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WD 640 GB w 16 Cache vs Seagate 500 w 32 Cache

Forum Storage : General Storage - WD 640 GB w 16 Cache vs Seagate 500 w 32 Cache

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I see two HDDs with great reviews at the same price.

This WD 640 GB with 16 MB cache and supposedly has two high density 320 GB platters which really speeds things up:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136218

or this Seagate 7200.11 500 GB with 32 MB Cache..
http://www.directron.com/st3500320as.html

They are both about $90 on Directron.. $100 on Newegg for the former.

Which one is a better HDD in terms of speed and reliability?

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The seagate's 32mb will only help with buffered read, seagate is usually a tad faster. But i would go with the western digital, since it has the xtra space.

Reply to blackwidow_rsa

I think if you look at reviews around the net you'll find the newer WD 640gb to be the faster of the two. One of the reviews I read had comments from WD about adding the extra cache (up to 32mb) didn't provide enough tangible benefits/speed to justify the cost. Something along those lines.

For like $85 @ DirectCanada.com, can't beat it!

Reply to jevon

The Seagate will handle large files a little better, perhaps be faster if you have several files open at one time. For most uses, you probably wouldn't see any difference. One thing I've liked about the Seagates is that the SATA and power sockets are a bit better, more secure than the last couple WDs that I have bought. I had one WD socket break, rendering the hard drive into a piece of junk. It may have been a fluke, but it soured me and the only WD that I have bought since was a Raptor.

In the end, if I needed a lot of space, I would go for the WD hard drive. If space wasn't a major concern, I'd buy the Seagate.

------------------------------ Evil lurks in the databanks as it lurked in the streets of yesteryear. But it was never the streets that were evil.

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Reply to Sailer

Those are both solid working hard drives either one would be a great choice. I actualluy use both of them hard drives except my western digital caviar is a 500 gb and my segate barracuda's are also 500 gb, both are good.

Reply to INSPECTOR71

This may not be a consideration but Seagate drives have a 5 year warranty while those for WD have 3.

Reply to rakoth

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