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    Which hard drive should I buy? (performance)

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by swarmer, Aug 30, 2008.

  1. swarmer

    swarmer beep beep

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    I'm looking to replace my laptop hard drive for performance reasons.
    Here's what I'm looking for:

    - Fast -- should be one of the fastest drives around
    - Quiet, or moderate, but shouldn't be that noisy.
    - Around $110 or less
    - 160 gb or more. However, I do not care about capacity beyond 160 gb -- I won't make use of any space beyond that.

    So... what drive is best? I was looking at the WD1600BEKT and the Hitachi 7K320 160gb... which is faster? quieter? Any other drives I should look at? Thanks.
     
    swarmer, Aug 30, 2008
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  2. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    I would say that the 160GB 7K320 is the fastest.
    Comparing the 320GB 7200RPMs, Seagate was the coolest, and the 7K320 was the quickest. I would say go for the 7K320 160GB, as it has been reported as quiet by K-Tron here, and is extremely fast.

    You could also wait for the Seagate 320GB 7200.3 to be in stock at zipzoomfly, which is available for about $130 (cheapest of all the 320gig 7200RPMs)

    All three - WD Black, Hitachi 7K320 and Seagate 7200.3 160GB drives are good and provide nearly similar real-world performance figures, so it really depends which drive you can get the cheapest (or with MIR)....
     
    Andy, Aug 30, 2008
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  3. powerpack

    powerpack Notebook Prophet

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    swarmer since you are asking about specific HDD's less than useful. But aren't the generalazations about the big 3? WD quietest, Hitachi fastest Seagate best warranty and loudest?

    I say Hitachi but I am a fan of them. They are good cost/performance/reliability. Does not mean it is the best but a very good drive.
     
    powerpack, Aug 30, 2008
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  4. K-TRON

    K-TRON Hi, I'm Jimmy Diesel ^_^

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    Go for the 7k320 160gb version. I have two of them and they are both whisper quiet and they are really fast. Seek times are faster on the one platter version than the two platter one, so it has a slight edge over the 320gb version.
    I have the drives, but they are at my home, and I am at school, so I havent actually used them yet. My brother benchmarked them and gave me the results, and they are really good.
    He also said it was really quiet, but than again quiet to one may be different than quiet to another.

    K-TRON
     
    K-TRON, Aug 30, 2008
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  5. swarmer

    swarmer beep beep

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    Thanks, K-TRON. Any chance you could post the benchmarks?... especially if they're from HDTune?

    EDIT: Never mind, I just found your post of the HDTune graph from Andy's link... thanks.
     
    swarmer, Aug 30, 2008
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  6. K-TRON

    K-TRON Hi, I'm Jimmy Diesel ^_^

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    sure,
    Andy provided a link to it, but we can put it here so its easier to see:
    [​IMG]

    Keep in mind, there is no data on this drive, so it may perform slower with an operating system installed on it.

    K-TRON
     
    K-TRON, Aug 30, 2008
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  7. Phil

    Phil Retired

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    I'd go for either 7K320 or WD1600BEKT. Performance wise there will be very little between them.
     
    Phil, Aug 31, 2008
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  8. swarmer

    swarmer beep beep

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    ok, I just ordered the 7k320 160gb from zipzoomfly (with a little discount from Windows Live cashback).

    Thanks guys!
     
    swarmer, Aug 31, 2008
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  9. stewie

    stewie What the deuce?

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    Hitachi 7K320 :)

    EDIT: Good choice! :D
     
    stewie, Aug 31, 2008
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  10. roland_j

    roland_j Notebook Consultant

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    roland_j, Aug 31, 2008
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  11. Phil

    Phil Retired

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    Yes that's the one :)
     
    Phil, Aug 31, 2008
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  12. swarmer

    swarmer beep beep

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    swarmer, Aug 31, 2008
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  13. K-TRON

    K-TRON Hi, I'm Jimmy Diesel ^_^

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    wow, I didnt know that by using windows live, you can get cash back returns. I am definitely signing up when I make that next purchase 3-5% back on electronic can really add up :D

    Buying the 7K320 was a good move, it is so affordable, and very fast.

    K-TRON
     
    K-TRON, Aug 31, 2008
    #13