HDD upgrade

OmegaRed

Thinking about upgrading my hard drive which would run my OS (Vista 64) + games. I was looking at a SSD but the cost for such a small size drive puts me off (30gb for 70 to 100 euro). Space isn't a problem as I have well over 2TB of storage (internal and external) but I am looking for something between 120 and 250gb that would be pretty fast.

Top RPM speed i can find is about 7200 without going mad with cash.

Can anyone recommend something sizable, very fast and decent bang for your buck please?

tman

Spinpoint F3 1TB if you're going for a platter-puss

I guess there are cheaper drives out there that fit into your space requirements, but the savings would be minimal and I'd like to see them beat the F3 in any benches!

Monotype

You'd really want W7 to make good use of the SSD.

What are your current hard drives?
Something like a samsung F3 should give you a significant boost if the drives are 3 or 4 years old. A partition of the first half for OS only could ensure that you have the best part of the drive.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-HD502HJ-SATA-Drive-Internal/dp/B002J65AHQ/
500GB version, but 1TB version is not much more.

Edit: Yep, what tman says. Some of the recent WD drives do a lot better in access times, but they charge a good bit more for them.

OmegaRed

this one would be perfect then based on your recommendations: http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=28151&agid=689

I am curious though, the F3 has the following spec:
Data Transfer Rate 300 MBps
Average Seek Time 8.9 ms
Spindle Speed 7200 rpm
Buffer Size 16 MB

where as this http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=42807&agid=1342 has
Data Transfer Rate 600 MBps
Average Seek Time 8.5 ms
Spindle Speed 7200 rpm
Buffer Size 8 MB

does the buffer size make that much of a difference? The Seagate one is double the DTR of the F3

my current main hard drive is: http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=17394&agid=689 and i have its partitioned 50/50.

But I actually think its on the way out....

Monotype

That seagate is a green drive. It will definitely be slower.


F1 vs F3.





BTW, you do know that hardwareversand charge €30 for postage?

OmegaRed

Monotype wrote: »

BTW, you do know that hardwareversand charge €30 for postage?

Yup, but I plan on getting the hard drive as part of a bigger order I'll be placing, but thanks for keeping my pocket in mind!

Monotype

OmegaRed wrote: »

Data Transfer Rate 300 MBps
...
Data Transfer Rate 600 MBps
...
The Seagate one is double the DTR of the F3

Don't mind that. It's like saying the speed limit on a road is 300km/h vs 600km/h when your car only does 100. It only applies to the C300 series of SSDs and that's it (until the next set hit the shelves).

OmegaRed

well in that case i should be going for the 1TB F3 then. Is there a difference here?

http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=28152&agid=689
or
http://www1.hardwareversand.de/articledetail.jsp?aid=43088&agid=689

the more expensive one is Environmentally friendly and the 'enterprise' edition...

Monotype

Probably very similar. Enterprise usually has longer warranty and is better for RAID. I'd go for the cheaper.