What hard drive should I get?

[ScottR02919]

What hard drive should I get?

Currently I have a Seagate (31000528AS CC44)
Internal ADA 3.5 1TB
7200 RPM
32MB Cache
3GB/s
Been running Windows 7 Home Premium x64
It is about to crash.

I've been looking at
Seagate - 1TB Internal Serial ATA Hard Drive for Desktops
Model: ST310005N1A1AS-RK
Which is also 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3GB/s 32MB Cache

Do you think I will have any problems once I add that hard drive and attempt to clone the hard drives? To me it's a no brainer but I am no pro when it comes to this.

And when it comes to this 'cloning' is there a simple way to transfer all data from one hard drive to the other?

Thanks for any input guys!

 

[bobkn]

Which one you buy probably isn't very important.

Newegg.com - Computer Hardware, Hard Drives, Internal Hard Drives, 7200 RPM, 3.5", 1TB, SATA 3.0Gb/s, SATA 6.0Gb/s

I'd suggest a 6Gb/s drive. It'd be backwards compatible with a 3Gb/s controller.

64MB of cache is probably worth having, as you can get it for the same price or less than 32MB.

An OEM (bare) drive comes without cables and screws. I have cables and screws to spare, so I buy the bare drives.

You'd need drive cloning software to make a bootable copy of your existing drive. Seagate and WDC both have free versions available for download. WDC provides a version of Acronis True Image, which is easy to use.

The most recent drive that I bought was from WDC, but I've had good luck with Seagate as well. I have the impression that a few of the drives from any of the manufacturers will fail earlier than you'd like. You could get better reliability by buying drives aimed at "the enterprise", at a higher price.

 

[GeneO]

I am a bit biased. I have had trouble with Seagate and have a number of WDC spinning with no issues. The WDC Blue have a good performance - price-point. The single platter 1TB drive

Amazon.com: WD Blue 1 TB Desktop Hard Drive: 3.5 Inch, 7200 RPM, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64 MB Cache - WD10EZEX: Computers & Accessories

does 190 MB/s on the outer edge of the platter, with an average of over 90 MB/s. The seek time isn't anything to write home about, but it isn't bad. I use mine for backups from my SSD system drive and it is pretty fast.

If you have a fairly new computer, you might consider an SSD for the system disk and a hard drive for data - especially if your system supports 6 Gb/s SATA.

You shouldn't have an issue cloning unless you are trying to clone to a smaller drive. If so it may make more sense to do an image backup/restore.

 

[kbrady1979]

I have 2-2TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.14's and they have been rock solid. It's 6 of one and a half dozen of the other though....Western Digital or Seagate both make good and bad drives. I have always used Seagate though, and have never had one go bad.

1TB model: Seagate Barracuda 1TB HDD

2TB model: Seagate Barracuda 2TB HDD

1TB model: Western Digital WD Black 1TB HDD

2TB model: Western Digital WD Black 2TB HDD

If you need a drive for your OS/Programs, do yourself a favor and spend the money on an SSD. Night and day difference!