Which storage/game drive

Wiry · 9 Aug 2011 at 22:18

Ok, So I'm going to purchase a new drive tomorrow and I have had a few people recommend the WD Green drives for storage and games etc. They are cheap and quiet and have great reliability as I was reading upon the web. So as I usually do, I had a look on the website and came across two:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-375-WD&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=1279

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-324-WD&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=1279

Is there any real difference except with the interfaces (sata 2/3) ? Performance wise. I am using a sata 3 motherboard and hard drives don't go to sata 3 speeds anyway so I won't benefit from those type of speeds. Also, if necessary, is there any other good storage drive competitors that are better than these WD Green drives?

Also, as a bottom note, I currently have a storage drive which is a cavair black *WD* , but all the applications are lagging on it since the defragmentation a couple of weeks ago. My other drive is fine-the one with Windows 7 on. I have ran many extensive hard drive tests including the one that WD support recommended, their "date lifeguard" diagnostics program which did an extended test for 28 hours. No errors where detected, But all programs are going into not responding on the drive, whereas on my C drive, everything works a doddle! Many Thanks in advance, James
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cmndr_andi · 9 Aug 2011 at 22:31

If you are looking for a new drive for mainly storing files then I would go for a Samsung F4 2TB. Its quick enough, low heat/noise and a great price for the storage you get.

However if it will be mainly used as a drive to put your games on then I would go for a Samsung F3, a seagate 7200.12 or WD Black (it sounds like your one has issues but they are among the very best drives of this type).

Personally I would go with the Samsung F3 1TB as they are really quick and a nice price.

Surveyor · 9 Aug 2011 at 22:37

I'd skip buying another WD black.

They're expensive and offer no noticable performance benefit over other 7,200RPM drives.

If 1TB is enough get the Samsung F3 cmndr_andi suggested.

If you want 2TB get a Samsung F4. They're pretty nippy and not far behind the F3.

This is a bench of one of my 2TB Samsung F4's:

That's probably around 95% the performance of an F3.

This is a bench of a 2TB WD20EARS:

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adrichardson81 · 9 Aug 2011 at 23:51

It's also worth thinking about raid 0 - a couple of 500gb or 1tb F3s will absolutely fly... (Until 1tb platters hit the market, anyway).

Surveyor · 9 Aug 2011 at 23:57

adrichardson81 said:
It's also worth thinking about raid 0 - a couple of 500gb or 1tb F3s will absolutely fly... (Until 1tb platters hit the market, anyway).

It's also worth thinking about the fact that RAID 0 doubles the chance of losing all your data.

Wiry · 10 Aug 2011 at 08:21

I like the idea of getting one of those 2TB samsung F4's, but the 5400rpm still puts me off, even after seeing superb benchmarks like surveyor kindly showed. I wouldn't see any major lag in games then? Seen as though I have 600GB of them.

Crixus00 · 10 Aug 2011 at 14:25

Wiry said:
I like the idea of getting one of those 2TB samsung F4's, but the 5400rpm still puts me off, even after seeing superb benchmarks like surveyor kindly showed. I wouldn't see any major lag in games then? Seen as though I have 600GB of them.

Your games won't lag but it will take longer to load screens.

Wiry · 10 Aug 2011 at 14:59

Ok, Well I'll see if I can find any benchmarks comparing and F3 to an F4

Surveyor · 10 Aug 2011 at 15:55

Here's a HD Tune benchmark of the 1TB F3.

Not really much in it.

Wiry · 10 Aug 2011 at 16:51

So from what I can gather, They are near enough both neck and neck! What would you recommend going with Surveyor, for games and apps etc.. odd storage? Confused!

Surveyor · 10 Aug 2011 at 17:32

Based on the benchmarks there doesn't seem a lot in it in terms of speed.

For the extra £15 you get double the amount of storage but if you're never going to fill a 1TB drive there's not much point in buying a 2TB drive.

The 2TB drives do run a bit quiter and cooler though.

If 1TB is enough space save a few quid and get the F3.

If you think you'll use 2TB, or want something a touch cooler and quiter, get the F4.

It's also worth remembering that you should have a back up of your data. You don't want to fill a 1TB or 2TB drive and risk losing all your data should the worst happen.

If you do get a Samsung drive then check the warranty status here.

I've bought 12 Samsung drives in the last 7 months (8x1TB F3's and 4x2TB F4's) and they're all fine for UK warranty.

Someone bought an F4 recently and their warranty was only valid for the USA! That means the 3 year warranty would have to be honoured by the retailer rather than being able to go to Samsung.

I don't imagine that "problem" applies to just Samsung drives. It's just one example I'm aware of.

Wiry · 11 Aug 2011 at 00:16

I think I'll be going down the F4EG route then