Want to buy a new Hard drive

darknight125 · Nov 11, 2009

After my old one has failed i wanna buy a new one... So becuase right now im running knoppix and i dont know what i can type to find my motherboard here are the results from the command that gives detailed information about every device and chipset connected to the PCI bus.hope it helps:

Code:

    Kernel driver in use: i801_smbus     Kernel modules: i2c-i801  00:1f.5 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801I (ICH9 Family) 2 port SATA IDE Controller (rev 02) (prog-if 85 [Master SecO PriO])     Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology Device b002     Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 0, IRQ 19     I/O ports at e700 [size=8]     I/O ports at e800 [size=4]     I/O ports at e900 [size=8]     I/O ports at ea00 [size=4]     I/O ports at eb00 [size=16]     I/O ports at ec00 [size=16]     Capabilities:      Kernel driver in use: ata_piix  01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation G94 [GeForce 9600 GT] (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])     Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology Device 3482     Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 12     Memory at f6000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]     Memory at e0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]     Memory at f4000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=32M]     I/O ports at a000 [size=128]     [virtual] Expansion ROM at f7000000 [disabled] [size=512K]     Capabilities:      Kernel modules: nvidiafb  04:00.0 SATA controller: JMicron Technologies, Inc. JMicron 20360/20363 AHCI Controller (rev 02) (prog-if 01 [AHCI 1.0])     Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology Device b000     Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 19     Memory at fc000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=8K]     Capabilities:      Kernel driver in use: ahci  04:00.1 IDE interface: JMicron Technologies, Inc. JMicron 20360/20363 AHCI Controller (rev 02) (prog-if 85 [Master SecO PriO])     Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology Device b000     Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16     I/O ports at b000 [size=8]     I/O ports at b100 [size=4]     I/O ports at b200 [size=8]     I/O ports at b300 [size=4]     I/O ports at b400 [size=16]     Capabilities:      Kernel driver in use: JMicron IDE  05:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 01)     Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology Device e000     Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 505     I/O ports at c000 [size=256]     Memory at f9000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]     [virtual] Expansion ROM at 80000000 [disabled] [size=64K]     Capabilities:      Kernel driver in use: r8169     Kernel modules: r8169  06:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (rev 01)     Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology Device e000     Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 504     I/O ports at d000 [size=256]     Memory at fb000000 (64-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=4K]     [virtual] Expansion ROM at 80100000 [disabled] [size=64K]     Capabilities:      Kernel driver in use: r8169     Kernel modules: r8169  07:06.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Texas Instruments TSB43AB23 IEEE-1394a-2000 Controller (PHY/Link) (prog-if 10 [OHCI])     Subsystem: Giga-byte Technology Device 1000     Flags: bus master, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 18     Memory at fc104000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=2K]     Memory at fc100000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]     Capabilities:      Kernel driver in use: ohci1394     Kernel modules: ohci1394

Anyway the thing i want from you is to suggest me a good 500gb hdd for my motherboard...

ignatzatsonic · Nov 11, 2009

If it will be a boot drive, speed is a concern. Western Digital Caviar Black series is very fast, and their "Blue" series is not far behind.

Try to get a model with a single platter. I imagine the newest versions meet that qualification.

Nothing wrong with Seagate or Samsung either. Samsungs may be a bit slower. You stand a certain chance of having a dead on arrival or early failure regardless of your choice. I would test it thoroughly before committing anything serious to it. Maybe run it as a backup drive for a few weeks to put a hundred hours or so on it. If it makes it that far, you have a pretty good chance of it lasting a long time.

You may need a SATA drive or an IDE drive, depending on your mobo. If the mobo is from the last 2 or 3 years, mostly likely SATA is what you need, but you need to confirm that.

darknight125 · Nov 11, 2009

ignatzatsonic said:
If it will be a boot drive, speed is a concern. Western Digital Caviar Black series is very fast, and their "Blue" series is not far behind.

Try to get a model with a single platter. I imagine the newest versions meet that qualification.

Nothing wrong with Seagate or Samsung either. Samsungs may be a bit slower. You stand a certain chance of having a dead on arrival or early failure regardless of your choice. I would test it thoroughly before committing anything serious to it. Maybe run it as a backup drive for a few weeks to put a hundred hours or so on it. If it makes it that far, you have a pretty good chance of it lasting a long time.

You may need a SATA drive or an IDE drive, depending on your mobo. If the mobo is from the last 2 or 3 years, mostly likely SATA is what you need, but you need to confirm that.

so..which one is the best for booting from this list in your opinion? E-SHOP.GR: ??????? ?????? SCSI|ATAPI|SERIAL ATA|SAS|2.5|1.8

SIW2 · Nov 11, 2009

Not sure you would notice any difference.

Samsung F3 500gb is supposed to be pretty good - all on one platter.

Depends on the price.

I mention the Samsung because it is the least expensive where I am . Might be different in Greece.

I see the Samsung is 47 euros there.

WD equivalent is 66.50 euros.

I know which I would get.

darknight125 · Nov 11, 2009

thank both of you for the suggestions,seems i will get samsung..nothing to lose

darknight125 · Nov 11, 2009

Edit: A friend of mine just emailed me and told me to check out this one too: E-SHOP.GR: WESTERN DIGITAL WD5001AALS 500GB CAVIAR BLACK SATA2 what you guys think?

ignatzatsonic · Nov 11, 2009

I would get this one:

PER.303734 : WESTERN DIGITAL WD5001AALS 500GB CAVIAR BLACK SATA2

It is 7200 rpm, has a 32 MB cache, and probably has just one platter. Price in the USA is 70 dollars normally, now 60 on sale.

Here is more info on it:

Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD5001AALS 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

But you can get a bad one regardless. Nothing wrong with Samsung. Good luck. Find out before you buy what happens if it is dead when you get it or goes bad quickly--do you return it to where you bought it or do you have to deal with Western Digital?

Edit: your friend and I made the same choice.

You will probably have to supply your own cables if it is OEM, not a retail package.

SIW2 is right--in all likelihood you won't notice the difference. You just have to hope you don't have a failure.

SIW2 · Nov 11, 2009

Edit: A friend of mine just emailed me and told me to check out this one too: http://www.e-shop.gr/show_per.phtml?id=PER.303734E-SHOP.GR: WESTERN DIGITAL WD5001AALS 500GB CAVIAR BLACK SATA2 what you guys think?

That looks the same price as the Samsung.

The key is to check if it is one platter.

That makes a big difference.

If WD has only one platter go for it.

Otherwise, I would get the Samsung.

darknight125 · Nov 11, 2009

Well,to be honest when i ask which company make the best HDD the answer is always WD.So it seems i will buy the WD one plus it only cost 49euros here

edit: gonna check this now

ignatzatsonic · Nov 11, 2009

I just spent 5 minutes on google trying to confirm number of platters in the WD drives.

Couldn't get any confirmation.

The model numbers that have 64 in them, like 6400 and 6401 are almost certainly 2 platters of 320 each, short-stroked to provide 500 total.

I found some claims that the newest versions of the WD "Blue" series in 500 gig size have a single platter. If they do that in the Blue series, you would think they would do the same thing in their premier "Black" series.

Unless you gotta have it NOW, I would spend a few days to see if I could get any confirmation on the number of platters. Single platter is going to be faster, but you probably wouldn't notice the difference.

SIW2 · Nov 11, 2009

Single platters also much better on power consumption.

darknight125 · Nov 11, 2009

So i readed some interviews about the 500gb WD HDD and this one has puzzled me :

Pros: Better than average speed at 70-75MB/s average read (HDtune), reasonable priceCons: First one died the first day, second one was flaky (had problems creating and modifying partitions, had to use Windows OS disk to create a partition) and much slower than anticipated.Other Thoughts: The first drive I received was not DOA, but died in the first hour of use. System would not boot with drive connected after that, so RMA. The second one worked, but I had allot of trouble setting up partitions and had to use the Windows OS installation CD to delete a partition and create a new one. After that, I got 70-75MB/s read from HDtune, which is allot less than some testing I have seen from the WD Caviar Black series, which are supposed to be some of the fastest 7200 RPM drives out there. The 500GB version does not appear to live up to the performance seen in the 640 and 1TB versions., which have been reviewed and tested a great deal.

I am returning the drive for the 640GB version, which may have a more efficient platter design and I hope to be seeing some of those 95MB/s average read speeds I have been reading about. If the 640GB version does not live up, it may be time to find another brand.So i though why not considering buying a 640gb.So i did a search and found that one E-SHOP.GR: WESTERN DIGITAL WD6401AALS 640GB CAVIAR BLACK SATA2
the prices difference is only 3 euro...what you guys think?
Now about the single platter thing,how i can understand if a hdd has a single platter or not?I have to call them or they write it somewhere?

darknight125 · Nov 11, 2009

ignatzatsonic said:
I just spent 5 minutes on google trying to confirm number of platters in the WD drives.

Couldn't get any confirmation.

The model numbers that have 64 in them, like 6400 and 6401 are almost certainly 2 platters of 320 each, short-stroked to provide 500 total.

I found some claims that the newest versions of the WD "Blue" series in 500 gig size have a single platter. If they do that in the Blue series, you would think they would do the same thing in their premier "Black" series.

Unless you gotta have it NOW, I would spend a few days to see if I could get any confirmation on the number of platters. Single platter is going to be faster, but you probably wouldn't notice the difference.

well,i cant say im in a big hurry

ignatzatsonic · Nov 11, 2009

You will find it difficult to get a manufacturer to talk about the number of platters. Your best bet for that is google. The longer you wait and the more you search, the greater the chance you will find the info.

I just bought a 1.5 TB WD "Green" drive. I found out before I bought what suffix after the model number meant that it had only 3 platters, rather than 4 or 5. I lucked out and got a model with that suffix and only 3 platters. But the only way you are going to be able to confirm the suffix is to go to a store and try to inspect the drive. That is difficult to do.

It is possible all 500 gig WD drives have 320 gig platters (their previous maximum on any platter), but then why would they start numbering drives with 500 in the model number rather than 6400 or 6401?

Regarding reviews: you will find complaints in the reviews about ANY brand you name. You will find dead on arrivals in all brands. The manufacturers cannot afford to spend the time it takes to fully test all of them, so they tolerate a certain percentage of failures and just replace them. It's cheaper that way.

darknight125 · Nov 11, 2009

ignatzatsonic said:
You will find it difficult to get a manufacturer to talk about the number of platters. Your best bet for that is google. The longer you wait and the more you search, the greater the chance you will find the info.

I just bought a 1.5 TB WD "Green" drive. I found out before I bought what suffix after the model number meant that it had only 3 platters, rather than 4 or 5. I lucked out and got a model with that suffix and only 3 platters. But the only way you are going to be able to confirm the suffix is to go to a store and try to inspect the drive. That is difficult to do.

It is possible all 500 gig WD drives have 320 gig platters (their previous maximum on any platter), but then why would they start numbering drives with 500 in the model number rather than 6400 or 6401?

Regarding reviews: you will find complaints in the reviews about ANY brand you name. You will find dead on arrivals in all brands. The manufacturers cannot afford to spend the time it takes to fully test all of them, so they tolerate a certain percentage of failures and just replace them. It's cheaper that way.

ok thanks for the help,have a last question though what the difference between a hdd that have a single platter with a hdd that have 2 or 3 platters?

ignatzatsonic · Nov 11, 2009

All other things being equal, the single platter drive will be slightly faster and should use slightly less power, generate slightly less heat, and be slightly quieter. Those are all good things, but they are minor differences.

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