Need some harddrive advice.

[Mrbloodworth]

I recently purchased this:

Item List

• VGA EVGA 512-P3-N801-AR 8800GT 512M - Retail (Qty=1, Price=$189.99)
• CASE SIGMA|LA VIE LBNWBP 500W RTL - Retail (Qty=1, Price=$69.99)
• DVD ROM LITE-ON|DH-16D2S-04 SATA % - OEM (Qty=1, Price=$17.99)
• MB ASUS P5K-E/WIFI-AP P35 775 RT - Retail (Qty=1, Price=$149.99)
• CPU INTEL|C2Q Q6600 2.40G 775 8M R - Retail (Qty=1, Price=$239.99)
• MEM 2Gx2|GSK F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK R - Retail (Qty=1, Price=$144.99)
• MNTR HANNSG|LCD 19" 5MS JW-199DPB R - Retail (Qty=1, Price=$169.99)

As you will note, i did not buy a hard drive. I used my old (IDE 120gb) drive from my old dell computer. Well, i think its dieing. So, i was hoping to get a compatable hard drive for this machine above (SATA), and a new IDE for my old dell.

I was looking at this little guy here for the new machine:
Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFS 150GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

And, well i haven't looked at any for the old IDE machine.

I'm looking for suggestions. Price is a consideration. I don't think i need more than 250 on any machine. I mean, unless there is a deal or somthin'

Thanks in advance.[/list]

EDIT: NVM, that Hard drive is out of stock i just noticed.

[Miguel]

This is my current favorite (bigger than you requested, but good $/GB):

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

320GB platters (two) means low noise/heat as well.  I use it as the media recording drive on my MythTV backend machine.

It goes for about $90 on Newegg.

[fuser]

Price is a consideration. I don't think i need more than 250 on any machine.

 Shopping for hard drives are terrible because everyone has a horror story with a hard drives failing which leads to "ZOMG your brand sucks" (sidenote: Work's email server this AM had an issue with a kernel panic due to low RAM on a nightly process. Anyhoo fixed as much as I could then did a soft reset to clear the zombies where we were having downtime. The u320 controller spins up the raid cabinet and 4... FOUR!@# hdd's fail at the controllers initialization, no warnings, or alarms leading up to this day of hell).

 FYI ~500GB is around $55-70(CAD), a 250 might be close to $45-60 and as Miguel recommended the wd640 slips in at a good price. Prices are really tumbling this month and there's been some deals on 1TB's (was a seagate) for ~120.

 Find something cheap, and big, then read some performance reviews general sites like Storage Review.

Perhaps a $69 500gb Spinpoint F1, I use a T series (older/slower model) because they were one of the most silent at the time (1year ago).

[Strazos]

WD all the way. I've never personally seen a problem with a WD drive. Hell, I am still using a 80GB from 2002.

[Hawkbit]

I used WD drives for my past 3 builds, up till this last one.  I got a great deal on a Seagate 7200rpm.  It's a good drive, but it's a LOT noisier than the WD drives.  I wish I would have spent the extra $20 on the WD drive. 

Go WD.

[SurfD]

Sort of related question.  I am going to be buying a new pc in around 2  months or so, but i also am afraid one of my HD's might be in the process of failing right now.

I dont know a lot about the differences in spec between SATA and SATA2, but are they backwards compatable.  By which I mean can I plug a Sata 2 HD into a SATA 1 port and have it work, just at a slower transfer speed, in the same manner that you can plug a USB2 spec device into a USB1 port and have it still work?

This way, i could buy a big shiny new SATA 2 drive, archive my stuff onto it for when i get the new PC, and be able to enjoy the increased performance of SATA 2 on the new one when i eventually do get it.

[Salamok]

Barracuda 750gig is my current favorite, I paid $400 for this when it came out I hope it isn't currently at $140 for some bad reason.  Anyway seems quieter than the WD Raptor, has a ton more storage, is nearly as fast, has my vote as a lot of bang for the buck at $140, even though it is larger than what you are looking for.  

[Salamok]

I dont know a lot about the differences in spec between SATA and SATA2, but are they backwards compatable.  By which I mean can I plug a Sata 2 HD into a SATA 1 port and have it work, just at a slower transfer speed, in the same manner that you can plug a USB2 spec device into a USB1 port and have it still work?

yes

[Trippy]

WD. Best blend of speed, quietness, and power consumption (if you get one of the Green drives).

[Mrbloodworth]

WD. Best blend of speed, quietness, and power consumption (if you get one of the Green drives).

Hay, you bring up something i didn't think about. Power consumption. I think i am already close to "really should get a better PSU".

Anyway, thanks all for the suggestions. I really am just looking to sped less that 100$ a piece for the new drives.

EDIT_01: I'm not seeing power stats on newegg, and whats the - OEM on a lot of them?

EDIT_02: Another question, can i use a newer SATA drive, and connect it VIA the IDE cable, ribbon thingy?

[fuser]

EDIT_01: I'm not seeing power stats on newegg, and whats the - OEM on a lot of them?

Better off checking the manufacture's site http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=338#jump1111

OEM means no box/cables/marketing material etc. Its basically the drive in a antistatic bag with some salt and if your lucky screws.

EDIT_02: Another question, can i use a newer SATA drive, and connect it VIA the IDE cable, ribbon thingy?

Generally no, I have seen a drive or two with both SATA/IDE connectors on it, but now saving costs its SATA connectors only. You can get a converter to connect a SATA to a IDE ribbon.

[Mrbloodworth]

Thanks for the help.

[Mrbloodworth]

Currently looking at this for the SATA computer.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136161

IDE comp:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136199

Opinions?

[Yegolev]

I think i am already close to "really should get a better PSU".

Just add one.

Also that looks like a fine disk.

[Mrbloodworth]

I think i am already close to "really should get a better PSU".

Just add one.

Also that looks like a fine disk.

Add?

You mean replace right? lol.

I was thinking of stepping up to one of thoes 700+ dodads. That is, IF the one in my case can come out 

[Yegolev]

No, I meant add.  This is my machine:

[Mrbloodworth]

oh, i didn't know you could do that. Does that mean you need two power plugs ETC? hows this work. As you can tell, i'm not really a hardware junky.

[Yegolev]

Yes, I have both power supplies plugged into an outlet.  You have to short one of the leads on the mainboard plug of the secondary one, since an ATX power supply is designed to not power up unless it is plugged into a mainboard.  After that you plug your drives into it like normal.  The black OCZ power supply you see is running the mainboard, the graphics card and three hard drives.  The gray secondary on top is powering the DVD drive, a hard drive and its attached cooler; since it's not plugged into a mainboard, it had to be shorted.

[Salamok]

just hidious and now he's trying to propogate the spaghetti monster idea...  might be on th eborderline of okay if they were fanless PSU's...

[Yegolev]

Just get four or six cable ties.  My problem with cable ties is that I have to cut the bastards off when I do any work on the machine.  It's hard enough to get motivated to install the parts I have laying around now (2GB RAM and two more HD coolers).

[Mrbloodworth]

Yes, I have both power supplies plugged into an outlet.  You have to short one of the leads on the mainboard plug of the secondary one, since an ATX power supply is designed to not power up unless it is plugged into a mainboard.  After that you plug your drives into it like normal.  The black OCZ power supply you see is running the mainboard, the graphics card and three hard drives.  The gray secondary on top is powering the DVD drive, a hard drive and its attached cooler; since it's not plugged into a mainboard, it had to be shorted.

Thats sounds like a little more risk than i'm comfortable with, given my lack of working inside computers.

[Salamok]

Just get four or six cable ties.  My problem with cable ties is that I have to cut the bastards off when I do any work on the machine.  It's hard enough to get motivated to install the parts I have laying around now (2GB RAM and two more HD coolers).

and naturally without the ties your airflow around all that spaghetti is so abysmal you just had to ditch the case cover too!  ah well it was probably a pita to take off everytime you needed to fiddle with the innards so just as well...

[Yegolev]

That was my rationale.  At this point if I were to want to button it up, I'd have to get a larger case.

Bloodpants, I figure you will be OK just getting a new PSU with good specs from a reputable manufacturer.  My route is cheaper but I won't argue that it's something of a fire hazard.

[Mrbloodworth]

That was my rationale.  At this point if I were to want to button it up, I'd have to get a larger case.

Bloodpants, I figure you will be OK just getting a new PSU with good specs from a reputable manufacturer.  My route is cheaper but I won't argue that it's something of a fire hazard.

lol, Bloodpants.

Thanks for the suggestions 

I am going to look at PSU after i place my hard drive order. I think i will go with the ones i listed above.

[Trippy]

Your standard mid tower case can't fit 2 power supplies. Unless you got a full tower or are willing to have your second power supply sitting outside the case just ignore Yegolev -- it's better to just replace your existing one.

[Hoax]

I was looking at HD's yesterday and it was pissing me off.  I want a WD 3 gig/s 10k RPM drive but I dont need that to be 300GB.  It seems they are releasing a 2.5" 150GB version sometime soon but no word on when or what the price is.  SSD is a few more years from being affordable but I'm almost feeling like I might as well keep my boring current drives if I can't make the upgrade within my budget limits.

[Yegolev]

Your standard mid tower case can't fit 2 power supplies. Unless you got a full tower or are willing to have your second power supply sitting outside the case just ignore Yegolev -- it's better to just replace your existing one.

For full disclosure, my case didn't fit two PSUs until after I worked it over with my dremel.

[schild]

My 2 quantum fireballs just failed. Thankfully there was... NOTHING ON THEM. ^_^

[Trippy]

My 2 quantum fireballs just failed. Thankfully there was... NOTHING ON THEM. ^_^

Holy shit a Fireball! Were those older than you are?

[Lantyssa]

My 2 quantum fireballs just failed. Thankfully there was... NOTHING ON THEM. ^_^

I've never known a more appropriately named drive.  Things are always blowing up.  Only the IBM Deathstar Diskstar comes close.

[schild]

My 2 quantum fireballs just failed. Thankfully there was... NOTHING ON THEM. ^_^

Holy shit a Fireball! Were those older than you are?

According to the manufacture date, they were both over a decade old. Well, one was 11 and one was 12. They worked until 15 minutes ago. Now I'm out 26 GB! FEH.

Things are always blowing up.

Obviously not quite true.

[Engels]

My 2 quantum fireballs just failed.

And here I thought this was a medical problem...

[Ingmar]

I'd say you should try the old 'whack it against the desk' trick on the fireballs, but if there's no data there's no point.

[Yegolev]

The whack-it trick is one of my favorite IBMisms.  The term for a disk that is stuck like that is "stiction" and the fix for stiction is to jar the disk.

[Lantyssa]

I love watching people's eyes when I suggest they drop the disk from a height of 8" onto a flat surface.

Obviously not quite true.

That yours lasted so long is impressive.  They still had a tendency to go out in batches like some bizzare iron oxide suicide cult.  Most were in their first year, but yours still lived up to that aspect of it.