Hello,

I will be building a pc system for a friend of mine in the first quarter of 2006, and I have a dilemma regarding the drive I will choose for it.

I was originally thinking about a Western Digital 36 GB Raptor (10,000 RPM, 8MB Cache, SATA, currently £79 at my local pc shop) but then I thought for about the same money I could get a Maxtor 250 GB (7,200 RPM, 16MB Cache, SATA, currently £82.19).

Now money is not really a problem for my friend, so I was wondering, which of these 2 drives will be faster?  On the one hand, the WD Raptor runs at 10,000 rpm, but on the other, the Maxtor has 16MB cache, which makes a difference.  Is it possible that in practice / on average both drives will be equally fast?

Any ideas, and links to reviews (if there are any of this sort) are welcome.

Raptor...an excellent choise to have your OS on.

(in reply to Dimitris32)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Antonio

Raptor...an excellent choise to have your OS on.

36GB vs. 250GB ?
is there a real dilema here ?!
go with the Maxtor ..

(in reply to Antonio)

10000rpm to 7200rpm is a different. The system would perform better. Not for a single though since 36Gb are few. You can add a 160Gb 7200 for backups. As for 250Gb can you imagine how data you'll lost in case of damage?

(in reply to major9686)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Antonio

10000rpm to 7200rpm is a different. The system would perform better. Not for a single though since 36Gb are few. You can add a 160Gb 7200 for backups. As for 250Gb can you imagine how data you'll lost in case of damage?

well .. just get some 80-160 GB .. its the best .. you wont need more .. just get some DVD+-RW and you will be fine ..
and to pay so much for 36GB sounds crazy to me .. dont know :(

(in reply to Antonio)

It's very simple actually...


NEED SPEED? Go for Raptor (maybe even 74GB version if $$$ arent problem here)

otherwise...

go for 250GB 7200rpm drive....much more capacity...and not so much slower...


Good luck...either way you choice you cant go wrong...they are both excellent drives...

(in reply to major9686)

I am happy with my 7200rpm WDs but If I had spare money I would like a 36 Raptor...

(in reply to SiliconFreak)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Antonio

I am happy with my 7200rpm WDs but If I had spare money I would like a 36 Raptor...

you mean if you were rich ..
I think that to spend so much money on ... 36GB is .. a joke :( to normal folks like us .. simple .. that have to pay taxes and buy fooooood ;) *drools*

(in reply to Antonio)

here is an excellent review about Raptors...

http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=2073&p=8

(in reply to Antonio)

Thanks for the replies, guys....

But as I mention above, my dilemma is about the Maxtor 250GB having 16MB of cache memory, while the Raptor only 8MB.  I am sure you know that extra cache memory boosts performance.  My question is, could the 8 additional MBs of the Maxtor make up for the extra 2,800 rpms of the Raptor, making both drives to have similar performance levels? 

(In which case, one should go for the larger capacity drive, anyway)...

(in reply to Antonio)

quote:

ORIGINAL: Dimitris32

Thanks for the replies, guys....

But as I mention above, my dilemma is about the Maxtor 250GB having 16MB of cache memory, while the Raptor only 8MB.  I am sure you know that extra cache memory boosts performance.  My question is, could the 8 additional MBs of the Maxtor make up for the extra 2,800 rpms of the Raptor, making both drives to have similar performance levels? 

(In which case, one should go for the larger capacity drive, anyway)...

kinda ... but still .. the Maxtor gives you a whole lotta of GB to use which should be the dominant factor here ;)

(in reply to Dimitris32)

Yes, but what I am asking is which one is faster....  The dominant issue in my question is speed and then comes capacity ....

And if they have similar performance & speed levels due to the Maxtor's 16MB of extra cache then one should naturally go for the larger drive, but do they actually come close in performance in the first place?

(in reply to major9686)

For the last time now....


You need SPEED? RAPTOR IS ABSOLUTE WINNER HERE! (and it doesnt care if maxtor would have 1GB of cache...cause if it phisically cant search and transfer so fast....even cache cant help much....

SPEED ONLY= RAPTOR
CAPACITY ONLY=MAXTOR
SPEED&CAPACITY (average)=MAXTOR

Ok? Anything else? No? Ok...then lets move on...

(in reply to Dimitris32)

I agree with comments about going for speed with the Raptor....

However if Money isn't a factor,

1) Get the Raptor for OS
2) Get the Maxtor for storage!

(in reply to SiliconFreak)

Even better option MP3!

Afterall...even if he goes for speed (Raptor) he will surely need another HDD for capacity...(if playing Tetris wont be everything that will take place on that machine...).

But like I said....if SPEED is his main concern....RAPTOR is the answer....no doubt here...

(in reply to MP3Mogul)

What do you mean by 'fast'? Will this be the ONLY HDD in the system? Can we assume Windoze XP (Pro)?

Considering today's HDD prices and what comes in a new PC, having multiple HDDs will really take advantage of your PC's actual prowess.

HDDs today are as fast as they can already be, and for many years now. Still, they're the slowest 'important' device in your system due to mechanical limitations. The theoretical max a HDD can put out is 85MB/sec. Know that this is so much lower than what the ATA-100 bus can handle. So, you have SATA-I (150MB/sec) or prolly SATA-II (300MB/sec) with the new PC. I consider them the 'holliest of all crap' in the industry (well, except the RIAA, of course!). What is the point of advertizing such speeds when the actual device cant even reach a quarter of it in the lab?

Because I see no real difference in speed for a single HDD implementation, I wld actually look at other factors such as:
1. Reliability: Diamondmax 10 design life is only 5 yrs vs Seagate's 5-yr warrranty. Shockproofing features?
2. Heat: translated into fan speeds, translated into fan noise
3. Acoustics: I dont want to hear it above my normal fan noise already!
4. SATA NCQ capabilities and how it affects performance when turned on/off
5. S.M.A.R.T capabilities. I'll want to know when it's time to change my drive before it really dies on me
6. Available utitilities fr manufacturer to assist drive formatting/partitioning/etc, run diagnostics and query general status

For all these, you'll need to look up the specs from the manufacturer's site.
If you want to see a head to head comparision:
http://techreport.com/reviews/2005q1/maxtor-diamondmax10/index.x?pg=1
(Altho this is for the 300GB model, only its capacity differs. Only look at Diamondmax 10 & Raptor 360)

For me, I'd advise friends to start with a 2 HDD system from day one. You might want to look at XP Pro's RAID-0 Dynamic Disk feature which will bring out proper throughput for today's high powered CPU PCs.

HTH.
XEQ.

(in reply to SiliconFreak)