Quiet but Fast

Helium_Junkie · 22 Sep 2006 at 11:59

I'm looking to replace my ancient IDE drive with something faster and quieter.

I want a drive which will load BattleField 2 maps in seconds, not days (apparently the "punkbuster" software does some intensive HDD ops whilst map-loading to see if you are running haxxor software!),

I would like a price range under £200.

I would like it to be quiet, none of this 50,000,000 rpm airplane engine malarky, the case sits almost 2 feet from my ears, and noise is simply unacceptable

I know that noise limitation drops the speed some, but im sure I can get faster than I have without getting loud.

Current HDD was of the cheapest Maxtor's, about 2-3 (maybe more!) years back.

squiffy · 22 Sep 2006 at 12:02

Battlefield 2 maps take almost a minute to load on my setup, so good look getting one that'll load in a few seconds. :rolleyes:

wizardmaxx · 22 Sep 2006 at 12:07

How about two of these in raid0

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 200GB

Helium_Junkie · 22 Sep 2006 at 12:19

squiffy said:
Battlefield 2 maps take almost a minute to load on my setup, so good look getting one that'll load in a few seconds.

Obviously that was an exaggeration, along with most of the examples in my post, including, on the same line "instead of days" :rolleyes:

Thanks for the constructive reply.

squiffy · 22 Sep 2006 at 12:22

I thought you were being serious, I know of some moronic users that expect Windows to load up within 1 second of pressing the power button on their new machine.

Helium_Junkie · 22 Sep 2006 at 12:26

Indeed I am obviously moronic.

Back on topic, I've never tried Raid, could be fun.

Would a Raid as suggested with two 7200.10's outperform one of the (assumedly noisier, correct me please) WD Raptors, like the one in This Week Only?

smids · 22 Sep 2006 at 12:28

A seagate 7200.10 is probably your best bet as you seem not to want a raptor, in which case the 7200.10 has excellent reads, higher than any other 7200rpm drive as it is based on perpendicular technology and this should help loading times.

You could however buy a Raptor and a Silentmaxx enclosure - this would be the fastest and quiet.

wizardmaxx · 22 Sep 2006 at 12:28

In day-to-day use no, but loading up games, copying files, etc ... definately

Helium_Junkie · 22 Sep 2006 at 12:41

So my choices as suggested are:

Western Digital Raptor 150GB 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Cache
+ OcUK Silentmaxx enclosure

150GB, 4.5ms seek (In my newbish fashion, I assume this is the important stat?) @ just under £200.

or

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 500GB ST3500630AS SATA-II 16MB Cache

500GB, similar cost. Much more storage, much cheaper, and apparently a fast drive. Anybody tell me about its speed and noise please?

or

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB ST3250620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache
x 2, raid0

250GB storage over two drives in raid0, again, please compare speed and noise?

Whats with Caviars, are they worth considering? They have a good write-up in the catalog

smids · 22 Sep 2006 at 12:45

Seagate uses perpendicular technology in the 7200.10's - something which no other manufacturer does as yet - that is the reason to get them over any other.

I would not get a Raptor X, they have half the MTBF of a normal raptor 150GB (mean time before failure).

wizardmaxx · 22 Sep 2006 at 13:00

I would recommend

A raptor 37gb 16mb partitioned 7gb and 30gb
plus
2x200gb 7200.10 in hardware raid0 partitioned 30gb and 370gb

Then u install OS on 7gb and software raid0 the raptor 30gb and 30gb hardware raid0 - that will give 60gb for apps, games, pagefile, etc.

Use the 370gb for data storage.

smids · 22 Sep 2006 at 13:08

RAID0 for storage?!

wizardmaxx · 22 Sep 2006 at 14:15

Why not

smids · 22 Sep 2006 at 14:26

It's doubles the chance of hardware failure/data loss. Yes, theoretically if you lose a single hard drive, you lose all the data anyway, but statistically, you have doubled the chance of this happening.

I would RAID1 the two, but I like security.

wizardmaxx · 22 Sep 2006 at 14:29

Yeh Its a choice of speed versus security. I prefer speed as i keep most of my important data on an ide 200gb that only gets used when i have to. Stays in the cupboard in its external usb case 95% of the time

Helium_Junkie · 22 Sep 2006 at 14:33

Raid is an option then, will do some research.

Without raid, whats the fastest option, and whats the quiter/fast alternative?

wizardmaxx · 22 Sep 2006 at 14:40

Gigabyte I-ram - Dead silent

Very dear though

Or

Scsi - very noisy

Or

Raptor - noisy (mine not so much) :confused:

In that order

smids · 22 Sep 2006 at 14:45

Without RAID - 36GB Raptor (for windows/games/programs) or 74GB Raptor (both 16MB cache) + Silentmaxx enclosure

+ 320GB Seagate 7200.10 SATA.

Then again, I'm pretty sure Seagate 320GB + silentmaxx will be fast enough and will be very quiet.

wizardmaxx · 22 Sep 2006 at 14:51

"Then again, I'm pretty sure Seagate 320GB + silentmaxx will be fast enough and will be very quiet."

Agreed. If you absolutely need that extra 5-10% performace of the raptor and are willing to pay the price go for it, but IMHO you probably wouldn't even notice the diff between the two.

Helium_Junkie · 22 Sep 2006 at 15:34

So from 7200.10 to raptor you would say is a 5-10% improvement.
From 7200.10 to raid 7200.10s?

This is very very helpful, thank you