Problems with Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 SATA

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denys2000

Geek Trainee
I have Foxconn 760GXK8MC-RS motherboard and Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 80 GB SATA hard drive, but I don't understand why all testing programs like Sandra or Everest shows that my current HD transfer mode is UDMA 6 - 133 mb/s and it's suppose to be like 150 mb/s.
Can someone explain to me what's wrong with that, please!
 
pelvis_3 said:
It's probably just a software limitation. Nothing to worry about.
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May be, but everything is so slow like when I copy some files from one partition to another I can't do anything, because my comp like freezes. I thought that my problem was lack of the memory (I have 512 DDR400) but when I tried to copy some other files I checked how much memory was available and it was about 100 mb free, but couldn't even move my mouse while copying.:eek:
 
If DMA isn't enabled in BIOS, that can cause slow downs too. The SATA hard drives I come up with all are detected as ATA133, both Seagate and Western Digital. I don't know about Maxtor, but since Seagate owns them now, I'd assume whatever applies to Seagate will apply to Maxtor.

You also might run the Seatools software (you'll have to boot off of it) and run the drive diagnostic software. My 160GB 7200.9 had some bad sectors, and thats how I found out. To be fair, the 80GB and 120GB drives are working fine, and Seagate is pretty reliable.

But, first, I'd definitely make sure DMA is enabled or that can cause slow downs.
 
Hmm...that's wierd. I'm really not sure what could've caused that one.

Another thing I just thought of: the programs themselves. I don't know what versions you're using of Everest and Sandra, but if they're old enough, they may not have the proper information to accurately display your hard drive's information.
 
Big B said:
Another thing I just thought of: the programs themselves. I don't know what versions you're using of Everest and Sandra, but if they're old enough, they may not have the proper information to accurately display your hard drive's information.
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No, the programs were released winter of 2006, so they wouldn't show inaccurate info, I guess.

I tried this Hard on other PC and result was the same - slo-o-ow! I'm going to give it back and take another one.
 
How are you determining it to be 'slow'. The reason I ask is that the xATAxxx (SATA150) is an indicator of the maximum burst rate. The sustained rate is closer to 50MB/s. Another factor to think about is the chipset's storage controllers. I'd try to obtain the newest drivers for the chipset and see where that does anything for you.
 
Big B said:
How are you determining it to be 'slow'. The reason I ask is that the xATAxxx (SATA150) is an indicator of the maximum burst rate. The sustained rate is closer to 50MB/s. Another factor to think about is the chipset's storage controllers. I'd try to obtain the newest drivers for the chipset and see where that does anything for you.
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Talking about "slow" I mean data transfer speed. I tested it with different progs and it was close to only 8 mb/s.

Probably, you're right. The latest chipset drivers for my motherboard of 2005 year.
 
Try something like [google]HD Tach[/google] or [google]Intel IOmeter[/google] if you haven't. I know SiS chipsets aren't screamers, but 8MB/s is pretty pathetic, even for them.
 
Big B said:
Try something like [google]HD Tach[/google] or [google]Intel IOmeter[/google] if you haven't. I know SiS chipsets aren't screamers, but 8MB/s is pretty pathetic, even for them.
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I tried with HD Tach and the result was even worse 4.69 mb/s. Now I think about changing motherboard with CPU on 939 or AM2 socket.
 
If you hunt around, you might be able to pick up a cheap nForce 3 250GB board like the Chaintech VNF3-250 or Abit NV-78. A pretty cheap jump. The only other thing you might do before shelling out is running a test on a known working system to make sure it's not the hard drive. You don't need to (and for fast results, don't want to) boot off that drive. Just plug it in and pop off those tests quickly. SATA is hot pluggable, so you can plug it into the working computer without having to shut it down, have Device Manager scan for new hardware, and then run HD Tach (you should be able to run it right off your hard drive without issue).
 
Big B said:
If you hunt around, you might be able to pick up a cheap nForce 3 250GB board like the Chaintech VNF3-250 or Abit NV-78. A pretty cheap jump. The only other thing you might do before shelling out is running a test on a known working system to make sure it's not the hard drive. You don't need to (and for fast results, don't want to) boot off that drive. Just plug it in and pop off those tests quickly. SATA is hot pluggable, so you can plug it into the working computer without having to shut it down, have Device Manager scan for new hardware, and then run HD Tach (you should be able to run it right off your hard drive without issue).
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Thx for advice. Actually, I gave the HD back and got a call from a diagnostic centre with the answer - the hard drive is DEFECTIVE, so in couple days I can pick up my new one. Plus they'll return my money back coz I've lost a lot of important data and it can not be recovered!:cool:
 
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