Question for Raptor owners

[Mloot]

I'm looking at doing a mobo/CPU/PSU swap in the next few days and I've been kicking around the idea of getting either a 36gb or 74gb Raptor to act as my boot and applications drive. Now, I know the benchmarks say Raptors are faster than your normal 7.2K rpm HDD, but I wanted to know if going from a normal HDD to a Raptor as your boot drive makes your rig feel faster and more responsive overall.

I would appreciate any input you guys could give me. TIA.

 

[PurdueRy]

I'll start you out with a no

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=27&threadid=1889540&enterthread=y

 

[fyleow]

..

 

[theLION]

Originally posted by: PurdueRy
I'll start you out with a no

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=27&threadid=1889540&enterthread=y

no noticeable difference whatsoever

 

[Mucker]

If you have a motherboard that supports SATA II and Raid 0, two of these are cheap but wickedly fast: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822145082

Great price too. I have 2 identical machines, one with a 74GB Raptor, the other with these Hitachi's in Raid 0, and honestly, the Hitachi's feel a bit quicker to me....

 

[Makaveli]

I own a raptor aswell, as yes I noticed the system feel more responsive, during alot of IO traffic than regular 7200 RPM drives.

 

[Imyourzero]

Yep, there is a difference but it's not night and day. It sure is expensive per MB/GB but if you have the means, it's a nice extra to have. I wouldn't consider it the most drastic difference in performance, but there is a difference.

 

[Mucker]

HDTach:

Hitachi's (2x80GB), SATA 2, Raid 0...$96: http://members.cox.net/mucker/Hitachi.jpg

Single 74 GB Raptor...$130: http://members.cox.net/mucker/Raptor.jpg

Identical hardware and operating systems.

 

[neutralizer]

I felt a huge difference. Load times and startup times were drastically different. Way more responsive.

 

[fierydemise]

Placebo effect FTW

 

[thescreensavers]

ow how about 2 drives in raid0

 

[leegroves86]

I upgraded from a Seagate 7200.9 160 GB HDD w/ sata 3.0gb to a Raptor 150. At the time, the seagate was one of the newest, fastest 7200rpm HDDs around. But wow, there was a big difference in the raptor. Things just load so much quicker. Opening a folder that contains lots of pictures is instantaneous and all the thumbnails previews are already there. BF2 loads quicker, I usually the first one in the map (which is very sweet). and of course, Xp boots quicker, yada yada yada.

I haven't done a complete benchmark against the two yet though.... and I probably never will. I dont' care if the synthetic benchmarks tell me its 1 MB quicker or 100. I can FEEL the difference in everyday use. Lets face it, the HDD is the slowest component in your system, why would you not want the best?

 

[Imyourzero]

Originally posted by: fierydemise
Placebo effect FTW

What the heck ever dude...must be nice to be clueless. I guess everyone is buying Raptors just to be cool rather than because there is an actual performance benefit. :disgust:

 

[Imyourzero]

Originally posted by: leegroves86Lets face it, the HDD is the slowest component in your system, why would you not want the best?

Exactly.

But wait, it's all placebo!! Pfft.

 

[FreedomGUNDAM]

I think the system is more responsive and maybe a little quicker

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: neutralizer
I felt a huge difference. Load times and startup times were drastically different. Way more responsive.

Between a 7200.7 and a Raptor sure...

I have a 7200.9 and a new 74GB Raptor and it definitely feels faster. Count the number of bars it takes for the XP splash screen to get to login and you will know.

Post-login time is also drastically imrpoved.

Now I'm sure if you already have a 7200.10, it won't be that big of a difference as that drive is already blazing fast.

 

[Old Hippie]

but I wanted to know if going from a normal HDD to a Raptor as your boot drive makes your rig feel faster and more responsive overall.

Yep. :thumbsup:

 

[0roo0roo]

i'm sure you'll notice a little. its like upgrading your cpu, unless you had a really really old system the jump in performance in normal tasks is probably not insane

 

[Makaveli]

Yes don't expect miracles, but u will feel the difference even if its slightly.

 

[BFG10K]

Placebo effect FTW

A stop-watch is immune to Placebo effects.

 

[essasin]

Yup...my games load faster.

 

[farscapesg1]

I had a 36GB Raptor and while the boot times were faster (by about 5 seconds) on my Athlon 3200+, I couldn't justify keeping it. I ended up selling it recently and just installing a Seagate 160GB SATA drive on the system. It's no like the system gets shut down very often (I run my systems 24/7 except for power outages and vacations).

 

[CrimsonWolf]

Originally posted by: BFG10K

Placebo effect FTW

A stop-watch is immune to Placebo effects.

Yeah, overall the system is more snappy and responsive, particularly when working with multiple apps at the same time. But as someone said above, just don't expect miracles. If you have some extra cash, go for the raptor and you will be pleased. If money's tight don't worry about it and you certainly won't miss a lot.

I got my raptor a little over a year ago and I have no regrets about it.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

from seagate 160gb 7200.7 -> 150gb raptor.. and YES i do feel a lot more speed in boot up times and game load times...

 

[Tarrant64]

Overall there may not be too much of a difference(according to benches anyways). But I had 36gb raptors in raid0 for awhile. That was pretty snappy. Load times were a little better too. maybe a couple of seconds though, not instant or anything like that.

Now using a single 74gb raptor(didn't want to shell out for 2), and it's still pretty snappy. I mean, it's a faster hard drive, it really is. But benches aren't going to show anything otherwise, and a few seconds isn't worth the extra money in IMHO. It's OK for a OS drive I suppose, main applications and what not.