Would this HDD be faster/better than my current drive?

adamknox

adamknox

adamknox

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Bridgwater, Somerset, UK
THis is my current hard drive (cant link to the website i bought it from :( sorry)

Western Digital WD1001FALS 1TB Hard Drive SATAII 7200rpm 32MB Cache - OEM Caviar Black
Hard Drive
Form Factor 3.5" x 1/3H
Capacity 1 TB
Interface Type Serial ATA-300
Buffer Size 32 MB
Features Data Lifeguard, Shock Guard, StableTrac, Perpendicular Magnetic Recording (PMR), NoTouch ramp load technology, dual processor
Compliant Standards S.M.A.R.T.

Performance
Drive Transfer Rate 300 MBps (external)
Internal Data Rate 106 MBps
Average Latency 4.2 ms
Spindle Speed 7200 rpm

Reliability
Non-Recoverable Errors 1 per 10^15
Start / Stop Cycles 300,000

Expansion / Connectivity
Interfaces 1 x Serial ATA-300 - 7 pin Serial ATA
Compatible Bays 1 x internal - 3.5" x 1/3H


Vs

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-342-WD&groupid=1657&catid=1660&subcat=1664 Im thinking about running two in RAID 0 with two partitions. 1: for gaming and 2: for O/s music, docs, programs etc. Would i see much increase in performance, O/S start up, game start up, loading programs etc.

I was thinking about trying SSD again (not keen on them) but deicded for the price/GB ratio its pointless at the moment.
 
Yes is the simple answer.

There won't be a huge difference in the performance between the drive you have now and the Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB when comparing single drive vs single drive, however the fact you are getting two and putting them in Raid 0 will make a noticable difference.

My suggestion however, although you've mentioned you are not keen on SSDs is to keep the 1TB as storage for large files (music, photos, video etc) and buy an SSD for a boot and games/software drive. You will see a much more noticable increase in day to day performance this way. Going on your budget this would be a good buy: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-047-OC and you could always get a second in future and Raid 0 them.
 
I agree, i recently moved to a SSD and the performance increase for just day to day use is amazing! I have lots of games on my SSD and its fine around 40GB free from the 120GB Vertex2 drive available.
 
thing is guys ive owned 2 SSD's before and sold both.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-007-CR&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=910
and
one thats not listed on overclockers :(

Having O/S open up 20 seconds faster and programs open 3-4 seconds quicker isnt for me. There just not worth it to me. I like having all my games installed (400Gb of them) incase i ever want to play them. I have 40GBGB of music and 10Gb of photos. with programs and the O/s that leaves very little fo games. Spesh when the games i play require 10-30Gb of space.

Ill deff go with them in raid then :D ty
 
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Hmm, £53 for a net gain of 200Gb of space in a RAID array that'll be bottlenecked by a 2 1/2 year old drive. Not sure that's a great idea.
 
rpstewart said:
Hmm, £53 for a net gain of 200Gb of space in a RAID array that'll be bottlenecked by a 2 1/2 year old drive. Not sure that's a great idea.
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Id be raid 0 thos two togeather not with my old drive :)My 1Tb hard drive seems to be getting slower and slower every week. (even after reformatting) I think its just come to the end of its life :(
 
adamknox said:
Thats true!, Ive heard some good things and also some bad things about thoughs drives tho :( Also im on a bit of a budget (£110) So cant really afford two :( Ill keep it in mind tho :D
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I have one for my games they are very fast,in sig!

I have the 250 XT for a games drive and games are noticeably faster than when using a 3.5 7200 RPM HDD
 
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Yeah they are not perfect, you'll never get SSD performance from this type of drive but they are a good bridge between the two products.
 
Speed said:
Yeah they are not perfect, you'll never get SSD performance from this type of drive but they are a good bridge between the two products.
Click to expand...

I have both an SSD and a XT and they are the closest your get to an SSD for games loading up/load screens etc.

I havent used it for anything else yet mind,as its been bought purely for a games drive and nothing else.
 
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I guess i could buy one as a gaming drive and buy a second when i can afford it :D

EDIT: Maybe a bit of a n00b here but the drives only have 4Gb of SSD. SO does that mean if a game i play is say 10GB that will run from the main HDD. So it will be the same as having a normal HDD?
 
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adamknox said:
I guess i could buy one as a gaming drive and buy a second when i can afford it :D

EDIT: Maybe a bit of a n00b here but the drives only have 4Gb of SSD. SO does that mean if a game i play is say 10GB that will run from the main HDD. So it will be the same as having a normal HDD?
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The 4GB of solid-state memory with these drives is where the drive gets its speed along with the 7200 rpm and 32mb cache.

The 4GB of SSD memory is used to store the things you use/load up the most,for example,if you play games on the XT the 4GB will be save that data and thats why things are quicker and load faster than a standard drive.

When first installed the drive wont appear any different than a normal HDD,when you play games on it or load apps etc,when you restart the machine a few times,the drive stores the data using the 4GB,thats how the drive is faster when loading things.

If you do decide to buy one,i recommend you update to the latest firmware as the current firmware on these drives people have reported a few issues,ive never used the firmware that come with the drive,i updatied the firmware as soon as the drive was installed and haven't had a single issue.

SD24 Firmware: http://seagate.custkb.com/seagate/crm/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=215451&NewLang=en
 
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I think Ill get the 500Gb :) Then when i get a second i can Raid0 and have a 1t ;) my music, programs, games etc games to around 500Gb -_-
 
adamknox said:
I think Ill get the 500Gb :) Then when i get a second i can Raid0 and have a 1t ;) my music, programs, games etc games to around 500Gb -_-
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Dont forget to flash the firmware as soon as the drive is in your machine,the new firmware is very important for this drive.

Ive posted the link above somewhere
 
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