Need help on selecting a new hard drive.

[talon95]

Hi, I'm looking for a decent speed boost but definetly prefer reliablity.

Looking at the following drives. I would really like the ssd but reading reviews I'm not sure if its stable enough. I read on misc reviews that the samsung spinpoint f4 is almost as fast as the wd raptor. Was hoping for confirmation on this, consider price difference + more storage, if the speeds are really similar. The ssd is my max price, if any other hard drives are recommended, cant go over $130 usd, prefer under $100 if possible, but again if the ssd is really more realible then the reviews saying varies things like "not ready for mainstream" etc, I may go with it cause they definetly seem to be the fastest thing out there atm, however I do not wish to have to re image often / backups constantly if I can avoid it. My computer specs if it helps are at the bottom if it helps. Thank you in advance for any advice.


Western Digital VelociRaptor WD1500HLFS 150GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136296

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F4 HD322GJ/U 320GB 7200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152244

Mushkin Enhanced Callisto Deluxe MKNSSDCL60GB-DX 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226151

Here is my current setup
Antec 1200 case + 2 extra fans in it.
Coolmaster 650gx powersupply
GIGABYTE GA-MA785GM-US2H AM3/AM2+/AM2
ddr2 4 gigs worth.
amd 965 quad with coolmaster hyper plus
sapphire 6970 2gigvram
samsung 1tb f3 spinpoint drive
Windows 7 64bit home edition

If any further info is required let me know.

Edit, I forgot to list why I would need faster read writes it seems =)
I play an mmo that uses the hard drive to load zones, I hear faster read/writes speed reduce load times drastically. Mostly gaming would be my use. Thanks again!

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Speed in what ?

For the average user,adding the SSD, about the only speed increase you are actually going notice is in boot up time.

 

[talon95]

I'm sorry, I play an mmo that uses the hard drive to load zones, I hear faster read/writes speed reduce load times drastically. Mostly gaming would be my use.

 

[geofelt]

The performance difference among all modern hard drives is minimal. Do not expect to see much difference.

For performance, get a SSD with a sandforce controller. Do not be misled by the sequential transfer speeds which are advertised.

Do not bother with raid-0 either. Synthetic benchmarks have no bearing to your access pattern, and are meaningless.

You want a drive with the best 4K I/O capability

I think I would get the crucial C300:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148357

 

[talon95]

Best answer selected by talon95.