Ok, so why are these Hard drives different?

OzzieAlThor79 · Post by **OzzieAlThor79** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 9:50 am

So this one is 160 gigs and $83.99.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... 7580128775

This one is 320 gigs and $134.99

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... 9384455782

Seems pretty decent.

Now the odd stuff (for me anyways) kicks in:

This one is 150 gigs and $350.00

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... 0986300796

This one is 120 gigs and $134.99

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... 3997598155

This one is 150 gigs and $239.99

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... 2294266684

I got all of these from Best Buy's website using this search:

Link

[MOD17: URL converted to link to prevent forum stretching.]

The wife and I think our 100 Gig Data drive is finally dying (noises and everything almost any time we access it).

Now, I might not get it at Best Buy. I wanted to see what the prices would be to replace it.

Then I see these *widely* different amounts...

My question is will I hose myself by getting a cheaper Hard drive with more space? We would be using this drive exclusivley for files and any of my games. We run Windows off our 40 gig Hard drive and don't install much of anything on that.

Thanks!

TaranT · Post by **TaranT** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 10:38 am

You pay a premium for (1) high speed and (2) small size.

The 120GB is a small laptop drive; the other two are Raptor models (10,000 RPM).

OzzieAlThor79 · Post by **OzzieAlThor79** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 11:27 am

TaranT wrote:You pay a premium for (1) high speed and (2) small size.

The 120GB is a small laptop drive; the other two are Raptor models (10,000 RPM).

Ok, so besides the 120 GB being something for a laptop... could I have that translated from Tech-enese?

Kariudo · Post by **Kariudo** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 11:39 am

Western Digital Raptors are meant for high performance needs.
the actual disk spins at 10,000 rpm (most desktop HD's spin at 7200 rpm or 5400rpm)

when the disk spins faster, you can get from one location on the disk to another in less time (seek time)
I believe that the read/write times are also better than other drives(how long it takes to get/put some information from/onto the disk)

(I think) most people who get raptors usually get more than one so that they can put them into a raid array (a way of making 2 or more physically seperate disks act like one)
doing this usually improves seek and read times even more

making the disk spin faster means that it's harder to manufacture (sp) and drives the cost up a bit.
Laptop hard drives have to be smaller than desktop hard drives (usually) which drives the production cost up as well

BasharOfTheAges · Post by **BasharOfTheAges** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 1:34 pm

I'd advise not shopping at best buy for HDDs - not because there's anything inherently wrong with them, but since they have tons of physical locations, they have more overhead than, say, an online retailer like newegg.com. I may be wrong with some of the drives mentioned here, but try searching for the same or similar drives at newegg and tell me if you don't find cheaper prices - even with the shipping costs.

OzzieAlThor79 · Post by **OzzieAlThor79** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 1:53 pm

Ok, that makes sense.

So for the purposes that I have - Meaning the only thing that would actually "run" on said new drive would be my games and the rest of the drive would be used for data storage - is the preformance of the Raptors so markedly better I should buy them?

Or do the other drives serve the purpose I am looking for?

BasharOfTheAges · Post by **BasharOfTheAges** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 1:58 pm

Unless you have a high-end system the bottleneck for performance isn't going to be your HDD access time unless you're doing lots of databasing. I'd go for a 7200rpm drive... and if the prices you're quoting are what you were willing to spend, you can get some very decently sized drives for that price.

Kariudo · Post by **Kariudo** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 2:11 pm

...I wonder why best buy sells those raptorX's for less than the normal 150GB raptor...

prices of those exact drives on newegg (in same order as 1st post):
$52.99 ($31 diff)
$84.99 ($50 diff)
$209.99 ($140 diff)
$77.99 ($57 diff)
$229.99 ($10 diff)

HD times: raptor (10k rpm)
Average Latency: 2.99ms
Average Seek Time: 4.6ms
Average Write Time: 5.2ms

HD times: Caviar (7200 rpm)
Average Latency: 4.2ms
Average Seek Time: 8.9ms
Average Write Time: 10.9ms

getting raptors won't increase game fps (maybe very little...but not drastic)
getting raptors should make windows/other programs boot faster

when you do get a hard drive, make sure that you know what interface your mobo can use.
Sata != ATA (IDE/EIDE)
if you're not sure, crack open your case and take a flashlight and look for this(IDE/EIDE) or this(SATA)

OzzieAlThor79 · Post by **OzzieAlThor79** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 2:21 pm

BasharOfTheAges wrote:I'd advise not shopping at best buy for HDDs - not because there's anything inherently wrong with them, but since they have tons of physical locations, they have more overhead than, say, an online retailer like newegg.com. I may be wrong with some of the drives mentioned here, but try searching for the same or similar drives at newegg and tell me if you don't find cheaper prices - even with the shipping costs.

2 words: Geek Squad.

I am not allowed to install any hardware on the computer.

Although, I have a local place that does nothing but computer parts... I wonder what their prices are and whether they install or not...

I'm jsut trying to understand the product, not decide where to buy it quite yet.

BasharOfTheAges · Post by **BasharOfTheAges** » Tue Feb 27, 2007 5:03 pm

Hardware installation by hardware-inclined people is often expensive - like a plumber or electrician.

The actual time needed to install an extra HDD is minimal (it'll actually take you longer to take the case's side panel off and put it back on than it will to do the work) and the process is very straight forward. You connect power and data lines that are made to only be able to be inserted 1 way and screw the thing in.