Im having trouble deciding which hard drive i should buy for the new pc i am building. I want a 200gb in size atleast, i have no idea which speed though, 7200 or 5400 will do i suppose, which brand should i get, i dont know much about hard drives who i dont know which brand is the most reliable, can anyone voice an opinion on the matter? I have looked up various online reviews, but all of them have pros and cons about wd, seagate, samsung, max... etc
Western Digital or Seagate are the best 2 manufacturers for consumer HDDs. For your needs I recommend this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148072 As a seagate drive, and a WD alternative you can have either the ATA or the newer SATA but you need a SATA motherboard to be able to use it. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&Category=0&minPrice=&maxPrice=&Go.x=0&Go.y=0
Yeah, I'm behind Addis' suggestion 100%. I have that exact same Seagate SATA HDD and I've had no problems whatsoever. Great drive and well worth the money!
The best thing about hard drives are only reliable brands enter the business so most drives these days are pretty solid. I'm more a Hitachi guys myself as they tend to be quieter and have ever so slightly lower seek times (in theory) and I have used their products but their larger drives aren't as popular as their smaller ones so I'll recommend this drive from Seagate which is pretty much the best one out there anyway: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148065
My HDD is a 120GB SATA Samsung. It is really quiet and fast. As I never built a PC before this rig, I have no real experience with hard drives. I think that you should pay attention to seek time and buffer size. From my understanding the bigger the buffer and the quicker it spins the quicker it is. But then again, I might be wrong..... I picked my drive for it's size-price-performance ratio. And it carries a three year guarantee!!! If I would have been with this forum before hand, I would have probably chose Seagate or WD. Like with all components, set your self a top wack you are willing to pay and go for the best your money can buy.....
actaully i might get in the US due to the price, would the warranty be valid if i bought it there to bring it home to the uk?
It depends who is giving you the guarantee. Theoretically (according to that paper you never read which comes with a retail product...) the manufacturer should cover you whether you live in the UK or in Tajikistan. But then it could potentially be a hassle to claim or replace. A lot of manufacturers (not all of them... but ASRock do for example) will tell you to contact the seller first and so forth, bla, bla, bla. Then you are stuck with trying to get in touch with an overseas retailer. It gets more complected if the seller is not a 'direct' authorized seller. Then you need to declare it in customs (yeah right.....) Is there such a big difference in price between US and UK? For a fiver or tenner aren't you better off dealing with someone who is at the end of a UK phone line? Idea - hold your horses.... go to the USA (I am assuming you are not going to the cousins just for the HDD...) and see what the seller says about the guarantee and how you claim (I think that as a tourist you do not have to pay VAT, even better!) if the worst happen. If you are happy, you've netted a bargain. If not then nothing has been lost....come back and let that spotty kid behind the counter earn a living.
With Seagate HDDs (I only destroyed it due to dropping it) RMAs are very easy. Doesn't matter where you are, all you do is get your RMA approved online with your drive serial to prove that its still under 5 year warranty and then send it back to the nearest Seagate place. E.g. for me it was the Netherlands and I received a new drive within a week.
yeh seagate are tops. Maxtor are a little under par. I would recommend seagate. Definitely go for 7200rpm instead of 5400. Some manufacturers are even offering 10k rpm drives now. They are a little more expensive but if you want ultimate performance then its well worth the extra $
Seagate it is then, Woohooo. The fact is is that i got all my money changed into dollars so i have no choice really. Although when i get back i wont get as much pounds back as i paid.
i found this, but i think it would be a bit over the top. http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=314041&cks=FRO But i think in comparison this one is the better choice. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148072 What do you think?
I'd go with the one I linked you, it's serialATA with is a bit of an improvent over ATA100. The one you linked from newegg is nice but since the price is very similar just go with the better drive. The one from komplett is overkill if you only need 200gigs they don't get 500. The 16Mb buffer is totally pointless as the chance of cache hit is so incredably slim when you're dealing with 500GB vs. 16MB so you'll notice no performance gain there. 8ms is a top notch seek time for 7200rpm so stick with the 250GB drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148065
