Tom's Hardware > Forum > Storage > Hard Disks > ok, i have $80 to spend on new hard drive... any suggestions?

ok, i have $80 to spend on new hard drive... any suggestions?

Forum Storage : Hard Disks - ok, i have $80 to spend on new hard drive... any suggestions?

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rambo117   11-13-2008 at 07:07:00 AM

right now i have decided on one particular harddrive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822136218

i mainly need storage for: a few movies, LOTS of games(ranging from 2-15gigs each), word processing, work, and some game recording.
this is the best price/storage ratio drive i could find but if anyone has any other suggestions, i would gladly accept them:).

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malveaux   11-13-2008 at 07:39:50 AM
- 0 +

Heya,

For $80, that 640 is pretty much the best thing you can do in terms of storage for what it is. If this is for pure storage, you could look into Tape methods of backup. However, if this is for storage and use at the same time, you pretty much can't beat that 640 for the cost.

Cheers,

Reply to malveaux
aznguy0028   11-13-2008 at 07:43:28 AM
- 0 +

yea, i saw the price range and immediately thought of the WD 6400 AAKS. there's your answer :)

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 Reply to aznguy0028
runswindows95   11-13-2008 at 08:32:44 AM
- 0 +

Another vote for the 6400AAKS.

Reply to runswindows95
rambo117   11-13-2008 at 04:31:34 PM
- 0 +

ok, i believe i will make that purchase today. just needed Tom's forums aproval first:)

thanks all!!

Reply to rambo117
antiacid   11-13-2008 at 04:52:44 PM
- 0 +

640gig = win!

Reply to antiacid
qwertycopter   11-13-2008 at 05:34:53 PM
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I agree as well, have two myself. However, Seagate has a competing 640GB drive with 32MB cache (vs 16) and 5 year warranty (vs 3) for $5 more.

Reply to qwertycopter
KyleSTL   11-13-2008 at 05:55:57 PM
- 0 +

6400AAKS +4 (the number of them I own, rediculous, I know)

I would avoid Seagate like the plague with the .11 problems they're been having. Data is too valuable to rely on a warranty that will not cover data recovery.

------------------------------ Lian-Li PC-7B | XClio Greatpower 550W | P4 3.2 Prescott SL7E5 | Scythe Ninja
2GB DDR400 Corsair VS (4*512) | eVGA nVidia GF 7600GS AGP vmod 1.46/1.91 OCd 759/907
WD 160GB & 640GB SATA
WinXP MCE 2004
 Reply to KyleSTL
rambo117   11-13-2008 at 11:39:59 PM
- 0 +

could someone explain to me what the cache in harddrives does anyways? because the one on the WD 640gig has 16MB of cache but i saw a few with 32. are there any signifigant boosts in performance with the extra 16MBs?

Reply to rambo117
rambo117   11-13-2008 at 11:50:15 PM
- 0 +

ooo, i like that one. thanks for showing me! :D
so is harddrive cache somewhat similar to CPU cache?
im still confused about that whole thing... would it be worth the extra 10 dollars to go with the 32MB cache?

Reply to rambo117
ragsters   11-13-2008 at 11:57:40 PM
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This is the black edition vs. the blue 640AAKS. Acoording to western digital it is "Ideal For Power computing applications such as multimedia, video and photo editing, and maxed out gaming computers".
Here is the link
http://www.westerndigital.com/en/p [...] riveid=551

I have one and it's very fast.

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to ragsters
Zorg   11-14-2008 at 12:04:16 AM
- 0 +

The cache is the buffer between the controller (southbridge) and the platters. It doesn't really make that big of a difference, especially in sustained transfers, but it's definitely worth 5 bucks.

 

6400AALS FTW.


Message edited by Zorg on 11-14-2008 at 12:09:49 AM
Reply to Zorg
rambo117   11-14-2008 at 12:15:23 AM
- 0 +

ragsters wrote :

This is the black edition vs. the blue 640AAKS. Acoording to western digital it is "Ideal For Power computing applications such as multimedia, video and photo editing, and maxed out gaming computers".
Here is the link
http://www.westerndigital.com/en/p [...] riveid=551

I have one and it's very fast.


hmmm, intriguing.. for five extra dollars, sure what the heck:)

i scratch out my original purchase idea and go for the black edition 640

thank you everyone!

Reply to rambo117
KyleSTL   11-14-2008 at 12:20:17 AM
- 0 +

The Average read (according to one of the Newegg reviews, and comparing it to one of my 6400AAKS drives) is only about 2-3MB/sec faster. Not worth it IMO.

Message quoted 1 times
------------------------------ Lian-Li PC-7B | XClio Greatpower 550W | P4 3.2 Prescott SL7E5 | Scythe Ninja
2GB DDR400 Corsair VS (4*512) | eVGA nVidia GF 7600GS AGP vmod 1.46/1.91 OCd 759/907
WD 160GB & 640GB SATA
WinXP MCE 2004
 Reply to KyleSTL
croc   11-14-2008 at 01:21:38 AM
- 0 +

KyleSTL wrote :

The Average read (according to one of the Newegg reviews, and comparing it to one of my 6400AAKS drives) is only about 2-3MB/sec faster. Not worth it IMO.



...And we all know that Newegg's reviews are all based on reliable, comparable benchmarks, right?

Message quoted 2 times
Reply to croc
rambo117   11-14-2008 at 06:23:06 AM
- 0 +

croc wrote :

...And we all know that Newegg's reviews are all based on reliable, comparable benchmarks, right?


hahahahaha, no...


xD, yehh, most of the people that rate themselves with the 'high' tech experience level dont know wth theyre talking about.

oh, and btw, i made the purchase. cant wait to throw all my crap on it!!! :D
thankyou everyone, you have all been very helpful

Reply to rambo117
KyleSTL   11-14-2008 at 06:48:45 AM
- 0 +

croc wrote :

...And we all know that Newegg's reviews are all based on reliable, comparable benchmarks, right?


The guy posted numbers straight out of HDTach, the exact same program I use. Believe me, I think more than half of Newegg reviews are written by idiots, but how many "knowledgable" people (like us) post reviews too. I just believe this guy was legit. Check it out, it's the second review on the listing.


Message edited by KyleSTL on 11-14-2008 at 06:50:24 AM
Reply to KyleSTL
croc   11-14-2008 at 07:33:40 AM
- 0 +

I can't purchase from Newegg anyway, but I do use their prices as a way to check whether Aus suppliers are raping us... As to their reviews, for one possibly good review one has to wade through hundreds of what I would call 'newbie reviews'. Not worth my time.

Reply to croc
KyleSTL   11-14-2008 at 04:34:25 PM
- 0 +

My point was missed entirely.

------------------------------ Lian-Li PC-7B | XClio Greatpower 550W | P4 3.2 Prescott SL7E5 | Scythe Ninja
2GB DDR400 Corsair VS (4*512) | eVGA nVidia GF 7600GS AGP vmod 1.46/1.91 OCd 759/907
WD 160GB & 640GB SATA
WinXP MCE 2004
 Reply to KyleSTL
Zorg   11-14-2008 at 09:12:40 PM
- 0 +

KyleSTL, it's only $5 and it's the BLACK version. :lol:

 

It's probably the AAKS with more RAM and maybe a little more aggressive profile. You aren't going to see a huge increase, as I said earlier, but double the cache for $5, come on.


Message edited by Zorg on 11-14-2008 at 09:13:41 PM
Reply to Zorg
malveaux   11-14-2008 at 11:56:41 PM
- 0 +

Heya,

NewEgg has the WD 1 TB Green Drive, with free shipping, for $99 now.

Cheers,

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to malveaux
rambo117   11-15-2008 at 12:52:29 AM
- 0 +

malveaux wrote :

Heya,

NewEgg has the WD 1 TB Green Drive, with free shipping, for $99 now.

Cheers,


:O

thats an insanely good deal... now i kinda wish i waited.


what i could do with a 1000gig harddrive(ponders)... :D
oh well, im happy with my purchase. 640gigs is quite a bit for me as it is so that should keep me satisfied for awhile. thanks 4 the offer though;)

Reply to rambo117
malveaux   11-15-2008 at 01:57:06 AM
- 0 +

Heya,

Well, keep an eye out, because it'll get cheaper even still since even larger platter drives are coming out (1.5tb, etc) and coming down in price themselves.

I mention it because I'm a HTPC enthusiast on top of pc gamer and all that goodness. I use 1tb drives to house my DVD collection, digitized in the form of ISO. I use it so that I can one-click-mount-and-play any DVD I wish from my couch with my logitech mx air mouse, on my 1080p television. Those 1tb drives go fast when you start wracking up videos. At the current average, each 1tb drive is holding about 140 uncompressed DVD's (nothing taken from them other than their protections). If you have an average collection, a single big drive will do. But if you get a larger collection over time, it fills quickly. Especially if you house other things along side it all.

Just a thought, if you're headed down that road.

Very best, :)

Message quoted 1 times
Reply to malveaux
spathotan   11-15-2008 at 05:57:57 PM
- 0 +

Those green drives operate at 5400RPMs. They arent ment for an OS or games/software. They are purely for storage and thats it.

Message quoted 1 times
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 Reply to spathotan
Zorg   11-15-2008 at 08:45:52 PM
- 0 +

spathotan wrote :

Those green drives operate at 5400RPMs. They arent ment for an OS or games/software. They are purely for storage and thats it.

I thought they were variable speed. I looked and the platter speed is uncomfortably absent from the specs on WDC's website. Then I found this on THG.

WD Caviar GP: The "Green" 1 TB Drive : Western Digital Brings Down Power Consumption - Tom's Hardware

Quote :

Reducing a component's operating speed typically is the easiest way of achieving power savings. Obviously, this is something that can be applied rather easily to hard drives, as it isn't very difficult to use spindle motors that can operate at variable speeds. WD goes down this path with its Caviar GP drives, as the firm adjusts the rotation speed anywhere between 5,400 RPM and up to 7,200 RPM dynamically for each model.




Message quoted 1 times
Reply to Zorg
rambo117   11-15-2008 at 10:07:18 PM
- 0 +

malveaux wrote :

Heya,

Well, keep an eye out, because it'll get cheaper even still since even larger platter drives are coming out (1.5tb, etc) and coming down in price themselves.

I mention it because I'm a HTPC enthusiast on top of pc gamer and all that goodness. I use 1tb drives to house my DVD collection, digitized in the form of ISO. I use it so that I can one-click-mount-and-play any DVD I wish from my couch with my logitech mx air mouse, on my 1080p television. Those 1tb drives go fast when you start wracking up videos. At the current average, each 1tb drive is holding about 140 uncompressed DVD's (nothing taken from them other than their protections). If you have an average collection, a single big drive will do. But if you get a larger collection over time, it fills quickly. Especially if you house other things along side it all.

Just a thought, if you're headed down that road.

Very best, :)


yes! the tec market has been very good lately! all that new stuff coming out dropping prices. and wait till nehalem hits the market;)

well, i dont do alot of the HDPC stuff but i would like to eventually since my comp supports all that high res goodness:)
and i have a 1080P HDTV as well. mainly for gaming however

Reply to rambo117
cjl   11-16-2008 at 01:32:10 AM
- 0 +

Zorg wrote :

I thought they were variable speed. I looked and the platter speed is uncomfortably absent from the specs on WDC's website. Then I found this on THG.

 

WD Caviar GP: The "Green" 1 TB Drive : Western Digital Brings Down Power Consumption - Tom's Hardware

 
Quote :

Reducing a component's operating speed typically is the easiest way of achieving power savings. Obviously, this is something that can be applied rather easily to hard drives, as it isn't very difficult to use spindle motors that can operate at variable speeds. WD goes down this path with its Caviar GP drives, as the firm adjusts the rotation speed anywhere between 5,400 RPM and up to 7,200 RPM dynamically for each model.



THG is wrong.

 

They're a fixed speed, they just don't say what speed that is. Adjusting the rotation speed would be horrendous for power. In reality, they spin at around 5400rpm.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by cjl on 11-16-2008 at 01:33:02 AM
Reply to cjl
Zorg   11-16-2008 at 12:46:48 PM
- 0 +

cjl wrote :

THG is wrong.

 

They're a fixed speed, they just don't say what speed that is. Adjusting the rotation speed would be horrendous for power. In reality, they spin at around 5400rpm.

Not the first time.

 

That's why I don't go green, 5400 is atrocious. I haven't looked at the throughput, because I'm not in the market, but they have to be bad.

 

I would use the THG HD charts to see, but they have been rendered useless. They don't have the size and model number visible anymore. You have to load another page to see the specifics and then come back and remember which drive you clicked on. Forcing you to load another page is enough to render them useless.

 

Do you guys understand? I know that you know better. Fix it!

 

Or all red? Or maybe a fresh thread, with a poll? Just fix it.

 

The above was edited, in case you didn't know.

 

It's absolute he!!, I won't even use them anymore.

 

Maybe they will make all the pertinent data visible like they used to.

 

Or maybe no one will use their charts anymore. :lol:


Message edited by Zorg on 11-16-2008 at 04:16:31 PM
Reply to Zorg
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