Upgrading from a Raptor X

Geckovich

Geckovich

Geckovich

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In my current rig I have a 150GB Raptor x for OS and games alongside an old 400GB seagate barracuda 7200.9 for storage.

Both of these drives function perfectly well for the tasks I throw at them but the noise they create drives me mad (the whine and tick of the raptor on top of the hum and grind of the barracuda is too much for me).

So now for the questions:

What would be a suitable upgrade path to keep roughly the same levels of performance but also reducing noise?

Is it best to get one larger drive (eg 1TB WD black of Sammy F1) or two smaller drives (same models just 320GB or thereabouts ) in RAID 0?

What about two 5400 RPM drives in RAID0?

Or is there another option that is better than all of the above?
 
If you don't mind the cost then there's always SSD. You won't get any noise with them.
 
I went from two raptor x in raid 0 to two Samsung F1s in raid 0 and there was no noticeable change in performance, but obviously a large increase in storage space and reduction in noise. I have a couple of the last gen WD drives, and they are also noticeably noiser than the Samsungs. Try a couple of the small F1s, they are pretty good value, and you'll get a 600 GB partition.
 
For the time being SSDs are way more than I'm willing to pay per GB.

From looking at more reviews I can see that the F1s are very highly regarded.

Now I know the manufacturer for my replacement I just need a bit of help with configuration.

One large drive or two smaller drives in RAID 0?

Price is the same at roughly £76 for either the 1TB F1 or two 320GB models and total storage space isn't a factor as I only ever have about 400GB of data on my PC at a time and a 1TB external HDD for backups.

As price and capacity aren't really an issue it all comes down to noise levels and performance. I have no experience of any kind of RAID setup so I don't know what the real world performance is like.
 
Why not get another Raptor and RAID 0 them? I have a Scythe Hard Disk Stabiliser for each of my raptors and I can barely hear them even with my case open and the pc next to me :)
 
Schnippzle said:
Why not get another Raptor and RAID 0 them? I have a Scythe Hard Disk Stabiliser for each of my raptors and I can barely hear them even with my case open and the pc next to me :)
Click to expand...

Simple, cost.

I'd be selling the raptor to a friend for roughly £60 and sticking the barracuda on the 'bay, that will come close to, or may even cover the cost of the replacement completely.

Much more economical than roughly £100 for aother raptor and then £15 for 2more Scythe Hard Disk Stabilisers (on a similar note I used to have the drive set up in a bungee, it was then that I learnt it wasn't the vibration noise that bothered me. it was the spinning).

Edit: reading that back it seemed a bit snide, sorry. Also, I've just realised it could have been the noise of the barracuda that I can hear, I'll disconnect that when I get home tonight and check.
 
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Your going to notice it slower going back to 7.2K RPM HDD's esp as Raptor 16MB's still Seek faster than any 7.2K RPM HDD.

I was in same boat, 2x Raptor X's and loud all the time.

I now have 2x VelicoRaptors and I cannot hear them and that's with a Clear Side Window with a fan hole in it, if a solid case it even better.
 
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Hmm, I know I said that price is paramount but I just heard about the upcoming OCZ vertex SSDs. Wonder how much that 250GB model will be....
 
Samsung drives are very quiet. I can't comment on performance as I'm a noise freak and not a speed freak.
 
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