OK to use laptop hard drives in a desktop build?

[g-unit1111]

In my HTPC setup - the case I purchased was incredibly tight to work with and manipulating hard drives was more than a bit of a hassle (I had to remove the RAM, remove the hard drive cage, reset the hard drive cage, and reset the RAM). So now I'm thinking that instead of using one 2TB hard drive, I'm thinking of going with 2 x 750GB Samsung Spinpoint M8 laptop drives and using them in a RAID 0 or RAID 1 configuration for enabling the Windows DVR feature. This way it'll use far less power (I'm running a Corsair Builder Series CX430) and generate far less heat as a result So can this be done with an adapter or two, or should I stick with getting the 2TB hard drive?

 

[jmsellars1]

Yes as far as I know the only difference is physical size and price.

 

[boiler1990]

Laptop drives are considerable more expensive and a bit slower, but they still use the standard SATA power/data cables. I've used several in my desktop for data transfers on occasion.

 

[beenthere]

2.5" drives are much slower then 3.5" drives but yes you can use them.

 

[g-unit1111]

2.5" drives are much slower then 3.5" drives but yes you can use them.

Well the question is could I or should I? I'm also thinking an external networked 2TB hard drive is the way to go.

 

[WR2]

instead of using one 2TB hard drive, thinking of going with 2 x 750GB Samsung Spinpoint M8 laptop drives ....
This way it'll use far less power (I'm running a Corsair Builder Series CX430) and generate far less heat as a result

I'm not sure what you consider far less power but I think it's like a 2watt difference during read/write ops. Idle power difference is a bit larger @ 3.5watts (1x 2TB SAMSUNG EcoGreen F4)
I think the waste heat difference would be very small as well.
IMO the higher cost vs lower energy consumption of the 2x M8s doesn't work in your favor.

 

[boiler1990]

I'm assuming you have a drive in the system, otherwise you can't do anything with a networked drive.

Even a 2.5" 7200RPM drive wouldn't be as fast as a desktop drive. What kind of drives can you fit?

 

[g-unit1111]

I'm assuming you have a drive in the system, otherwise you can't do anything with a networked drive.

Even a 2.5" 7200RPM drive wouldn't be as fast as a desktop drive. What kind of drives can you fit?

This is the case I have:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811121010

Well the drive bays in my case are as follows:

3 x 3.5" bays - 1 is taken up by flash memory reader, 1 is taken up by primary HD (320GB 7200 RPM Seagate Barracuda XT)
3 x 5.25" bays - 1 is taken up by optical drive (Pioneer BDR-203) and the other two are unoccupied

But like I said - it was an incredibly tight fit for the primary HD alone, that's what got me thinking about laptop hard drives. I could run all the media off the external HD I have, but I mainly keep that for backup purposes. I'm thinking of doing the drive configuration as 2 x Samsung Spinpoint M8 drives in RAID 0 or RAID 1. The motherboard I'm using is Intel D975XBX2 which is RAID ready and has I think either 4 or 6 SATA-II ports.

I'm not sure what you consider far less power but I think it's like a 2watt difference during read/write ops. Idle power difference is a bit larger @ 3.5watts (1x 2TB SAMSUNG EcoGreen F4)
I think the waste heat difference would be very small as well.
IMO the higher cost vs lower energy consumption of the 2x M8s doesn't work in your favor.

The cost v. energy factor isn't my biggest concern. I'm running the drives off a Corsair Builder Series CX430 - and it has plenty of cables to be able to plug HDs in. I'm concerned with whether or not the drives will fit in my case.

 

[JAGDrummer]

I was also wondering the same. I'm setting up a HTPC and have a 3.5" 40GB 5400rpm and a 2.5" 120GB 5400 rpm hard drive laying around. I would obviously prefer to use the 120GB HDD but you're saying it will be slower even with the same RPM? Significantly? Also, it doesn't matter that all the internal slots in the case are 3.5"?

 

[boiler1990]

Well, to some degree it depends on the drive; 3.5" drives tend to have higher platter densities than 2.5" drives, which makes them faster.

You'll need an adapter to put a 2.5" drive in a 3.5" drive bay, because the 2.5" is significantly smaller than the 3.5" drive.

 

[boiler1990]

You could get an adapter to put 2x3.5" drives in a 5.25" bay, and get the F3s or F4s and run them in RAID. They'd both be faster than the M8s.

EDIT: Something along these lines: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999141

 

[JAGDrummer]

Well, to some degree it depends on the drive; 3.5" drives tend to have higher platter densities than 2.5" drives, which makes them faster.

You'll need an adapter to put a 2.5" drive in a 3.5" drive bay, because the 2.5" is significantly smaller than the 3.5" drive.

Thanks for the info.

 

[lozotheatheist]

In my HTPC setup - the case I purchased was incredibly tight to work with and manipulating hard drives was more than a bit of a hassle (I had to remove the RAM, remove the hard drive cage, reset the hard drive cage, and reset the RAM). So now I'm thinking that instead of using one 2TB hard drive, I'm thinking of going with 2 x 750GB Samsung Spinpoint M8 laptop drives and using them in a RAID 0 or RAID 1 configuration for enabling the Windows DVR feature. This way it'll use far less power (I'm running a Corsair Builder Series CX430) and generate far less heat as a result So can this be done with an adapter or two, or should I stick with getting the 2TB hard drive?

I would go with Standard hard drives for a few reasons.

Desktop hard drives:
-Cheaper
-Faster
-Bigger [in my mind better ]
-More reliable

Laptop harddrives:
-Much slower
-Much more expensive
-Smaller
-Easier to get damaged

 

[g-unit1111]

You could get an adapter to put 2x3.5" drives in a 5.25" bay, and get the F3s or F4s and run them in RAID. They'd both be faster than the M8s.

EDIT: Something along these lines: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999141

I'm not sure that would fit in my case. The bottom-most 5.25" drive bay is actually blocked by the motherboard. I think I'll wind up getting a 3.5" drive and a 5.25" adapter - that seems to be the best way to do it.

I think I've found the solution - would something like this work? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116986