Please suggest a new HDD and how am I bottlenecked?

[massivepepper]

I have a few scruples about making a HDD purchase tonight. I'm looking to buy something that will work well with the computer that I've nearly finished creating.

Specs:
Intel E5200 Wolfdale 2.5GHz cpu....
GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L mobo.....
WD Caviar Blue 320GB hard drive....
sunbeam 120 mm CCFCooler....
(2 x 2 GB) Corsair DDR2 SDRAM.....
Samsung IDE DVD/CD burner.....
Radeon HD 3870 256-bit GDDR4 vid-card.....
BP430 Antec 430W PSU.....
Antec 300 case....
AOC 19" WS LCD monitor (1440x900)
Windows Vista Home Premium x64 bit, upgraded to Win7 in Oct

The DOA harddrive is the listed 320 GB WD Caviar Blue

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136109

I opted to ask for a replacement instead of a refund because it was included in as a combo/deal with Newegg when I purchased the Antec case and powersupply with it ($10). Because I'm sure I could use the extra storage and I would like to test out my new computer (handcuffed w/o any HDD) I would like to place an order for another while I wait for the replacement to arrive.

My question is what would be a good buy to make---tonight or tomorrow---for under $60 shipped? Should I expect any problems with trying to install a second HDD when the replacement arrives? And one more question that I'm curious to find the answer to: in what way will my new computer be bottlenecked as far as achieving top gaming performance, or even idle internet surfing?

My own thoughts are that I won't be able to max out my vid-card's potential with the relatively weak PSU. Apart from building a whole new gaming system from scratch, buying a new PSU might help out with getting better fps rates and the like. The reviews for this vid-card are pretty rave and I'm sure it will blow me away because I'm not used to using any kind of gaming vid-card. The CPU seems like it will serve me well because it overclocks so well, though it is still only dual-core. I'm curious to know how much RAM plays into vid-game performance or if it mostly relies on a face-stomping card and fast CPU.

BTW, I was looking at this Hard drives on Newegg to click the buy button on:

WD Caviar Green- 750 GB SATA---------$59.99 shipped
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136359

I suppose if I could, I would like to have a faster moving HDD as my primary drive, and a larger perhaps slower drive to store my big files on...I'm considering even jumping for this:

Hitachi 1TB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145233


Thanks for reading my long post.

 

[computersss]

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM would highly recommend it as it is one of the best wouldn't get hitachi anyway a samsung or western digital would be the best choice

 

[massivepepper]

Oh c'mon folks, dish out some super-duper esoteric shop talk so I can spend the rest of night looking reading up on how my new computer is so piddly compared to thousand dollar super-rigs...hahhaa.

Just kidding, I know that I'll be really pleased with what I have once I finally get it rolling.

But in all seriousness, I want to buy a HDD soon. Any suggestions?

 

[massivepepper]

Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM would highly recommend it as it is one of the best wouldn't get hitachi anyway a samsung or western digital would be the best choice

Ok, I just learned something! These WD Black Caviar drives have twice the cache speed compared to the Blue Caviar (32 vs. 16) and may last a little longer due to better construction and what-not. Hmm...$75 price tag, have to dwell on this for a bit.

Thanks!

 

[massivepepper]

Ok, interesting scenario that I'll post on the Storage section concerns the speed/price/size ratio of HDs and how I should arrange my build if I have two different HDs each with a different specs.

For those interested, check me out on the Storage forum.

 

[Outlander_04]

The 750 green isnt that much slower and you will have a 320 gig boot drive in a while anyway

 

[massivepepper]

I'm reading up on difference between cache speed and RPM and wondering what will make a difference. I'd like a faster loading machine; i.e. going from POST to a working internet connection quickly. (I know this is something for a Storage thread, but it seems more people hang out here...)

The Blue and Black both have 7200 RPM, but the Blue has only 8MB cache opposed to 32MB in the Black. I'm wondering how this makes a difference. The price jump for the Black is kinda steep for even less space than a Green.

I better at least read through a couple pages of Storage threads if I'm not going to post there.

 

[massivepepper]

I've gleaned about this much information from a Tom's Hardware article:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/understanding-hard-drive-performance,1557.html

"16 MB cache is a waste of money if you have a cheaper 8 MB alternative. At the same time, 16 MB cache doesn't hurt either if the price is about the same..."

"Knowing that there are differences between members of a hard drive family you should now be able to make a more confident buying decision. Hard drives whose platter configurations don't utilize the maximum per-platter capacity show slightly quicker access times, because the operating range of the drive is somewhat reduced, while units that fully utilize the maximum capacities offer slightly better data transfer rates."

Am I going to look at platter amounts and compare if I want faster data transfer rates, or quicker access times--probably not. Does this article put my current dilemma into a little more focus? Yes, I think it does. I should by all means, buy the Caviar Green because of the extra 130 GB and $15 in savings, but I'm going to splurge a little on this project and treat myself to the Black.

And, that is my final answer. Please feel free to enlighten me how this was foolish, for marginal gain, and how I could have placed my OS on the Blue, gone for the Green for the Red, for the Yellow, then made things that much faster. I'm very curious.

-E

 

[skora]

Why the sudden demand for more capacity? 320 was enough on the original build. If performance is tops, the Black does bench better than the green. Not sure on this, but I think the 640s are a newer revision of the tech that produced the 750s. This is just conjecture since I remember reading it in an uncited post and can't cite anything myself and I hate doing that, because there's just as good a chance I'd be wrong as correct. But if you are realistic about capacity needs, do you need more than 640? Nice link on the HDD operations.

Congrats on running up to apprentice in 60 posts. That's some quality typing.

 

[massivepepper]

To be honest, I can and more than likely will make good use of the extra storage. I have actually been considering a 1TB external for a couple months now, considering my recent efforts to maintain at least 10 or so GB to have free--I have created about 20 DVDs in order to keep some space. This weekend I was reminded of how much I like the Jerry Garcia Band...and Phish is playing shows again...so, uh yeah...gimme the bytes.

Who measures the quality of my writing? I'm flattered that I've got so far so fast. Look out you regulars!

More storage means the Green Caviar is the right choice. There was a sneaking suspicion that this new computer wouldn't give the same zoom if the Black wasn't chose. There's no other explanation for it being chose other than a gut feeling, and that is something one learns to trust after a while; the reviews for it don't take away from it either. It may end up as some kind of deal-sealer or point of conversation should my skills escalate further as well as my interest in building computers.

Imagine this scenario...

[me] "So you should totally buy this computer, because I need the money to pay finance my vacation! I can't reschedule and you know you want it!"

[hypothetical buyer] "Um yeah, so what did you say the specs where on this thing again? Did you say a Black Caviar Western Diggie HDD? I heard those are pretty fast and are of a solid construction. Then again I heard the Velociraptors are pretty hot too."

[me] "Yeah, but the amount of GB per dollar goes way down for that kind of speed. Are you a hardcore gamer? An e-professional?"


[h.b.] "Well, I do have a degree in computer science, and I have a level 79 half-orc thief with psionic abilities that's pretty bad-ass on this MMORPG that I play...but no, I'm definitely interested in a computer for production as well as gaming."

[me] "Look dude, you gotta take this...Black Caviar!!!"

[h.b] "Well, yeah. This is a good price, and I am somewhat intrigued about how this drive will perform. Why don't you swing it by and I'll we can wrap this up."

See how that works? I'll still have the power to cancel the order through Sunday though. Hmmmm.....

 

[nukem419]

save up some money and buy 2 solid state drives with read speeds over 200 m/bs, put them in raid 0. Install windows 7 (it free right now! L33T) load your OS, games, and any static info (any thing that will not be re-writen often) onto the raid array, and use an old disk drive with high capacity for media. Your computer will boot 100 times faster, games won't hang up waiting for your HDD to load data, and your computer will seem really snappy all around with the fast load time for apps on your SSD's.

 

[massivepepper]

yup, though does my rig support Raid0? It's too late to renig on the Caviar Black though--itsa gonna be mine. The case I bought can hold up to...wait for it...yes...6 hard drives! Maybe I'll follow through with doing some Raid configuring and sell off the primo HDs for half of what I paid. I'm half wanting to put work/research into this build, and half wanting to just pay top dollar for the good stuff. I'm inclined to think that even the toppest dollar wouldn't get you the best-performing computer, no?

Ughh...can't wait for Thursday, for when I receive my new HDD.