Seagate 7200.10 500GB vs 320GB performance?

[gramboh]

Hi there,

I've come across a good deal on the Seagate 7200.10 500GB SATA2 ($0.33/GB CDN free shipping) versus the 7200.10 320GB SATA2 ($0.34/GB CDN local retailer). I'm planning on buying two of either drives for a new build (no RAID).

I've done some reading at Storagereview forums that although Seagate doesn't disclose the number/size of platters, it is widely believed that the 320GB is 2 platters (160GB or 166/180GB short-stroked) while the 500 is 3 platters (166GB).

My question is, does the 320GB off a performance advantage in terms of fewer platters and possibly higher platter density (due to short-stroking)? And second, is there discernable noise difference between the two drives?

Thanks

 

[ComatoseDelirium]

I just got the Seagate 320GB from NCIX, the number of platters and their density have a very neglible effect on performance, I doubt you would notice a different in real world usage, although I suspect the 320 GB do have some problems operating on Sata1, i sometimes notice a chirping sound, although i've monitored the performance values with HDTune and its been steady since the day I got it.

 

[gramboh]

I did some casual reading through user reviews on Newegg and it seems the 500GB is similar to the 320GB in that some users report very noisy/hot drives while others report silent drives. Again it appears that some drives (usually mfg in China?) have a poorer quality motor assembly that leads to the noise. Apparently the type of motor assembly is indicated also by the colour of engine grease visible near the middle of the assembly (on the open side, not sure how to describe it) in that it will be either pinkish or green/blue.

I'm going to take a chance and order 2 of them, for that price I just can't say no. ~1TB should last me longer than 640GB as I'm already up to almost 400GB used on my current system.

Thanks

 

[Auric]

'tain't grease, but glue (afterall, the motors are sealed). But that could obviously change (or have changed) but in any case doesn't help for mail order and in any case the motor is only one component which may affect the idle noise. Seagate are noisy regardless due to lack of AAM, APM, &c. Unless they are significantly cheaper and you don't care about noise then what is the benefit? Answer: none.

 

[Nocturnal]

You take you chances with any hard drive manufacturer. I have the 750GB running in a P180 box at work and haven't heard it in quite some time. That could very well be due to my XP90 heat sink's fan running at a high RPM though lol.