Buying retired WD Velociraptors... Smart or foolish?

[iluvdeal]

I would have just saved up for SSDs instead. Buying used HDDs isn't worth the hassle IMO, especially when they fail.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I would never take chance of buying used hard drives off the bay do to chance of poor shipping.
Don't most hd collect some dirt from use and doesn't that dirt have a chance of doing damage when the drives are moved around like in shipping.

He's talking about the "dust filter". Most HDDs aren't sealed air-tight (except for the new Helium-filled HDDs). So they "breathe". There's a filter in the intake air path, that gets more caked with dust from use.

I've heard from experienced / ancient techs, not to re-align or move those old drives, if they are still running, if the computer needs service, because some of that caked-on dust could fall out into the drive, and cause a head crash.

So he's not wrong.

 

[Matt_Stevens]

I think the votes pretty much tally up against my buying the old raptors. :$

All interesting perspectives. I would very much LOVE to spend more than my budget, but I am not the U.S. Government so I have to spend only what I have. Meanwhile I continue to save some mad money.

The 150gb raptor is here and testing out just fine. It's faster than any of my older drives and will be perfect for an OS drive when I stick it in my sister's shitty Compaq Presario from a million years ago.

As for my own PC... I am going to experiment with a RAID 0 using two of the used 300gb Velociraptors, while looking at buying a 7200rpm HDD to compliment them. But which one? I haven't yet decided. WD Black 1tb? WD Blue 1tb and get the same speed?

I wouldn't touch gohardrive.com outside of eBay, where you could at least have some security. The feedback and reviews are BAD!

And hey, what about RAID Zeroing my two 1tb Samsung Spinpoints? They have been in a RAID 1 since I bought them. Those drives were considered very fast 7200rpm hdd's back when I bought them and after checking them out with HD Tune Pro they are 100% tip-top so... Maybe I can speed up my Premiere Pro video playback if I RAID 0 them. I have two different backups so the RAID 1 is really kind of redundant.

 

[LTC8K6]

But you can buy NOS (new old stock) 2TB enterprise drives for $65 each, with free shipping, and from a more reliable manufacturer: http://www.goharddrive.com/HITACHI-2TB-7200RPM-64MB-SATA3-Hard-Drive-p/g01-0728.htm

A new WD Blue has a warranty twice as long.

Black is more money, but has a 5 year warranty.

 

[freeskier93]

Price. Price price price. $15 is cheap. $50 to $60 for a single SSD for a sh!tty old Compaq isn't cheap. I only purchased the 150/160gb drives because they were so completely crazily inexpensive.

As for file storage, one single SSD around 300GB would cost what I paid for ALL of the drives I mentioned. That has to be part of the equation.

So maybe I should have been more clear in my original post but pricing is part of this. Basically I had around $150 of mad money and did what I thought could get me a lot with it. In the end i might have been silly, but it's just $150.

Remember, my current storage drives are all 4+ years old so not exactly modern marvels.

I still have one more hard drive to purchase. I need something super fast for my main system (not SSD!) at a price point of $140 or below.

I guess what's expensive is a matter of perception but I still consider $60 cheap. $15 vs $60 is inconsequential in my mind given the dramatic difference in performance. I recently had to set up a media server with a 7200 RPM drive and I was close to chucking the damn thing out the window, you couldn't PAY ME to use a spinning drive for anything but large data storage.

 

[Auric]

The family member's old systems would see real benefit from used X-25M SSD 80GB @ $30 shipped. The old HDD could be used for backup and/or media storage.

 

[bigboxes]

Looking at backblaze's stats on HDs (https://www.backblaze.com/blog/best-hard-drive/ ), if you were looking for a new unit, I would go with HGST, Toshiba, WD*, and I would stay away from seagate versions lower than 4TB.

Sorry, I have 1.5TB, 2TB and 4TB Seagate drives doing well. I went with the NAS version of the 4TB drive (I think I have three of them). I do have 4TB of their cheapest desktop model (I have it in an external enclosure just for backups). I know that there were issues with the 3TB Seagates, but was there many issues with any of the other models? My last drive I bought was a 4TB HGST NAS drive.

 

[MongGrel]

GL.

 

[Elixer]

Sorry, I have 1.5TB, 2TB and 4TB Seagate drives doing well. I went with the NAS version of the 4TB drive (I think I have three of them). I do have 4TB of their cheapest desktop model (I have it in an external enclosure just for backups). I know that there were issues with the 3TB Seagates, but was there many issues with any of the other models? My last drive I bought was a 4TB HGST NAS drive.

Yes, and?
I got a stack of failed seagates sitting right here... but, as their (backblaze) results show, and what the recovery guys say, I don't recommend seagates, unless you find a very, very good deal on them.

 

[bigboxes]

Yes, and?
I got a stack of failed seagates sitting right here... but, as their (backblaze) results show, and what the recovery guys say, I don't recommend seagates, unless you find a very, very good deal on them.

Well, I guess I'm not in your sample group. No problems here with recent Seagate drives. Gotta crapload of them and not one issue that you (obviously) experienced.

 

[MongGrel]

Well, I guess I'm not in your sample group. No problems here with recent Seagate drives. Gotta crapload of them and not one issue that you (obviously) experienced.

Like I said, GL.

 

[Matt_Stevens]

Just an update. I installed one of the 150gb Raptors in dad's old as dirt Compaq Presario. Holy shit did it speed the heck up. Windows 7, just 4gb of RAM but it's so much faster now. Is it as fast as modern systems or an SSD? No, of course not. But it's now usable.

I have all four 300gb Raptors here and am testing the two that arrived today. So far they seem fine.

I've also bought the two 1TB Velociraptors I mentioned in a prior post. They each have 4.5 years left on the warranties. Go ahead, rip into me. But I am going t RAID 0 them and see how it goes. If they disappoint, I'll stick them on eBay.

Next year I'm sure SSD's will be even cheaper and I can snag a couple 500gb drives. And at the end of this year I will likely replace my basic storage drives with WD Blues.

 

[B-Riz]

Just an update. I installed one of the 150gb Raptors in dad's old as dirt Compaq Presario. Holy shit did it speed the heck up. Windows 7, just 4gb of RAM but it's so much faster now. Is it as fast as modern systems or an SSD? No, of course not. But it's now usable.

I have all four 300gb Raptors here and am testing the two that arrived today. So far they seem fine.

I've also bought the two 1TB Velociraptors I mentioned in a prior post. They each have 4.5 years left on the warranties. Go ahead, rip into me. But I am going t RAID 0 them and see how it goes. If they disappoint, I'll stick them on eBay.

Next year I'm sure SSD's will be even cheaper and I can snag a couple 500gb drives. And at the end of this year I will likely replace my basic storage drives with WD Blues.

Don't let the haters get to you.

VelociRaptors are bada$$ drives, regardless of used status or not.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5729/western-digital-velociraptor-1tb-wd1000dhtz-review/5

As long as the eBay sellers have return option for DOA drives, buy away.

These are overbuilt server drives in reality, they will be fine in desktop usage scenarios.

I was hoping to score 3 x WD1000DHTZ this year for my Steam RAID 0 array, but the eBay supply seems to have greatly diminished.

I ended up with 4 x Seagate 7200.14 3 TB drives, it is fast.

I have also run the Samsung 1 TB F1's in RAID 0, no issues.

My 36.4 GB original Raptor still works like new, and my 300GB is the main drive in a secondary computer, no complaints with its performance.

I also use HDD Guardian as a SMART tool, is very handy.

https://hddguardian.codeplex.com/

 

[Matt_Stevens]

Don't let the haters get to you.

VelociRaptors are bada$$ drives, regardless of used status or not.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5729/western-digital-velociraptor-1tb-wd1000dhtz-review/5

As long as the eBay sellers have return option for DOA drives, buy away.

These are overbuilt server drives in reality, they will be fine in desktop usage scenarios.

I was hoping to score 3 x WD1000DHTZ this year for my Steam RAID 0 array, but the eBay supply seems to have greatly diminished.

I have also run the Samsung 1 TB F1's in RAID 0, no issues.

I also use HDD Guardian as a SMART tool, is very handy.

https://hddguardian.codeplex.com/

The seller I snagged the two 1TB Raptors from has a no DOA policy (and eBay would make any seller accept a DOA anyway).

So far the two 300gb Raptors in a RAID 0 seem super fast in testing via Premiere Pro (using them as a source drive). I can play DSLR video with no stuttering. Normally I had to render DSLR to get smooth playback. No longer.

What I will end up doing is using the 300GB raptors in a RAID 0 as my Scratch disc and the 1TB Raptors in a RAID 0 for the project files, which will allow me to edit at full rez instead of shitty 1/2 rez.

These drives do not seem loud to me. If my room's AC is off and the system fans are very low I can sometimes hear them, so noise has proven not to be an issue.

Oh and thanks for the HDD Guardian link. I'm going to give it a try.

 

[B-Riz]

The seller I snagged the two 1TB Raptors from has a no DOA policy (and eBay would make any seller accept a DOA anyway).

So far the two 300gb Raptors in a RAID 0 seem super fast in testing via Premiere Pro (using them as a source drive). I can play DSLR video with no stuttering. Normally I had to render DSLR to get smooth playback. No longer.

What I will end up doing is using the 300GB raptors in a RAID 0 as my Scratch disc and the 1TB Raptors in a RAID 0 for the project files, which will allow me to edit at full rez instead of shitty 1/2 rez.

These drives do not seem loud to me. If my room's AC is off and the system fans are very low I can sometimes hear them, so noise has proven not to be an issue.

Oh and thanks for the HDD Guardian link. I'm going to give it a try.

Nice, they make great fast cheap storage, and are the best option besides SSD's and SAS for video work.

If you want some new ones, Go Hard Drive has 'em. I have ordered stuff from them, never had an issue; one disk died within return time and it was replaced no argument.

http://www.goharddrive.com/VelociRaptor-10000RPM-Hard-Drive-s/220.htm

 

[sm625]

I used to buy them. I think they're pretty much obsolete now.

 

[nenforcer]

Wow I'm with you Matt Stevens - I'm upgrading all of my families older system's (Core 2 Duo, AMD Phenom ][ X4) to the 250GB versions with 64MB cache for Windows 10.

They are currently using the 80GB SATA 2 Velociraptors which are about full from Windows 7.

I also still have my very first Velociraptor - a 150GB SATA 1 version cranking along just fine.

Although I've upgraded my computers to SSD for the boot drive - I have a 1TB Velociraptor SATA 3 as the STEAM drive.

These things are built like tanks and should last close to 10 years. I know SSD are faster but I'm not sure the have the proven longevity of a mechanical hard disk yet.

I'm also on a budget - my family members are not techies and don't have to have the latest and greatest and I can get 250GB SATA 3 Velociraptors for around $50 new and shipped from feeBay.

These Velociraptors are really perfected technology - it's sad to see them disappearing from the market which is why I'm stocking up on them.

 

[Soulkeeper]

I came across this article from sometime back and thought of this thread
http://www.legitreviews.com/250-hard-drives-will-make-one-epic-f1-car_127581
many Velociraptor parts were used in it's construction

 

[cbn]

If you want some new ones, Go Hard Drive has 'em. I have ordered stuff from them, never had an issue; one disk died within return time and it was replaced no argument.

http://www.goharddrive.com/VelociRaptor-10000RPM-Hard-Drive-s/220.htm

1TB for $89.99 (although as the link says these are white label, EDIT: This listing also doesn't have new in the title.)

And even with its lower density platters (334 GB) from 2012 it still got 205 MB/s sequental transfer according to the following review:

http://www.storagereview.com/western_digital_velociraptor_1tb_review

 

[cbn]

Price. Price price price. $15 is cheap. $50 to $60 for a single SSD for a sh!tty old Compaq isn't cheap. I only purchased the 150/160gb drives because they were so completely crazily inexpensive.

At current prices, a used 160GB Raptor from 2011 is about the same price as the typical NOS 160GB 7200 rpm drive.

But the 160GB Raptors from 2011 have better platter density (200GB 2.5" platter vs. 160GB 3.5" platter for the typical NOS 7200 rpm drive) and more cache (32MB vs 8MB).

The 160GB raptors from 2008 have a lower spec (160GB 2.5" platter and 16MB cache) than the 2011 160GB Raptors (200GB 2.5" platter and 32MB cache), but it is still better than the typical NOS 160GB 7200 rpm drive (160GB 3.5" platter and 8MB cache).

Now whether this makes a difference in the typical operation of a low spec desktop machine is something I think would be interesting to find out.

Also keep in mind that some 160GB 7200rpm drives are based on short stroking a larger platter (up to 500GB in some cases). However, all the drives I have seen based on short stroking a larger platter still have 8MB cache.

P.S. Raptor model numbers, specs and date introduced can be found here--> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Digital_Raptor#Models_2)

 

[bradly1101]

I still have four old 74GB ones. They are very noisy now and sitting in a box, but originally they were great in a single RAID0 array.

 

[sdifox]

Not a good idea.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Bad idea just get an ssd it will be better in every way except it will cost slightly more.

 

[cbn]

Price. Price price price. $15 is cheap. $50 to $60 for a single SSD for a sh!tty old Compaq isn't cheap. I only purchased the 150/160gb drives because they were so completely crazily inexpensive.

At current prices, a used 160GB Raptor from 2011 is about the same price as the typical NOS 160GB 7200 rpm drive.

But the 160GB Raptors from 2011 have better platter density (200GB 2.5" platter vs. 160GB 3.5" platter for the typical NOS 7200 rpm drive) and more cache (32MB vs 8MB).

The 160GB raptors from 2008 have a lower spec (160GB 2.5" platter and 16MB cache) than the 2011 160GB Raptors (200GB 2.5" platter and 32MB cache), but it is still better than the typical NOS 160GB 7200 rpm drive (160GB 3.5" platter and 8MB cache).

Now whether this makes a difference in the typical operation of a low spec desktop machine is something I think would be interesting to find out.

Also keep in mind that some 160GB 7200rpm drives are based on short stroking a larger platter (up to 500GB in some cases). However, all the drives I have seen based on short stroking a larger platter still have 8MB cache.

P.S. Raptor model numbers, specs and date introduced can be found here--> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Digital_Raptor#Models_2)

On ebay, Go hard drive has listings for New white label 10,000 rpm drives (which look identical to fourth generation Raptors (introduced 2008) with the exception of the label and 2.5" to 3.5" adapter).

150GB with 16MB cache: $19.99 (or best offer) free shipping
120GB with 16MB cache: $14.95 (or best offer) free shipping

That is pretty cheap, in the ballpark of various NOS lower capacity 7200rpm drives.

 

[StrangerGuy]

I remember being really excited about the 1st gen raptors.
Something happened with the subsequent gens where they just couldn't keep up with their desktop lines.
The smaller platters, lower density and longer validation times just kept them from keeping pace on both performance and size.

IIRC they weren't even compelling against bog standard 7200 RPMers in it's heyday in real world usage, let alone now.