Solution
Hard Drives - Check out the performance charts and pick whatever 500 GB per platter drive performs best under your usage patterns. The following link compares the Seagate 7200.12 or the Spinpoint F3 and the Hitachi. The 7200.12 excels in gaming, multimedia and pictures whereas the F3 wins at music and movie maker. If I counted correctly, the Hitachi took one benchmark. See the comparisons here (copy past link in manually, link won't work in forum):

(http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-3.5-desktop-hard-drive-charts/compare,1015.html?prod[2371]=on&prod[3016]=on&prod[2358]=on)

Look at the tests that reflect your usage and choose accordingly.
Hard Drives - Check out the performance charts and pick whatever 500 GB per platter drive performs best under your usage patterns. The following link compares the Seagate 7200.12 or the Spinpoint F3 and the Hitachi. The 7200.12 excels in gaming, multimedia and pictures whereas the F3 wins at music and movie maker. If I counted correctly, the Hitachi took one benchmark. See the comparisons here (copy past link in manually, link won't work in forum):

(http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-3.5-desktop-hard-drive-charts/compare,1015.html?prod[2371]=on&prod[3016]=on&prod[2358]=on)

Look at the tests that reflect your usage and choose accordingly.
 
Solution