Need a new reliable HDD around 1TB - which one to go for?

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Shad0w

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Hi,

I'm running out of space on my computer and I need to buy another hard drive - the capacity should be 1TB or higher, but I don't know which one to go for.

It's important that it's a reliable drive (I know it's probably hard to say which ones are reliable, but at least I should avoid drives with known issues), but it should also be relatively fast as I am storing my projects here and the files are accessed often (and actually loading in textures for my projects can take quite a while).

Some raid setup would probably be my best option for safety, but I can't afford 2 1TB drives right away.

By the way, I currently have a WD Caviar Black 1TB (WD1002FAEX) - which has been working ok, apart from the fact that it's a little annoying that it switches off sometimes and then it may take 4-5 seconds or something before waking up, but I guess that's going to be the case on most drives. My system drive will be a Samsung 830 128GB when my new computer arrives around tuesday next week.

So considering my use, what would you suggest me to buy? :)

Thanks in advance.
 
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Shad0w

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Thanks for your reply :)

I've seen the Samsung in your list recommended often, but what's the impact of having 32MB cache instead of 64MB as the WD Black got? And do you think there are any differences in the noise?

My current WD Black got some vibrational/resonance noise - , but maybe it's the way it's mounted (though it should be dampened with the mounting in the P182).

The Samsung and WD are quite close in price so the price shouldn't matter too much here.

I also looked at the 1.5TB version of the WD (WD1502FAEX) - for some reason it costs almost the same as the 1TB version - is the 1.5TB worse in any way than the 1.0TB? Or maybe the price are just weird here in Denmark :)
 
q4quality

q4quality

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So I am looking at this same issue right now.

I currently have a WD1001FALS 1TB disk, and it seems fine for noise level.
The WD1502FAEX 1.5TB drive is spec'd to be noisier by a few dB. Not sure what the real world levels would be, and if it will be louder then my fans which are not too noisy.

So I was going to get the WD1502FAEX 1.5TB because of more storage and being faster, and make that my main drive, but I'd love to hear if its too noisy or not.

Otherwise I might go with a green drive (slower) and just use it as a backup drive.

These drives might be my drive shortlist:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007603%2050001306%20600003269&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=14|22-136-533^22-136-533-TS%2C22-136-793^22-136-793-TS%2C22-136-513^22-136-513-TS%2C22-136-284^22-136-284-TS%2C22-152-173^22-152-173-TS


1TB WD1001FALS - because I have this one already

1TB Samsung HD103SI - longer warrentee the WD Green drive

1TB WD1002FAEX - because its faster then 1001FALS, but only if the WD1502FAEX is too noisy a disk.

1.5TB WD1502FAEX - because its the fastest in this list, and 1.5 TB

WD15EARS/WD20EARS - because is a more then 1TB green drive, but only if the samsung drive is not better then these ones (for me better would be any of these: doesn't use Advanced Format Partion (i.e. 512B and not 4KB sectors), is quieter and just as fast, or is faster and just as quiet)


Still need to get more info on these disks though.

As far as the cache, I read that disk manufactures put enough cache for the drives needs (aka it doesn't matter). Not sure if that is true though. One would think that it would help with larger data bursts, but I'm not an expert on cache.
 
jsc

jsc

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You need a very good HD benchmark program to distinguish the difference between 32 and 64 MB of cache on the same drive mechanism.

I do not thing that you will notice any difference regardless which drive you choose.
 
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Squall321

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go with a sata2 3.0gb/s drive..
mechanical sata3 6gb/s is a "joke".. :p
maybe look at some 2x500gb drives for a raid1 setup (total 1tb). theoretical doubling the speed of the drive. but less reliability.
or as you mentioned for safety, raid0 (2x500gb=500gb(mirrored)). but this will leave you with the same speed as the disks are rated on.
 
q4quality

q4quality

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1) Looks like all the green drives from WD that are useful for storage use Advanced format (so hassle to use with Win XP).

http://www.wdc.com/wdproducts/library/SpecSheet/ENG/2879-701229.pdf

2) Samsung HDD dept was bought by Seagate, so I'm not sure I'd want to buy a Samsung HDD now.

That just leaves me with the WD 1TB/1.5TB Black drives.

3) Here is a comparison of 2 WD drives, one that is 64MB cache and on that is 32MB cache
http://hdd-compare.com/en/compare/?d=wd2001fass,wd1001fals

SATA is backwards compatible and these drives can't saturate a SATA2 link, so just ignore whether a drive is SATA2 or SATA3 connectivity. Just look at cost, performance, capacity, and noise (and maybe power usage).
Only noise will be the hard variable to determine before purchase.

From www.ncix.com:
Western Digital WD1502FAEX Caviar Black 1.5TB SATA3 7200RPM 64MB Cache Internal Hard Drive OEM $159.99
Western Digital WD1002FAEX Caviar Black 1TB SATA3 6GB/S 7200RPM 64MB Cache 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM $149.98
Western Digital WD1001FALS Caviar Black 1TB SATA2 7200RPM 4.2MS 32MB 3.5IN Dual Proc Hard Drive OEM $144.98

First drive is most expensive, fastest, biggest capacity, spec'd as the noisiest, and uses most power, . All these variable go down as you can down the list (i..e. less $, slower, smaller, quieter, less power used).


4) So does anyone have user info on the noise levels of WD1002FAEX and WD1502FAEX drives?
(Shad0w was also asking about noise levels as he says his WD1002FAEX drive makes vibrational/resonance noises).
 
chesteracorgi

chesteracorgi

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The limitations of SATA II channels (3.0 GB/s) are not reached by sponning mechanical drives. The only deives that can come near to using the 6.0 GB/s bnadwidth of SATA III are SSDs. So ther is no advantage for HDDs on SATA III unless they are being cached by a SSD.

The difference between the 32 and 64 MB cache for the HDDs is insignificant. There mey be a 2% diffference in performance for the extra 32 MB cache.

As for WD quality over Seagate, it is a old and outdated critique. All OEMs have had quality issues with 1 TB + drives and you should go with the one that has the least customer dissatisfaction. I run Hitachi (3 TB), Samsung (2 TB), Seagate (1.5 TB), and WD (630 GB) drives in my gaming machiine and home server. All have proven to be good after 1 year of use. My issue is with the deterioration of the Crucial 300 C after 1 year to 95%.
 
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Shad0w

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Is there a possibility that the 1.5TB WD1502FAEX is more noisy than the 1TB WD1002FAEX? And is it faster too?

I thought they were basically the same drive just with different capacity, so that noise and speed would be equal.

The vibrations of the WD1002FAEX is a humming sound in intervals of like 1-2 seconds - I have a suspicision that is related to the mounting though - but I have tried changing it without any improvement. However, the clicking noise when it is loading is not an issue at all, I can't really hear it, it's only this vibrational noise which is a little annoying.

I got an old Samsung Spinpoint F1 (HD103UJ) too - this one doesn't make any noise, at least not anything I've been aware of :)

q4quality: In that test you link there seems to be quite significant differences between those two drives? But it may be other factors than the cache that results in that since the drives got different capacities?

 
DelroyMonjo

DelroyMonjo

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I've heard about issues with WD Black drives lately. I'm running a HD 1TB 32MB cach 10001 FALS 3GBs from a few years ago which I reformatted for Win 7 and get 89MBs on read 256K blocks.
Hasn't skipped a beat in years.
 
q4quality

q4quality

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Yeah, I'd agree with Chesteracorgi about the cache as I don't have enough knowledge there to say otherwise (i.e. don't worry about a 64MB v.s. 32 MB cache).

The 1.5TB WD1502FAEX has 3, 500 GB platters and the 1TB WD1002FAEX has 2, 500 GB platters.
Since the 1.5 TB drive has more outer edge space it would have a faster max. And with 3 platters to draw data from at once it should be faster in general... but I just believe the test pictures at http://hdd-compare.com/en/compare/?d=wd2001fass,wd1001fals

And yes I would expect the WD1502 to be more noisy then the WD1002, by a few dB at most though. But it would be nice if someone that has used these drives coudl tell us how noisy they are :D .


(p.s. DelroyMonjo: I have the exact some drive, from a few years ago too. It has been good to me too.)
 
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Shad0w

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Hm unfortunately I'm not really getting closer to deciding hehe :p

The 1.5 and 1.0TB WD's are for some reason the same price, but I wouldn't like any noticeable increased noise from the drive :( And I would hope I didn't get the same resonance like I do now..

The differences in speed in the test from hdd-compare.com should be related to the fact that the capacity is different, am I right on that? :)



 
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Shad0w

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I've been looking a little at the 1TB WD RE4 drive (WD1003FBYX), as it should be more reliable? What do you think about this drive?

The price is the same as the WD1002FAEX and WD1502FAEX drive.
 
q4quality

q4quality

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Ugghh... I give in.

Let us know what you choose Shad0W.

It is a shame we didn't get any user input on noise levels of these drives.
(WD1502FAEX , WD1002FAEX)
 
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gabix87

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WD1002FAEX sitting inside a Corsair Graphite 600T White case with other 2HDDs (1xWD Green 500GB , 1xBlue SG 500GB).

Green + Blue = silent and cooler than FAEX
WD Black (FAEX) = you can hear when the arm is moving ,but that's not an issue.

I have only 1 big problem with it. It generates a reasonable "humm" and it's oscilating. I watched and observed the drive closely ,it's vibrating then cage picks it up ,then the case and finally the side panels which are amplyfing it further. I'm unable to sleep because of that sound. I'm starting to become really annoyed by that sound ... it's .... unbearable.

Considering selling it and buying an SSD for OS with 1TB Green or something less noisy/humm free for data from the black.

EDIT: can't delete double-post - && You are not allowed to edit this message! :fou:
 
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gabix87

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WD1002FAEX sitting inside a Corsair Graphite 600T White case with other 2HDDs (1xWD Green 500GB , 1xBlue SG 500GB).

Green + Blue = silent and cooler than FAEX
WD Black (FAEX) = you can hear when the arm is moving ,but that's not an issue.

I have only 1 big problem with it. It generates a reasonable "humm" and it's oscilating. I watched and observed the drive closely ,it's vibrating then cage picks it up ,then the case and finally the side panels which are amplyfing it further. I'm unable to sleep because of that sound. I'm starting to become really annoyed by that sound ... it's .... unbearable.

Considering selling it and buying an SSD for OS with 1TB Green or something less noisy/humm free for data from the black.

edit: sorry for double-post the site said , "temporarily unavailable" and refreshed ...


EDIT : Try listen to this. http://youtu.be/Bj-bRlJTRnc - can you notice it ? It's a low frequency sound. When I touch the HDD it's noticeably resonating compared to other two.
 
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