Caviar Blacks, F3s, RE4s...?

[Aleckazee]

I'm deciding between getting the following configurations:

OCZ Vertex 2 60GB
x2 WD Caviar Black 500GB (RAID 0)

OCZ Vertex 2 60GB
x2 Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB (RAID 0)

or

x2 WD RE4 500GB (RAID 0)


From what I have read in reviews, the Caviar Black is faster than the Spinpoint. And I have had good experience with WD (can't say much for samsung). I am also a bit of a fan of SSDs. I have one now in my laptop and I can't even compare it to a HDD in other computers I've had.

However, the Samsung is quite a lot cheaper so I could save some money there.

Finally, I have the option of buying x2 RE4's and put them in RAID 0, since they're good for RAID configs and fast from what I have read. And save even more money that way.

So the question here is, are the Caviar Blacks worth it? I was planning on having all my main programs and OS on the SSD and the HDDs for storage and gaming (I would install Steam on them).

So how much of a performance difference would I see between RAID Blacks, F3s and x2 RE4s?

 

[MRFS]

2 x WD1002FAEX in OS software RAID 0 measured here:

2 x WD5003ABYX in RAID 0 measured here:

1 x WD5003ABYX in JBOD measured here:

1 x WD2003FYYS in JBOD measured here:

The WD5003ABYX is a fabulous rotating HDD:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136697&cm_re=wd5003abyx-_-22-136-697-_-Product



MRFS

 

[Aleckazee]

Best answer selected by aleckazee.

 

[cat1092]

I just bought the 500GB WD RE4 WD5003ABYX @Newegg for $79.99 with promo code, it's a solid HDD for the price. Many 64MB cache HDD's, even the Caviar Black, vibrates. The WD5003ABYX doesn't vibrate, & doesn't run hot either.

Though it's classified as a 24/7 HDD for server use, with a 1.2 million hour life span, it also is a great desktop HDD. On my PC, it performs better than the 1TB WD1001FALS Caviar Black.

The main reason that I went with this HDD was it's specs & intended use. I figured if it can withstand 24/7, 365 day usage, it can handle my 4 hours a day with ease. Plus it has a 5 year warranty, something that's scarce these days. And typically, 1TB+ HDD's are better suited for storage than OS installs, though some may dispute this.

Cat