Difficulty choosing a hard drive

[mysticfm]

I've been looking for a boot drive for my incipient WinXP system. My criteria has been as follows: at least 160GB of space, EIDE, ATA133, 8MB buffer, 7200rpm, good performance (although it doesn't have to be the absolute hottest thing out there) and low operating noise.

Until today I was thinking that my best choices were between the Samsung Spinpoint 160GB and the high-end Hitachi drives, with the former being quieter and the latter performing a little better. However, both of those assertions on my part seem to have fallen apart after more research ... the latest Samsung drives are apparently louder (made with a cheaper JVC motor?), whereas now I see that the newest EIDE Hitachi drive in the 160GB or larger range is apparently only ATA100.

Note that I don't want to buy a SATA drive this time around, since I've read the horror stories about convincing WinXP to talk to a SATA boot drive on a system with SATA RAID capability, like the MSI K8N Neo Platinum that I'll be using. And sorry, not really thinking of SCSI either ... my hardware budget is running a little tight already, and I've got a max of about $125 to spend on whatever drive I end up with.

I also don't think I want a WD Caviar drive, since I'm trying to make this new PC a little quieter to accomodate some of the music work I do, and I know firsthand that the Caviar drives are far from quiet (trying to listen carefully to music over the WD drive I've got right now is not easy). And I most definitely don't want a Maxtor, not after hearing about the failure rate. And the speed of Seagates just isn't competitive, from what I've read (I do also want at least fairly good performance in addition to quiet operation).

So I feel like I've about run out of options here, and hence would like some advice if possible, whether that advice is to consider other drives that I've overlooked, or advice on which of my "standards" is best/easiest to compromise.

 

[mrwxyz]

the seagate drives are very quiet and have good performance as well, though not as good as the hitachi. they are very reliable, or have been for me atleast. and they are available in the eide flavor.

i havnt really heard anything about samsung and its reliability....

 

[EeyoreX]

If the only reason you are staying away from the Hitachi drive is that it is ATA100, that, IMHO. is a bad reason. No hard drive available today takes advantage of the speed that ATA133 "promises" so it is completely irrelevent. The only drive to come "close" is the newest Raptor, and that generally maxes out at around 65MB/s. That is a far, afar, cry from the "promissed" speeds of 133MB/s.

Addressing your other issues, I have no horror story with my SATA drive being bootable. Worked flawlessly on the first atttemp. Again, the speed isn't really there anyhow, so that's not a big deal at this point. I am not sure where you get your data on the failure rates of Maxtor drives, but I can say I have 6 of them currently, and none have even hiccuped. Hard drives are all fairly reliable, and outside "line problems" (ie; IBM Deathstar of whatever model #) you will have good luck for the most part.

Anyhow, again, if ATA100 is holding you back then you should just get past what that silly number says. It is a largely meaningless indication of performance, as the physical drive can't even come close to attaining those levels.

\Dan

 

[Erehwon]

Originally posted by: mysticfm
I've been looking for a boot drive for my incipient WinXP system. My criteria has been as follows: at least 160GB of space, EIDE, ATA133, 8MB buffer, 7200rpm, good performance (although it doesn't have to be the absolute hottest thing out there) and low operating noise.

Until today I was thinking that my best choices were between the Samsung Spinpoint 160GB and the high-end Hitachi drives, with the former being quieter and the latter performing a little better. However, both of those assertions on my part seem to have fallen apart after more research ... the latest Samsung drives are apparently louder (made with a cheaper JVC motor?), whereas now I see that the newest EIDE Hitachi drive in the 160GB or larger range is apparently only ATA100.

Note that I don't want to buy a SATA drive this time around, since I've read the horror stories about convincing WinXP to talk to a SATA boot drive on a system with SATA RAID capability, like the MSI K8N Neo Platinum that I'll be using. And sorry, not really thinking of SCSI either ... my hardware budget is running a little tight already, and I've got a max of about $125 to spend on whatever drive I end up with.

I also don't think I want a WD Caviar drive, since I'm trying to make this new PC a little quieter to accomodate some of the music work I do, and I know firsthand that the Caviar drives are far from quiet (trying to listen carefully to music over the WD drive I've got right now is not easy). And I most definitely don't want a Maxtor, not after hearing about the failure rate. And the speed of Seagates just isn't competitive, from what I've read (I do also want at least fairly good performance in addition to quiet operation).

So I feel like I've about run out of options here, and hence would like some advice if possible, whether that advice is to consider other drives that I've overlooked, or advice on which of my "standards" is best/easiest to compromise.

I've put my first SATA drive in ever and it was a snap. I'm running the 120GB 7200RPM 8MB buffer seagate ( http://www.seagate.com/cda/products/discsales/marketing/detail/0,1081,586,00.html ). It's a great drive for the money and was super easy to setup. I know other people have had horror stories with SATA but I for one didn't have any issues like I thought I would. Good luck and stick with Seagate.... EIDE or SATA you can't go wrong

 

[JSSheridan]

I just got the SATA version of Samsung's 160GB drive, and it didn't percieveable increase the noise my system makes. Peace.

 

[Bar81]

Even with the cheaper JVC motors the Samsung P80s are still the quietest drives out there and they don't have the annoying maintenance seek noises of the Hitachi. And if the only reason you're not going SATA is because of some fear then you need to rethink that. It's exceptionally easy to set use a SATA drive as a boot drive. In my experience with the nForce3-250 boards you don't even need a driver disk for the windows install.

 

[mysticfm]

Originally posted by: Bar81
... if the only reason you're not going SATA is because of some fear then you need to rethink that. It's exceptionally easy to set use a SATA drive as a boot drive. In my experience with the nForce3-250 boards you don't even need a driver disk for the windows install.

Really? That was the main thing that had me inclined to avoid SATA (namely, the idea of needing to give WinXP special drivers right up front to be able to work with the drive at all). What's more, I also have a friend who found Ghost to be useless for restoring a SATA drive ... although I don't plan to use Ghost myself, it still gave me pause. If I could at least verify that a SATA drive would be plug & play with the MSI K8N Neo Platinum and WinXP Pro SP1 and not need a floppy driver disk during the XP install, I think I'd go straight to SATA without a 2nd thought.

More generally, I can see from this thread that perhaps in my quest to build a great system, I've crossed over the line between "being careful" and "nitpicking". Maybe I just need to pick a drive and go with it. I just wish I could find someplace where I can easily compare the specific drives I am interested in ... the "shootout" reviews never seem to include more than one of the drives I've been looking at, so it's been hard for me to say what the performance and/or noise of a Samsung 160GB SP1614N is compared to a Seagate 160GB ST3160023A or a Hitachi 160GB HDS722516VLAT80.

I'm probably going to make the final decision and order one drive or another before the end of the day, so if anyone else can chime in with their experience with configuring WinXP on a SATA drive and the MSI K8N Neo Platinum board (or any MB that has the nForce3-250Gb chipset, I suppose), it would be of great help.

 

[jacktesterson]

ATA133 vs ATA100 is identical to comparing USB Mice vs PS/2....it doesnt really matter

 

[Erehwon]

You can do SATA it's not tought. And if you need a floppy so what? Put one in when it asks for it =) Ya know on the windows build when it asks you if you need any thrid party drivers? Again up to you, but to scare yourself out of a SATA cause your worried about it not working. Think of it as a new thing to learn. Also go check out the website for your motherboard, see what they have for drivers for sata and what they say todo, if anything.

 

[memories2002]

i was gonna pick myself up one of those maxtor ata133 160gb 7200rpm 8mb for 99$ at monarch...should i reconsider!?

 

[JSSheridan]

Originally posted by: mysticfm
I just wish I could find someplace where I can easily compare the specific drives I am interested in ... the "shootout" reviews never seem to include more than one of the drives I've been looking at, so it's been hard for me to say what the performance and/or noise of a Samsung 160GB SP1614N is compared to a Seagate 160GB ST3160023A or a Hitachi 160GB HDS722516VLAT80.

Looked at
Storagereview.com?

 

[mysticfm]

Originally posted by: JSSheridan
Looked at Storagereview.com?

I certainly have. For example, they have no data on the Hitachi mentioned above (and I don't recall if they even covered the Seagate I mentioned). It's too bad, because otherwise the ability to do head-to-head comparisons of hard drives at that site is unmatched.

 

[Bar81]

Originally posted by: mysticfm

Originally posted by: JSSheridan
Looked at Storagereview.com?

I certainly have. For example, they have no data on the Hitachi mentioned above (and I don't recall if they even covered the Seagate I mentioned). It's too bad, because otherwise the ability to do head-to-head comparisons of hard drives at that site is unmatched.

http://www.storagereview.com/articles/200310/20031007HDS722525VLSA80_1.html

 

[robcy]

The newest Samsung drives are still pretty. We just got 2 160 GB, and they are very quiet. Actually I can not tell the difference between the new Samsungs, and the old Samsungs we are using.

You will see no difference in performance or anywhere else between ATA100 and ATA133, These drives you are inquiring about max out in the 50mb/s range which is well below the ATA max.

SATA boot drives are a snap to install and run

I personally own a sh&t load of Maxtor drives, and not had a single problem. Unlike the IBM's, and WD's I have owned.

Yes, WD Caviar drives are loud.

I'd say go with the Samsung. Happy hunting?s

 

[mysticfm]

Originally posted by: robcy
I'd say go with the Samsung. Happy hunting?s

That's what I in fact decided to do earlier this afternoon.

Thanks to everyone for your advice.