wondering, should I ditch the Seagate, and get WD? I've heard both good and bad about Seagate, but their warranty is exceptional. I could get a replacement for it, and get a WD 320gb alternative, and put them in RAID1. However, I do not know if doing RAID1 will impact my system's performance more. I am a gamer, and I play a lot of games often. So I want whatever will be best to keep my system up to par with today's games.
I was thinking of getting a second Seagate or WD 320gb hard drive, put it in RAID0 with my current HD, then buy an 80gb for backups and stuff.

Also, I've heard that the Raptor isn't that much faster than a 7,200 RPM hard drive. Is this true? Otherwise, I could get one of those, get the replacement for my Seagate, and then run the Raptor for OS and games, and the Seagate for files and backups.

What is your opinion on all of this? All I want is a system that won't need replacing very often, but also have a performance system. Also, my budget isn't that high, $150 at best for a 74gb Raptor.

 

[Jpain]

Just get a new disk like 500GB sata2 32MB and istall OS to this disk..
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148288

add your 320GB for backups and stuff
Then you have 300gb+470gb - ( 120gb for C:\ and OS )

500GB 32MB It is fast and bargan and you have space for stuff...

Raptor is only little faster, expensive and you don´t have space...

 

[darkspreader]

Well, the only problem is that I don't like how my hard drive has only lasted for 1.5 years. That doesn't seem like a lot.

 

[geofelt]

65% health sounds awful. I think I would replace the unit before I lost it completely. Performance is probably suffering because the unit is going through(successful) error recovery retries. If the unit is still under warranty, plan on returning it. Protect all your critical data by backing it up to an EXTERNAL device. Without external backup, you have no protection from a virus, software error, inadvertent deletion, etc... Not even raid-1 will help you there.

There is generally no real world(vs. synthetic transfer rate benchmarks) performance advantage to raid of any kind.
Go to www.storagereview.com at this link: http://faq.storagereview.com/tiki-index.php?page=SingleDriveVsRaid0
There are some specific applications that will benefit, but
gaming is not one of them. Even if you have an application which reads one input file sequentially, and writes
it out, you will perform about as well by putting the input on one drive, and the output on the other.

Since you are running out of space, some sort of capacity increase is needed. I would favor a two drive system. The price for two smaller drives is not much more than the cost of a single large drive. Put your os on one, and your data on the other. The fastest device around(excepting ssd) is the raptor, but they are pricey, and not MUCH faster than a 7200 rpm drive.

From a logistical point of view, I think I would get a second 320gb or larger drive. Copy your current flaky drive on to it if possible. Then when the rma comes in, move your data files off the os drive. For backup, get a usb external drive that will hold what you want to protect. The backup data will be compressed, so it won't take as much space as the original.

 

[croc]

Well, the only problem is that I don't like how my hard drive has only lasted for 1.5 years. That doesn't seem like a lot.

What does seatools say?
You'll need a seatools report for warranty replacement anyway.

You do have a backup strategy, right?

 

[darkspreader]

SeaTools says it passed:

--------------- SeaTools for DOS v2.07PG ---------------

Device 0 is Seagate Device ST3320620AS 5QF3SN0X On Generic PCI ATA
Max Native Address 625142447
Device is 48 Bit Addressed - Number of LBAs 625140334 ( 320.072 GB )
This drive supports Security Features
SMART Is Supported And ENABLED
SMART Has NOT Been Tripped
DST Is Supported
Logging Feature Set Is Supported
POH 1938 Current Temp 38

Started Short DST 3/9/2008 @ 21:38.37
DST Completed Without Error
Short DST PASSED 3/9/2008 @ 21:39.50
--------------- SeaTools for DOS v2.07PG ---------------

Device 0 is Seagate Device ST3320620AS 5QF3SN0X On Generic PCI ATA
Max Native Address 625142447
Device is 48 Bit Addressed - Number of LBAs 625140334 ( 320.072 GB )
This drive supports Security Features
SMART Is Supported And ENABLED
SMART Has NOT Been Tripped
DST Is Supported
Logging Feature Set Is Supported
POH 1938 Current Temp 38

Started Long Test 3/9/2008 @ 21:40.3
Long Test PASSED 3/9/2008 @ 23:02.31

And yes, I do have a backup strategy.