Personal computing discussed

Moderators: renee, morphine, Steel

 
sherlock
Gerbil
Topic Author
Posts: 76
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2012 7:29 pm

Recommend a 2/3TB HDD in the 100-170 range for me

Thu Aug 09, 2012 12:00 pm

Hi, I am building a new destktop and need to find a reliable HDD as my data drive, all my OS,Games and other application will be running through a Samsung 830 256g SSD so 5400RPM models are fine by me.
I am currently looking for a 2 TB HDD in the <$ 130 range but if there is a good 3TB in the < $ 170 range I could use that as well,it will be mainly for back-up files and movies/other videos files:

My priorities:
1.Reliablity
2.Warranty
3.Fit the budget
4.SATA III 6Gbs(is this important at all for a data drive)?

Please give me your recommendations, thanks.
 
Jon1984
Gerbil XP
Posts: 336
Joined: Wed Mar 23, 2011 3:07 pm
Location: Portugal

Re: Recommend a 2/3TB HDD in the 100-170 range for me

Thu Aug 09, 2012 12:04 pm

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136874

I have the 2TB version, it is extremely quiet, and good enough to store music/video/stuff :wink:
i5 3570K - Nepton 280L - P8Z77-V - 4x4Gb - 290X Gaming 4Gb - 2x F90 - Spinpoint F3 1Tb - S340 - CS750M
MX239H AH-IPS - Ryos MK - Kone Pure Military - HyperX Cloud - Win 10
Xiaomi Mi A2
 
sherlock
Gerbil
Topic Author
Posts: 76
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2012 7:29 pm

Re: Recommend a 2/3TB HDD in the 100-170 range for me

Thu Aug 09, 2012 1:04 pm

Thanks for the link, the the only thing I don't like about that one(WD Caviar Green 3TB) is that it have a 3 egg review score and a whooping 33% 1 egg reviews compared to its competitor 3TB Seagate Barracuda Green(149.99 instead of 160+) and a 4 egg review score(20% 1 egg reviews).
 
sircharles32
Gerbil Team Leader
Posts: 269
Joined: Thu Jun 23, 2005 7:31 pm

Re: Recommend a 2/3TB HDD in the 100-170 range for me

Thu Aug 09, 2012 2:06 pm

Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB, if you can get it on sale, will fit all of your requirements.
NE has had it for $170 (a few weeks back).
It's got a 5 yr warranty.
Workstation: Phenom II X4 965
Every-Day: Athlon II X4 630
Servers: Athlon X2 BE-2400, A8-7600
Gym: Opteron 150
 
sherlock
Gerbil
Topic Author
Posts: 76
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2012 7:29 pm

Re: Recommend a 2/3TB HDD in the 100-170 range for me

Thu Aug 09, 2012 4:03 pm

sircharles32 wrote:
Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB, if you can get it on sale, will fit all of your requirements.
NE has had it for $170 (a few weeks back).
It's got a 5 yr warranty.


Yeah I looked it up and it went back to 179.99, for a 2TB that'a $/GB ratio I can't accept even with a 10 yr warranty.

Should have mentioned my taken on the price limit: 2TB up to 140, 3TB up to 170. Right now from my reserach I am liking the 2TB 5KRpm at about 100-130 range alot more than 3TB in the 140-170 range.
 
superjawes
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2475
Joined: Thu May 28, 2009 9:49 am

Re: Recommend a 2/3TB HDD in the 100-170 range for me

Thu Aug 09, 2012 4:07 pm

WD Green. I've had a 1TB variant for a few years with no troubles so far.

Are 3TB drives still having issues? I know the first batches had some problems, but so did the 1TB drives when they were first coming out.
On second thought, let's not go to TechReport. It's infested by crypto bull****.
 
just brew it!
Administrator
Posts: 54500
Joined: Tue Aug 20, 2002 10:51 pm
Location: Somewhere, having a beer

Re: Recommend a 2/3TB HDD in the 100-170 range for me

Thu Aug 09, 2012 9:05 pm

WD greens are good as long as you're not running Linux (there's a potential bad interaction between the head unload timer and the periodic drive polls issued by the Linux kernel which can cause the head load/unload mechanism to wear out).

6 Gb/sec doesn't really matter for a data drive, especially if you're going for a lower spindle speed like the WD Green.

Hitachi has been decent lately; I suggest this one (just under your budget for a 2TB, and free shipping).
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
 
swampfox
Gerbil First Class
Posts: 161
Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2008 3:15 pm
Location: Alaska

Re: Recommend a 2/3TB HDD in the 100-170 range for me

Thu Aug 09, 2012 9:43 pm

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned WD Red drives. They have a three-year warranty. I'm looking at getting one for our NAS.

2TB WD Red is $130 on NewEgg

but the 3TB is currently out of stock and $200, so that's a bit much.
C2D E7300 | ASUS P5Q Pro | 4GB OCZ Fatal1ty DDR2-800 | ASUS Radeon HD 4850 TOP | 500W OCZ ModXStream | WD10EADS | WD6400AAKS | Win7 64bit | Antec P182
 
cynan
Graphmaster Gerbil
Posts: 1160
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2004 2:30 pm

Re: Recommend a 2/3TB HDD in the 100-170 range for me

Thu Aug 09, 2012 10:30 pm

If reliability is your #1 concern, then the Western Digital Red drives are probably hard to beat at the price. I just bought 3x 2TB Seagate Barracudas (7.12) for a NAS. They are fast (almost performing on par with the Caviar Blacks) and cheap but there have been a lot of reliability complaints. I'm hoping the latest firmware will help in this area, but it's too early to tell.

For a desktop environment, the slower spindle speed of the Caviar Reds may not be optimal. But probably unbeatable for reliability at the price. However, they're still too new to really judge real world reliability. If you want a reliable, fast desktop drive you really need to shell out for something like the Caviar Black or an enterprise grade drive which are even more expensive.

Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be a lot of good options these days for affordable yet reliable mechanical drives. I would take whatever drive is cheapest that comes with a minimum of 3 year warranty and make sure that I had recent backups of anything important I stored on the thing.

If forced to make a recommendation, I'd probably say go with the to 2TB Hitachi linked above. It is 7200 RPM and comes with a 3 year warranty. Either that or a Caviar Red.
Last edited by cynan on Thu Aug 09, 2012 10:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
 
just brew it!
Administrator
Posts: 54500
Joined: Tue Aug 20, 2002 10:51 pm
Location: Somewhere, having a beer

Re: Recommend a 2/3TB HDD in the 100-170 range for me

Thu Aug 09, 2012 10:35 pm

cynan wrote:
If reliability is your #1 concern, then the Western Digital Red drives are probably hard to beat at the price. I just bought 3x 2TB Seagate Barracudas (7.12) for a NAS. They are fast (almost performing on par with the Caviar Blacks) and cheap but there have been a lot of reliability complaints. I'm hoping the latest firmware will help in this area, but it's too early to tell.

That's disappointing. I was hoping that the reliability issues were confined to the 7200.11 series.

cynan wrote:
For a desktop environment, the slower spindle speed of the Caviar Reds may not be optimal. But probably unbeatable for reliability at the price. However, they're still too new to really judge reliability. If you want a reliable, fast desktop drive you really need to shell out for something like the Caviar Black or an enterprise grade drive which are even more expensive.

Aren't the Reds essentially Greens with tweaked firmware and a longer warranty?
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
 
cynan
Graphmaster Gerbil
Posts: 1160
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2004 2:30 pm

Re: Recommend a 2/3TB HDD in the 100-170 range for me

Thu Aug 09, 2012 10:41 pm

just brew it! wrote:
That's disappointing. I was hoping that the reliability issues were confined to the 7200.11 series.

I've had my 3 running for a month so far without problems. Maybe the new firmware Seagate released early this summer really does do something for reliability. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

just brew it wrote:
Aren't the Reds essentially Greens with tweaked firmware and a longer warranty?

As far as I know they are. However I don't see why firmware couldn't make or break reliability of a drive.
 
just brew it!
Administrator
Posts: 54500
Joined: Tue Aug 20, 2002 10:51 pm
Location: Somewhere, having a beer

Re: Recommend a 2/3TB HDD in the 100-170 range for me

Thu Aug 09, 2012 10:45 pm

cynan wrote:
just brew it wrote:
Aren't the Reds essentially Greens with tweaked firmware and a longer warranty?

As far as I know they are. However I don't see why firmware couldn't make or break reliability of a drive.

Agreed... however, the mechanical components are important too. And WD generally seems to have their act together in that department. They seem to have had fewer firmware issues than Seagate lately too, aside from the Green/Linux compatibility thing.
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.
 
Flying Fox
Gerbil God
Posts: 25690
Joined: Mon May 24, 2004 2:19 am
Contact:

Re: Recommend a 2/3TB HDD in the 100-170 range for me

Thu Aug 09, 2012 11:24 pm

Does wdidle3 work on the Red drives, or there is no issue with them?
The Model M is not for the faint of heart. You either like them or hate them.

Gerbils unite! Fold for UnitedGerbilNation, team 2630.
 
sherlock
Gerbil
Topic Author
Posts: 76
Joined: Tue Aug 07, 2012 7:29 pm

Re: Recommend a 2/3TB HDD in the 100-170 range for me

Fri Aug 10, 2012 1:13 pm

So far I haven't found anything beating this 3TB Seagate selling at 150 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822148844, and If their new firmware fixed their issue then that's even more plus. Will take a look at the Red WD.

p.s I have been advised to keep discussion within my System Builder post, so you can respond here viewtopic.php?f=33&t=83042

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest
GZIP: On