Which Western Digital HD should I buy?

[aakerman]

Hi! I have just sold my old Maxtor D740X 80gb (phew), and need to replace it.

I only have room for 2 disks on my motherboard (no raid, no controller).
The 2nd slot is taken by my WD Special 8mb cache 120 gb disk.

I want to go as big as possible, and Seagate only does up to 200gb,
so I guess WD is the route for me - but they have several choices at 250 gb,
can someone point out the best choice for me?

The choices are:
Caviar Hi-Performance WD2500BB --- 2MB / 8.9ms / 7200RPM / IDE100 ---- 276$
Caviar Special WD2500JD --- 8MB / 8,9ms / 7200RPM / SATA150 ---- 304$
Caviar Special WD2500JB --- 8MB / 8,9ms / 7200RPM / IDE100 ---- 290$
Caviar Special WD2500PB --- 8MB / 8.9ms / 7200RPM / IDE100 ---- 316$

My motherboard is an MSI K7N2 Delta-L (MS-6570), which supports: IDE: 4-Ultra DMA/133

Thank you!

 

[Jayczar]

Caviar Special WD2500JB --- 8MB / 8,9ms / 7200RPM / IDE100 ---- 290$

 

[SpeedFreak03]

1. Caviar Hi-Performance WD2500BB --- 2MB / 8.9ms / 7200RPM / IDE100 ---- 276$
2. Caviar Special WD2500JD --- 8MB / 8,9ms / 7200RPM / SATA150 ---- 304$
3. Caviar Special WD2500JB --- 8MB / 8,9ms / 7200RPM / IDE100 ---- 290$
4. Caviar Special WD2500PB --- 8MB / 8.9ms / 7200RPM / IDE100 ---- 316$

1. This drive is out, as it is only 2MB cache (I saw a difference when going from 2MB to 8MB).
2. This drive won't work with your motherboard, as your don't have an onboard SATA controller. If you bought a PCI SATA card then it would be a nice drive but the minimal (if any) performance increase isn't worth all that money.
3. I have the 80GB version of this drive (the WD800JB) and I love it. It is quiet, super reliable and very fast. I'm pretty sure that the JB series is the highest performing desktop IDE PATA drive that WD makes. Anyway I've heard great things about this drive and if it is as good as my 80GB then its quite a drive!
4. This looks like the WD2500JB (number 3) but with "quiet drive" technology. All I can say is that if the WD2500JB is as quiet as my 2 WD800JB's then you don't need to spend the extra money on "quiet drive" technology. And since your coming from a maxtor, any WD will seem quiet to you .

I hope my opinions help you out a bit lol. I have tried many different hard drives, and trust me you did the right thing switching to WD! I have also built a couple systems for people with the WD1200JB (the 120GB version) and they have had no problems, so my best guess would be that the WD2500JB is the best drive out there in 250GB.

-Josh

 

[wetcat007]

Originally posted by: SpeedFreak03
1. Caviar Hi-Performance WD2500BB --- 2MB / 8.9ms / 7200RPM / IDE100 ---- 276$
2. Caviar Special WD2500JD --- 8MB / 8,9ms / 7200RPM / SATA150 ---- 304$
3. Caviar Special WD2500JB --- 8MB / 8,9ms / 7200RPM / IDE100 ---- 290$
4. Caviar Special WD2500PB --- 8MB / 8.9ms / 7200RPM / IDE100 ---- 316$

1. This drive is out, as it is only 2MB cache (I saw a difference when going from 2MB to 8MB).
2. This drive won't work with your motherboard, as your don't have an onboard SATA controller. If you bought a PCI SATA card then it would be a nice drive but the minimal (if any) performance increase isn't worth all that money.
3. I have the 80GB version of this drive (the WD800JB) and I love it. It is quiet, super reliable and very fast. I'm pretty sure that the JB series is the highest performing desktop IDE PATA drive that WD makes. Anyway I've heard great things about this drive and if it is as good as my 80GB then its quite a drive!
4. This looks like the WD2500JB (number 3) but with "quiet drive" technology. All I can say is that if the WD2500JB is as quiet as my 2 WD800JB's then you don't need to spend the extra money on "quiet drive" technology. And since your coming from a maxtor, any WD will seem quiet to you .

I hope my opinions help you out a bit lol. I have tried many different hard drives, and trust me you did the right thing switching to WD! I have also built a couple systems for people with the WD1200JB (the 120GB version) and they have had no problems, so my best guess would be that the WD2500JB is the best drive out there in 250GB.

-Josh

A Western Digital fanboy? lol say it isnt so..

 

[tallman45]

Some of these larger capacity drives comes with a PCI card so that you can add another drive on it's own independant channel

 

[aakerman]

Thanks for the replies!
I do think my machine is too loud, because I have somehow lost my side-plates, so it is completely open. Maybe the quiet-drive would be better for me (my fan is also an ultra-quiet thingy)... but the advantage in buying quiet, would be void, if my other WD drive is the louder version - how can I tell if the WD I already have, is the quiet version?

Thx!

 

[Paulson]

They just came out with quiet drive technology.

Just get the JB series with 8 meg cache and enjoy it.

 

[DN]

From what I've seen recently, WD is the only one that has at least a 3 yr warranty unlike the others who have only 1 yr.. I think it's still the case also..?

 

[aakerman]

Seagate does 3 yr and 5 yr too.. at least in Denmark.

I'll get the JB one, because I just saw in "device manager", that my old one is also JB

Thx again.

 

[Blastman]

I don?t know why WD calls some of their drives ?quiet versions? when they don?t have FDBs. The BB series is listed as having ? ?quiet drive technology? ? whatever that means. Maybe they have quieter seeks or something but I can?t stand the bearing whine from regular drives. Once you quiet down your system and use a drive with the quiet FDBs you will never go back to a regular bearing drive.

The strange thing is WD has a new line of HDDs with FDB?s -- the LB series. A google search of Western Digital FDB turns up lots of hits yet I can?t find anything at their site about this new line of drives.

The 80GB 7200.7 ATA Seagate I have is extremely quiet in idle and seeks but it?s performance is just ok. The SATA versions perform much better for some reason. My next drive will probably be this one? Western Digital 80GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model or a SATA Seagate.

 

[Bovinicus]

I say go with drive #3.

The additional $14 over the cost of drive #1 is worth it. The additional 6MB of buffer definitely makes a difference. If it didn't, then other drive manufacturers, such as Maxtor, would not have followed in WD's footsteps and created their own line of large-buffer drives. I have a 1200JB in my main system; the performance is excellent, and it is very quiet.

Drive #2 is not possible for you. Unless you spend the additional money to purchase a SATA controller card, then you can't use it. Your motherboard only support IDE drives via onboard devices. The additional $14, plus the cost of the controller card, is not worth the non-existant/minimal performance gains that you will get by moving to serial ATA.

I have never heard of drive #3. If what a previous poster said is true, the only added feature is "quiet drive" technology, then don't bother with it. My 1200JB is silent in nearly all operations that it performs.