Best Complement to WD Raptor 150GB 10,000RPM

[nlk10010]

Hi:

I have an "older" computer (Velocity Micro) that I purchased at the end of 2007. It is equipped with two WD Raptor 150GB 10,000RPM SATA/150 disks (16MB Cache). I find that I am running out of disk space and am looking to add a third HD. It's just that I'm not too familiar with controllers/SATA etc. and was wondering what good, fast disk would work with this setup. Looking for at least 500GB.

Thanks for any pointers.

 

[rolli59]

Any 500GB SATA 3GB or better would work as a storage drive. Bare in mind that 5400 rpm drives are slower than 7200rpm.

 

[nlk10010]

Any 500GB SATA 3GB or better would work as a storage drive. Bare in mind that 5400 rpm drives are slower than 7200rpm.

Understood. However, I sort of wanted the fastest drive I could get (all else equal): would an arbitrary 7200 or 10000 drive (e.g. VelociRaptor) work as well or do I have to worry about my SATA controller?

Thanks very much for the post.

 

[rolli59]

What are your SATA controllers SATA 150 or SATA 3GB? (2007 most things were SATA 3GB)

 

[nlk10010]

What are your SATA controllers SATA 150 or SATA 3GB? (2007 most things were SATA 3GB)

That is the $64,000 question.

I had to contact VM to get the build order; they don't have a separate controller section but under storage I have two of these:

"150GB Western Digital Raptor 10,000rpm SATA/150, 16MB Cache, NCQ
(Incredible Performance!) (+$210.00)"

My inference from the term "SATA/150" is that I have, indeed, SATA/150; however, if there is a more definitive way to determine my controller (either through the computer itself or by looking at the hardware) then I'll do it. My suspicion is that the controller is on the MB:

"Genuine Intel® G33 mATX Motherboard with DDR2, PCI Express, 1333MHz FSB
DG33BU"

but I can't be sure.

Again, I appreciate the help.

 

[rolli59]

According to this you have 3GB SATA II! It should be compatible with every drive on the market even SATA6Gb that are backwards compatible. http://www.intel.com/assets/pdf/prodbrief/317311.pdf and here is the board itself http://downloadmirror.intel.com/15063/eng/DG33BU_ProductGuide01_English.pdf

 

[nlk10010]

Best answer selected by nlk10010.

 

[nlk10010]

According to this you have 3GB SATA II! It should be compatible with every drive on the market even SATA6Gb that are backwards compatible. http://www.intel.com/assets/pdf/prodbrief/317311.pdf and here is the board itself http://downloadmirror.intel.com/15063/eng/DG33BU_ProductGuide01_English.pdf

I was thinking of getting a new computer (C#-VisualStudio-MVC development) but the VM still looks like new and seems to work fine. So I'll probably end up adding a drive, throwing an additional 4MB of memory in there and installing 64-Bit Windows. Considering a new machine is $600-700 that's probably a decent move.

I appreciate you taking the time to do the research and help me out.