sata drive

jane · Apr 16, 2008, 21:58:51

Can anyone recommend a good internal sata drive? My PC came with just one IDE drive and the mb only has one IDE connection but 4 sata connections and I thought it would be good to get one for backup. I've never used sata before so before I go a'huntin just thought I would get some opinions

Cookiemonster · Apr 16, 2008, 22:00:31

How big are you looking for?

Simon · Apr 16, 2008, 22:04:02

Quote from: jester212 on Apr 16, 2008, 22:00:31
How big are you looking for?

When's the last time you were asked that, Jane?!!

Cookiemonster · Apr 16, 2008, 22:05:09

jane · Apr 16, 2008, 22:12:08

you'd be surprised

Dangerjunkie · Apr 16, 2008, 22:14:09

I really like Samsung drives. Very quiet, very reliable and great warranty

jane · Apr 16, 2008, 22:17:33

seriously though folks, I'm not sure yet as it would depend on the price but say 300-500 for starters. The ide is 300 so onwards and upwards as the saying goes
........I have to agree with Samsung, previously have used seagate but this new one is a samsung and it is quiet

Ray · Apr 16, 2008, 22:18:52

I would go for Samsung as well.

Cookiemonster · Apr 16, 2008, 22:21:22

Yeah Samsung are excellent. I have 2 as a matter of fact. These ones..Samsung Spinpoint.

Simon · Apr 16, 2008, 22:21:43

I've just ordered a Seagate 500Gb from Scan for my new build. Previously I have always stuck to IBM / Hitachi, which have never failed me, so I hope the change won't be for the worse.

Cookiemonster · Apr 16, 2008, 22:23:19

Quote from: Simon on Apr 16, 2008, 22:21:43
I've just ordered a Seagate 500Gb from Scan for my new build. Previously I have always stuck to IBM / Hitachi, which have never failed me, so I hope the change won't be for the worse.

Bit of rivalry going on between me and Simon he likes Scan and I prefer Overclockers!!

Both are good online sellers however.

jane · Apr 16, 2008, 22:26:07

that'll be the first port of call then.....I'll see what's available, thanks all, really appreciated

I like overclockers...never tried scan........

Cookiemonster · Apr 16, 2008, 22:27:27

Quote from: jane on Apr 16, 2008, 22:26:07
that'll be the first port of call then.....I'll see what's available, thanks all, really appreciated
I like overclockers...never tried scan........

Woo Hoo!!

jane · Apr 16, 2008, 22:37:19

you ain't called jester for nothing...

Simon · Apr 16, 2008, 22:44:05

It was a close call though, wasn't it Steve? It was only the 4Gb RAM that swung it in the end, and if that had been in the OCers package, I would have gone for it.

mogden · Apr 16, 2008, 22:47:53

If it's SATA have a look at buying two and using SATA RAID (FakeRAID!) and you will get a huge performance boost.

My 2p. Of course this nearly doubles the small chance of disk failure but you should back up anyway!

Cookiemonster · Apr 16, 2008, 22:50:29

Quote from: Simon on Apr 16, 2008, 22:44:05
It was a close call though, wasn't it Steve? It was only the 4Gb RAM that swung it in the end, and if that had been in the OCers package, I would have gone for it.

Yeah that's true. Though still very good value for money either way.

Simon · Apr 16, 2008, 22:59:44

Indeed, as long as it works!

Simon · Apr 16, 2008, 23:00:52

Oh, and I saved the delivery costs with Scan too, through AVForums, thanks to Sandra's tip off.

Cookiemonster · Apr 16, 2008, 23:09:41

Yeah i noticed that. I joined up just on the off chance i ever use them, as delivery rates can usually add an extra tenner or more on easy.

Simon · Apr 16, 2008, 23:18:08

Fortunately, I've been a member for some years now - I think there's a minimum amounts of posts you need to have made before you can use the offer link.

Cookiemonster · Apr 16, 2008, 23:20:52

OK thanks for the heads up. I'll have a more in depth look over the weekend.

Sebby · Apr 16, 2008, 23:58:33

Samsung drives are very quiet. I like Seagate myself, as I find them very reliable and I like the 5 year warranty.

Simon · Apr 17, 2008, 00:07:06

Yes, they wouldn't give a 5 year warranty if they didn't expect it to last that long.

drummer · Apr 17, 2008, 00:32:53

From personal experience only, the most reliable internal SATA drives I've used are Western Digital.

The least reliable by any definition have been Maxtor (now part of Seagate).

Ignore RAID because, that way madness lies...

Simon · Apr 17, 2008, 00:42:02

Maxtor is the only drive I've ever had a problem with, and wouldn't buy another.

plugwash · Apr 17, 2008, 01:10:12

I had two segate U series drives (not sure exactly which model) die, iirc one was about 4 gig one was about 8 gig.

More recently (but still a long time ago) I had a maxtor go smart status bad but I got all the data copied and returned it to maxtor before it actually failed.

other than that and some very very old laptop drives I haven't had any problems.

It seems all the drive vendors go through bad phases, unfortunately you can't really tell what manufacturers are currently in a bad phase only which were in a bad phase a few years ago.

Sebby · Apr 17, 2008, 08:28:43

I have to agree. WD are also very reliable. Maxtor are poor.

Rik · Apr 17, 2008, 10:03:40

I'm with Drummer, RAID0 is an extremely undesirable way to go. Most makes of drive are good, but Maxtor is a brand I would avoid. Of course, if you want speed, then look at WD Raptors!!

Steve · Apr 17, 2008, 10:39:48

If RAID 0 is well backed up elsewhere surely one should be safe?

Rik · Apr 17, 2008, 10:40:58

Agreed, Steve, but how many people make regular and complete backups?

Steve · Apr 17, 2008, 10:44:01

But in that case they will end end up in trouble with or without raid0, obviously the risks are higher with the latter.

Rik · Apr 17, 2008, 10:45:54

Again, I agree, Steve. The problem, to me, is that most people don't see the additional risk with RAID0, just the performance gain. Personally, with the price of HDs these days, I'd go for RAID0+1, which offers the best of both worlds.

mogden · Apr 17, 2008, 11:01:36

RAID's worth the effort IMHO (that's why I did it!

) Gave my three year old machine a huge performance boost (with enough RAM so I could switch paging off).

RAID0+1 or RAID5 if you don't have another automated backup means. I use RAID0 + Allway Sync overnight - until I can afford another two discs.

I have never had a problem with Western Digital disks

, but have also had Maxtors fail.

At the risk of being boring, how many people remember to do an offsite backup?

Rik · Apr 17, 2008, 11:04:57

Me.

Sebby · Apr 17, 2008, 13:09:48

I run 2 x 250GB Seagates in a RAID0 array, but I do backup daily.

TheMonkey · Apr 18, 2008, 16:27:27

this is for you depending how much space you need but
a sumsung drive few quid short of £50 for 500gig is pretty good in my book!

http://www.ebuyer.com/search/?strSearch=&bolShowAll=true&intStoreID=2&intCatID=4&intSubcatUID=1090&intMfrID=40&bolShowAll=true

Inactive · Apr 18, 2008, 16:36:49

Nice find...

Baz · Apr 18, 2008, 16:41:51

what sort of bother do you get with the Maxtor drives then. Ive never had any trouble and thats why I stuck with them.

maybe I'm just lucky

Inactive · Apr 18, 2008, 16:44:31

I think the reliability varies from model to model with all HDD's.

Rik · Apr 18, 2008, 16:50:11

Quote from: Baz on Apr 18, 2008, 16:41:51
what sort of bother do you get with the Maxtor drives then. Ive never had any trouble and thats why I stuck with them.

They just seem to have had a reputation for failures over the past year or or so, Baz.

Baz · Apr 18, 2008, 16:52:49

Hmmmm will keep that in mind thanks

Sebby · Apr 18, 2008, 17:15:19

I personally haven't had trouble with the few Maxtor drives I've owned over the years, but I know several people that have.

Simon · Apr 18, 2008, 20:50:04

I had two Maxtors fail while building a new machine for a friend. One wouldn't format, so I had to wait a week for a replacement from Watford Electronics, then the second one loaded Windows, but constantly clicked while running, so ended up buying a WD from PC World, and getting a refund for the Maxtor. After two bad experiences, with other manufacturers available, I have no reason to use them again.

Rik · Apr 19, 2008, 09:14:30

Part of your problem was dealing with WE, Simon.

Simon · Apr 19, 2008, 09:54:04

Indeed, Rik. Like so many companies, a good service, until something goes wrong. With faulty parts, firms should send immediate replacements, not make you wait until they have received and tested your returned item.

Rik · Apr 19, 2008, 09:58:11

WE were always small-minded in my experience, right from the early 80s.