HDD Advice.

simpleas123 · 23 Jun 2011 at 15:21

After some deliberation I have decided against getting an SSD - purely because they are too expensive for the little data storage you get, although I will upgrade when the next gen of these comes about.

So this leaves me to decide on an HDD and with the selection thats available Im a bit stuck for choice. So if anyone could help me out that would be great.

I have looked at this http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-336-WD&tool=3 but I keep reading that this drive is loud, but how loud? My desktop will be on my floor under my desk am I really going to hear the drive clicking away? I also saw a 2TB version of this drive which I would prefer (not on overclockers) has anyone had experiences with that hdd?

I want to set up RAID so I wont lose all my data is this easy with the WD?

Boss_man · 23 Jun 2011 at 15:41

yes these drives are good, but you will only see the benfit if you have 6gb sata ports and they are not very loud, but if i were u id buy ssd for windows and other apps and use the bigger drives for storage. and raid is easy with wd

simpleas123 · 23 Jun 2011 at 15:52

Ive got asrock extreme 4 and I think the SSD is just not worth it at the prices they are at atm.

kae2 · 23 Jun 2011 at 16:03

Boss_man said:
yes these drives are good, but you will only see the benfit if you have 6gb sata ports and they are not very loud, but if i were u id buy ssd for windows and other apps and use the bigger drives for storage. and raid is easy with wd

Rubbish, H/D's don't saturate Sata2, let alone Sata3 6gb/s speeds, it's just marketing bumpf.

I personally like the Samsung F3 500gb for system drives. Lots of storage and quick.

Andy.

simpleas123 · 23 Jun 2011 at 16:18

Im looking for at least 1TB HDD's

kae2 · 23 Jun 2011 at 16:28

simpleas123 said:
Im looking for at least 1TB HDD's

Well how about the F3 1tb on this week only?

AbsenceJam · 23 Jun 2011 at 16:43

SSD's aren't for data storage. They speed up your user experience massively with just your OS and programs on. Really worth it.

simpleas123 · 23 Jun 2011 at 16:44

kae2 said:
Well how about the F3 1tb on this week only?

Is there a major difference between 32mb cache and 64mb?
If not this is a great deal.

The HDD will have my OS on it along with all my games music videos etc...

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-366-WD - Are these worth it ?

Surveyor · 23 Jun 2011 at 17:49

simpleas123 said:
Is there a major difference between 32mb cache and 64mb?
If not this is a great deal.

The HDD will have my OS on it along with all my games music videos etc...

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-366-WD - Are these worth it ?

They're no better than the Samsung F3 which is £8 cheaper.

Having a SATA3 interface makes absolutely no difference with a HDD as the drives themselves can't even get near to saturating SATA2.

rpstewart · 23 Jun 2011 at 17:53

simpleas123 said:
Is there a major difference between 32mb cache and 64mb?
If not this is a great deal.

The HDD will have my OS on it along with all my games music videos etc...

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-366-WD - Are these worth it ?

No real difference between 32Mb & 64Mb cache.

I'd go with the Samsung rather than the WD Blue - just because it's labelled as SATA 6Gbps doesn't mean it goes that fast.

simpleas123 · 23 Jun 2011 at 18:18

Ok thanks for clarifying that for me guys.
So both would be easy to put into RAID 1
Is samsungs customer service better than WD's?

Surveyor · 23 Jun 2011 at 18:25

simpleas123 said:
Is samsungs customer service better than WD's?

Probably not.

I believe WD do an advanced RMA service whereas Samsung only offer a standard RMA service.

simpleas123 · 23 Jun 2011 at 18:26

Hows the noise with the F3 / lifespan?

Surveyor · 23 Jun 2011 at 18:28

simpleas123 said:
Hows the noise with the F3 / lifespan?

Noise - mine aren't any different than any other 7200RPM drive I've owned.

Lifespan - your guess is as good as anyone elses.

simpleas123 · 23 Jun 2011 at 18:30

Surveyor said:
Noise - mine aren't any different than any other 7200RPM drive I've owned.

Lifespan - your guess is as good as anyone elses.

Any louder than a mild buzz? At least a year? Warranty is covered for 3 so if I have raid 1 I should be fine?

So I would end up buying two

kae2 · 23 Jun 2011 at 18:33

I find them more than acceptable.

I have one 500gb F3 and two 1TB F3's and the sound is minimal (and the pc is at desk level).

Surveyor · 23 Jun 2011 at 18:38

simpleas123 said:
Any louder than a mild buzz? At least a year? Warranty is covered for 3 so if I have raid 1 I should be fine?

So I would end up buying two

I can't hear mine above the case fans.

How can I tell you how long they'll last? You would expect them to last for a few years but like any component they could fail after 5 minutes. It's no different for any manufacturer.

You do realise that RAID1 isn't a proper backup?

You have 2 disks with mirrored data so if one drive fails you can carry on using the PC.

If something disastrous happened like a fire or your PC was stolen or the RAID got corrupted you've still lost your data.

A proper backup would be to install one drive in your system and then backup that drive to a separate external drive which could be stored elsewhere.

simpleas123 · 23 Jun 2011 at 18:39

a lot of people complain about clicky noises - however im skeptical about a lot of them reviews as some people complain about the most minimalist things

I have an external HDD 2TB too from WD so raid 1 would be ideal for me.

kae2 · 23 Jun 2011 at 18:41

simpleas123 said:
a lot of people complain about clicky noises - however im skeptical about a lot of them reviews as some people complain about the most minimalist things

Only on first spin-up, and only when they're dieing a death, otherwise perfectly quiet.

Surveyor · 23 Jun 2011 at 18:42

simpleas123 said:
I have an external HDD 2TB too from WD so raid 1 would be ideal for me.

What's the purpose of RAID1 if you'll use the external drive as a backup?