Which HD to buy?

FelipeRRM

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Jul 30, 2009
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First of all here is my rig: Core i7 920 | Gigabyte X58A-UD3R | OCZ Platinum 3x2GB DDR3 1600Mhz | GTX460 + for 280 PhysX | Patriot Warp V2 SSD 32GB for OS | WD VelociRaptor 300GB GLFS | Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro | Corsair HX1000 | CM-690 w/ Window + 7 Fans CM 90CFM



Thing is: I've run out of storage space :pfff:
I'm suffering alot with the lack of space...

And as I've got some money recently, I'm willing to buy a new HD mainly for my Steam Games. Therefore I need a HUGE HD, as I have a lot of games :D
I want it to be fast, as I've got used to the SSD and VelociRaptor combo, and they are fast. I hate when games take long to load and programs let me take a nap before they open. I was thinking of a 1TB WD Caviar Black, which costs like 170 dollars where I live (yes, things are a little more expensive here in Brazil, and by a little a say arround twice the price). But some people told me that a 2TB Green is better than the Black, as it has more data density... now I am in doubt :sarcastic:

My intention is to:

Use ONLY the OS in the 32GB SSD, and move Program Files, and all user data (like my documents, and temporary files) to the VelociRaptor (this is what I do nowadays, it is great, but it is a little tricky to do, it has to be done during the first boot after formating, and it is really faster than the default way. Some people might think it is the same as don't chaning it and just install the new prorams to the other driver, but trully, it is better to have the temporary files in some other drive). The new driver, as I told, will be mainly for games.


Thank you people! :bounce:
 

FelipeRRM

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I just don't understand: How do you people reccomend me 5400rpm drives? Aren't they slow?


Unfurtunately SSD for my games is out of question. I plan to change mine (which is one of the slowests) for a better one in the future, but I"ll keep only the OS there. I have a lot of games, and it is impossible to put them in a SSD. I would have to spend thousands of dollars for it...
 
For what I've seen , a 2TB HDD @ 7200rpm is twice the price of a 5900rpm HDD. Sorry, I stated 5400rpm, when I meant 5900rpm.

Example: Seagate XT 2TB 7,200 RPM SATA III - $159.99

Most drives I've seen over 1.5TB are 5900rpm. I think with the platter size and data compression, larger HDD are (almost) as fast as a small 7200rpm drive. I could be mistaken. I have both, but haven't bechmarked them, yet.

BTW: Don't spend the extra money to get a SATA III 6.0Gbps HDD. There are no faster than SATA II 3.0Gpbs drives. SATA III is really for a SSD.

The reason I mention 1-2TB HDD, is the price difference between 500GB and 1TB ain't that much, and worth it.

Example: Samsung F3 Spinpoint 500GB 7200rpm OEM drive - $49.99
 

FelipeRRM

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I think I'll go with a 2TB WD Caviar Black. It is expensive, but it's 7200rpm, has 64mb buffer and SATA 3. It should be much faster than the 5900 RPM, and faster than the 1TB version also. The bad thing is that I will not be able to make a RAID of it in the future, as WD removed the error fix thing in those drives, which are essential for RAID =/