Upgrade Time

Illwilledmarine · Post by **Illwilledmarine** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 7:40 am

Since I came to this site I've been reading the guides for proper video editing formates, and have read and seen myself already how space consuming lossless and huffyuv formats really are.

So I've been looking online and at the nearby Fry's Electronics for deals on upgrading my hard drive (Seagate 120GB) to something bigger. I'm looking to go about as high as 500GB (If its a good deal) but so far I haven't seen anything that jumps at me, nor do I know if I really need that much space when dealing with video editing.

So I was wondering from those who have been in my situation and have found what works best in size and quality for this type of purpose. What would be the right sized hard drive should I be looking for that will be used mainly for the purpose of video editing and footage storage. (since my current hard drive is full for just my everyday programs, music, etc.) Also, would it be cheaper to buy one large hard drive?
I'm open to personal preferences in brands and sizes of hard drives. I just don't want to end up buying an excessively large hard drive and realizing its more than I need for what I plan to use it for.

Unrelated to my main point of this topic, I also have been having a problem thats been extremely annoying. My PC sits on top of my desk and whenever I accidentally bump my desk (Whether its bump from my elbow or just a small thud from me placing something on my desk) the screen goes black and the PC restarts. Now this isn't any extreme force to my desk, its sometimes caused by just a small thud from me closing a drawer. I thought it might be because of some faulty or badly connected wire, or my memory not seated correctly, but ive checked many different things (I even had the motherboard replaced after having my memory checked, since it was still under warranty) but I just don't get it. I know computers are sensitive but this is crazy having my computer turn off on me every time I set a cup down on my desk or lightly tap the PC. If anyone has any advice for this problem too I would be extremely great full.

post-it · Post by **post-it** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 9:50 am

is it an ACER computer? There was 4.4gig processor model that was recalled a few months ago for "faulty wiring" at the power supply.

from an Electronics point of view, a cold-solder-joint in the power supply sounds like the trouble maker here!

sometimes the connection being make ( that in the Orange area ) has dirt on the wire or Oil on the curcuit board which will not allow the Solder to connect the wire to the curcuit board. ... the only other option would have been a "cold solder joint" on the Mother board -- which you've already replaced.
(( sorta narrows THAT problem to its trouble maker ,Eeh!?! ))

----------------------------

Hard Drives ... 500gig ... under $140.00 ... the actual question here is not Maxtor ( which I've had a lot of good luck with but not many others have liked ) or Seagate ( both hard drives have a long-long history of reliable long lasting lifelines ) but whether you are using SATA or IDE connections.
.. I prefer Maxtor EIDE for its super-fast read/write for editing ( also its a lot quicker than SATA in doing Auto-CAD )
.. Most other computer users prefer Seagate Serial-ATA hard drives; in fact, there's hardly a computer sold today that doesn't use SATA hard drives.

.. As far as 250 gig, 500 gig, 750 gig, when people were using Windows 98 a 200 gig hard drive was considered just about right for Video Editing. Today, I'd have to say that ±500gig should be plenty of room for creating an AMV

Orwell · Post by **Orwell** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 9:58 am

It's too late in my night for heavy duty thinking. But the basics are. You want a 10,000 RPM hdd to run your programs for the fastest speeds, and put all the files it needs to access, vobs and such, on another hdd. The size of the hdd depends on how many connections you available and what you want to store. If you've only got one free connection for another hdd, I'd say go for larger. If you've got multiple free, smaller but in larger quantities might save you more money.

As far as what size you need, if your like me, you don't have enough room. No if ands or buts. More room means more space for unfinished projects and archiving all that crap you thought you'd never want to see again until a year later you think how nice it'd be if you kept that program/video/whatever. But on realistic terms, eh... it all depends on how you edit. If your really good at conserving space, I'd say you can manage with what you currently have. Using avs files instead of making actual clips, deleting all unnecessary files, etc. [In fact, I STRONGLY recommend using avs or fake AVI files over making clips. If you write the script right, they scan just as smoothly as importing the huffy. For me anyhow.] It's up to personal preference and what you want to spend. I just acquired a 320 IDE drive for 80, and a 500 for... 130? I saw them going for something like 120 and from Western Digital, instead of Seagate.

As to who's better, hard to say. I personally have gone with WDD many times, but, lately, I've come to the conclusion that Seagate may in fact be a better choice. As far as life span anyways, pretty much every SG review says their noisier than a WDD.

On the computer issue... take it off your desk? certainly there's floor space where you could put it, or else acquire a separate table to set it on that doesn't get touched. My only idea is that the power cable is taut, so whenever you bump the desk it pulls the cable out of the socket just enough to need a reset.

Orwell · Post by **Orwell** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 10:01 am

But... Maxtor IS Seagate. Seagate bought them out a while ago. Also, about the 750 gb drives, everything I've read on them pretty much said, they're extremely prone to die quickly. I guess the drives don't like perpendicular writing, or something.

post-it · Post by **post-it** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 10:12 am

hmmm . Western Digital . didn't know that they were still around! Now THAT was a hard drive worth having in the pre Windows XP days ^__^

Maxtor/Seagate -- hehe ... erps! ( sorry, I just saw the Maxtor name and bought it ~_~ )

I've actually not heard of anybody who has purchased anything larger than 500 gig's, so your news is news to me!

TaranT · Post by **TaranT** » Sat Jul 07, 2007 12:41 pm

Fry's has a couple of holiday specials going on hard drives, both Seagate: 250GB for $50 and 750GB for $200. Prices will probably go back up on Monday, but they'll be on sale again (later). Both are PATA so you should check your PC first before buying one.

As for the PC resets, if your case allows it, disconnect the reset switch and see if that fixes the problem.

Illwilledmarine · Post by **Illwilledmarine** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 9:41 am

About my sensitive restart problem, I believe you could be right on post-it with dirt in the power supply being the problem, cause my room does tend to get dusty rather quickly and I have been known to fall behind at times on cleaning out my computer (like right now), so I plan to dust it out and see how it runs afterward.

I had no idea Maxtor got bought out by Seagate, didn't catch on cause I still see Maxtor drives in stores along with Seagate. Personally I always thought Western Digital was a good brand, the only thing that made me go for the Seagate drive I have now was cause it had a longer warranty than its WD equivalent.

My board has 4 free Serial ATA ports on it that I haven't used and one free spot for a PATA drive. So I guess I could go with multiple small drives (Say around 250GB) SATA or just one big PATA, I'll just need to research which way could save more money. I also thought drives that were 750GB or bigger had a greater chance of failing (Old PC tech I knew told me) so if I do get a big drive I didn't plan to really go any higher than 500GB (Even if I moved all my main programs and OS onto it I would still have plenty of room and use my current 120GB for some footage/clip storage). Ill probably just go with one 500GB drive, if I find a good deal.

Has anyone had luck with getting good deals online before? At first I wouldn't consider it but I've known a few people that got parts from places like Newegg.com without getting ripped-off or broken hardware.

Illwilledmarine · Post by **Illwilledmarine** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 10:00 am

Just looked online and found a drive that looks like around what I'm looking for and what some of recommend. Not sure if its worth getting but just wondering if its something like what you guys are suggesting.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822136111

Just thought this might help show what I'm kinda looking for. Also, I looked into 10,000RPM Hard drives and it seems for the amount of space I'm looking for they go a lot higher in price than what I'm willing to spend, my current drive is 7200 RPM and seems to go fast enough for me to do what I've been doing. Plus I'm mainly just looking for more room than more speed.

Also, thanks a bunch for the help you've all given me so far : )

Orwell · Post by **Orwell** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 10:05 am

That's what I would have bought if it had been on sale. I bought my slightly more expensive seagate the day before that deal came out. As far as the 10k RPM goes, it's a minimal difference for those who are obsessed with getting the most out of their system. Of all the HDD's I've bought from newegg, I haven't had a problem so far. probably about... 6 in total?

Illwilledmarine · Post by **Illwilledmarine** » Sun Jul 08, 2007 10:09 pm

Oh cool! I'll probably do a little more searching around but more than likely ill just pick up that one. Thanks again for all the help.