New HDD

Discussion in 'Storage Devices' started by George120, Oct 27, 2005.

  1. George120

    George120 Geek Trainee

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    hi all.
    my hdd just died, so im currently using an old seagate 20gb.
    im just wondering what hdd to buy. i need a fair bit of storage space because i have ALOT of music and was hoping yous could give me some suggestions on what to buy/stay away from.
    cheers :)
     
  2. George120

    George120 Geek Trainee

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    forgot to mention that i previously had a 120gb samsung hdd and do not want less that that, cheers :)
     
  3. pelvis_3

    pelvis_3 HWF Member For Life

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    Hi George120, what price range are you looking at?
     
  4. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    Avoid: Maxtor, IBM
    Prefer: Seagate, Western Digital
     
  5. George120

    George120 Geek Trainee

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    anti-trend- just so i know this in the future, why do i stay away from IBM and Maxtor?
    i heard to stay away from samsung and seagate.

    pelvis_3- i'm in aukland new zealand so, anything lower than $120NZD or AUD

    cheers
     
  6. pelvis_3

    pelvis_3 HWF Member For Life

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    Well i don't know of any online stores in New Zealand but you could get something like these for a few dollars more at a local computer shop if applicable!
    SATA 160GB WD
    IDE 160GB WD
    Which interface do you use - IDE or SATA?
     
  7. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    I don't know who told you that, but Seagate's Barracuda HDDs are the most dependable IDE/SATA HDD's I've ever used. They are also warrantied a full two years longer than most companies.
     
  8. George120

    George120 Geek Trainee

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    thanks anti-trend for the info.

    pelvis_3 - i use SATA and i found this at an NZ shop online, so i think i'll get this.

    thanks guys
     
  9. pelvis_3

    pelvis_3 HWF Member For Life

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    Not a problem :cool:
     
  10. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    No problem :)
     
  11. xMTone

    xMTone Geek Trainee

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    Ah, but I am currently recovering from a Barracuda crash... it did last about 4 years, which isn't bad I suppose, but don't count on it lasting forever.
     
  12. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    No HDD lasts for ever, not even the best SCSI HDD. Still, you can greatly prolong the life of your HDDs by assuring their proper cooling, something that is often neglected. Accumulated heat buildup is responsible for quite a few HDD failures, and I've never seen a properly cooled Barracuda or Caviar fail. Dirty DC power can also be blamed for many HDD failures (along with that of countless other components). I have seen plenty of properly cooled Maxtor and IBM HDDs with plenty of clean power die inexplicably, which is why I do not recommend those brands.

    -AT
     
  13. xMTone

    xMTone Geek Trainee

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    Well, I certainly can't claim even a decent level of cooling on the PC which that occurred... strangely, the PC came with a 10K SCSI drive which lasted only a matter of months before it failed!
     
  14. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    Yeah, with all those moving parts, cooling accross a HDD is pretty crucial. Heat shortens the life of HDDs substantially. For instance, I have a firewall with an 8 year old Western Digital HDD which works perfectly. I guerantee it's not as fast as it was 8 years ago, but since it had adequate cooling it's still running as if it's in no danger of failing anytime soon.
     
  15. xMTone

    xMTone Geek Trainee

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    Well in that case I'm certainly glad to be warned to get cooling for my sweet new Raptors... on the other hand, I still need some advice: I have one in a 5.25" CoolDrive3, but I'm out of 5.25" bays... and those crappy little 3.5" 2-fan screw on the bottom things will not fit in my case, even with an empty bay under it... how can I cool that one? If there were such a thing as a fan unit that took up the same space as a 3.5" drive, that'd be cool, but I can't find anything like that.
     
  16. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    You might actually consider choosing a different chassis, emphasizing intake cooling accross the HDDs. It's pretty difficult to add proper HDD cooling after the fact since HDD coolers usually rely on recirculating hot, stale air already inside the chassis. Of course, you could always go with 5.25" HDD hot-swap bays, provided you have the 5.25" bays available in your chassis for it.
     

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