Titanion

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I am looking at three WD HDDs from newegg. All three drives are in the $80 range. I will likely buy one and then add another later, potentially for a RAID0 setup. How much better for a RAID0 setup is the 2nd one listed below than the other two... I like the 250GBx2 better than the 160GBx2 in terms of mass storage, but exactly why are the 160GB HDDs supposed to be better for a RAID configuration? And what is the difference between the forst one and the third one, 8MB cache vs. 16? Thanks.

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Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

$84.99

Average Latency: 4.2ms
Average Seek Time: 8.9ms
Cache: 8MB
Features: Fast Cool-running Quiet SecureConnect FlexPower Data Protection Enhancements
Form Factor: 3.5"
Manufacturer Warranty: 3-Year
Model #: WD2500JS Item #: N82E16822144417

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Western Digital Caviar RE WD1600YD 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

$85.00

Average Latency: 4.2ms
Average Seek Time: 8.9ms
Average Write Time: 10.9ms
Cache: 16MB
Features: RAID-specific time-limited error recovery improves compatibility with RAID adapters, and prevents drive fallout caused by the extended hard drive error-recovery processes common to desktop hard drives. 1 million hours MTBF meets enterprise-class reliability standards, backed by an industry-leading five-year warranty.
Form Factor: 3.5"
Manufacturer Warranty: 5-Year
Model #: WD1600YD
Item #: N82E16822136009

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Western Digital Caviar RE WD2500YD 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

$89.99

Average Latency: 4.2ms
Average Seek Time: 8.9ms
Average Write Time: 10.9ms
Cache: 16MB
Features: FlexPower– connector technology that accepts power from either industry-standard or new SATA power supplies. Hot plug support – allows swapping of hard drives without having to power down the system or reboot; promotes system design flexibility, data availability, and serviceability. Backplane compatibility – uses the SATA industry standard connector which includes alignment
Form Factor: 3.5"
Manufacturer Warranty: 5-Year
Model #: WD2500YD
Item #: N82E16822136010
 

ZOldDude

Distinguished
Apr 22, 2006
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I am looking at three WD HDDs from newegg. All three drives are in the $80 range. I will likely buy one and then add another later, potentially for a RAID0 setup. How much better for a RAID0 setup is the 2nd one listed below than the other two... I like the 250GBx2 better than the 160GBx2 in terms of mass storage, but exactly why are the 160GB HDDs supposed to be better for a RAID configuration? And what is the difference between the forst one and the third one, 8MB cache vs. 16? Thanks.

*******************************

Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

$84.99

Average Latency: 4.2ms
Average Seek Time: 8.9ms
Cache: 8MB
Features: Fast Cool-running Quiet SecureConnect FlexPower Data Protection Enhancements
Form Factor: 3.5"
Manufacturer Warranty: 3-Year
Model #: WD2500JS Item #: N82E16822144417

*******************************

Western Digital Caviar RE WD1600YD 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

$85.00

Average Latency: 4.2ms
Average Seek Time: 8.9ms
Average Write Time: 10.9ms
Cache: 16MB
Features: RAID-specific time-limited error recovery improves compatibility with RAID adapters, and prevents drive fallout caused by the extended hard drive error-recovery processes common to desktop hard drives. 1 million hours MTBF meets enterprise-class reliability standards, backed by an industry-leading five-year warranty.
Form Factor: 3.5"
Manufacturer Warranty: 5-Year
Model #: WD1600YD
Item #: N82E16822136009

*******************************

Western Digital Caviar RE WD2500YD 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

$89.99

Average Latency: 4.2ms
Average Seek Time: 8.9ms
Average Write Time: 10.9ms
Cache: 16MB
Features: FlexPower– connector technology that accepts power from either industry-standard or new SATA power supplies. Hot plug support – allows swapping of hard drives without having to power down the system or reboot; promotes system design flexibility, data availability, and serviceability. Backplane compatibility – uses the SATA industry standard connector which includes alignment
Form Factor: 3.5"
Manufacturer Warranty: 5-Year
Model #: WD2500YD
Item #: N82E16822136010

If you have a FRY's store near you they have sales each month.
I picked up some Seagate 300GB drives for $74 each and they come with 5 year warrentys...run cooler than the WD's as well (if you can trust MBM5).

By the way,Segate has bought out WD a couple of months ago.

Z
 

bmouring

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The reason the 160's are more expensive is because they are the "enterprise class" or high-availability models. Note the differing model number suffixes (WDsize0JS vs. WDsize0YD) and the longer warranty. They are meant to be slightly higher-quality and as a result run longer and possibly perform better.

That being said, MTTF and availability concerns usually don't coincide with RAID0, as it is inherently more unreliable than a single disk, since one disk tanking brings all of your data down. In light of this, unless you routinely read large, contiguous blocks of data (video editing, engineering/scientific apps with large datasets, etc.) you will see little to no improvement over a single disk.

Edit: The reason you won't see an improvement is a lot of time opening apps/booting/reading smaller files is the seek time which can actually be increased in a RAID0 setup.

Now, if you deside on a RAID5 or RAID 1+0/0+1, that's a whole different story, improved read performance and redundancy.
 

Pain

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The RE indicates Raid Edition, which is suppose to be made for 24/7 operation, and it appears to carry a 5 year warranty. I assume the SE stands for Standard Edition, but that's a guess.
 

Codesmith

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Seagate bought Maxtor which previously bought Quantum.
WD is still going strong and is not an acquisition target.

plain Caviar = 2mb cache, SE = 8mb cache, SE16 = 16mb cache.

Not sure what the SE means, probably Special Edition.

The RE (Raid Edition) drives feature TLER, time limited error recovery and a 5 year warranty.

A common problem with IDE raid (yes SATA drives are IDE devices) is that IDE drives will go into an extended error recovery procedure and stop responding to the RAID controller. The RAID controller then acts as if that drive had failed.

When I was using two regular WD 120 GB drives my RAID array would mysteriously fail every month or so requiring that I restart my PC, remove all the drives from the array then recreate the array without reinitializing. I never lost any data, but it was annoying.

Since switching to WD RE2 drives seven months ago I have not had a single RAID malfunction.

PS I personally feel that for most people the benifits or RAID 0 do not outweight the risks. I recommend buying a single 74 Raptor if you want higher performance or two RE drives in RAID 1 if you want reliablity

With just two drives RAID1 drives can be read as a regular drive will all your data on it by a non-RAID controller. So the low reliablity of a cheap/integrated RAID controller doesn't put your data at risk.

I only recommend drives with a 5 year waranty, so if you are not getting a WD Raptor/RE drive then I would go with Seagate since all their drives get a 5 year warranty.

---
AnandTech benchmarked the new Seagate 750GB alone and in a RAID 0 config. Its a long article that runs a large battery of tests so you can get a good idea of how much RAID benifits various uses by focusing on the 750GB vs 1.5 TB results.

http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=2760&p=10
 

Titanion

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Dec 8, 2002
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You guys sold me on buying a Seagate, but I have an additional question. My aging ABIT NF7-S only supports SATA 150, apparently. Do the newer SATA 3.0Gb/s HDDs work on such a motherboard but just at SATA 150 speeds? Or do I just need to look at the SATA 150s?
 

Pain

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They'll work at 150, no problem.

FYI, I just bought 3 of the 250 YD disks from newegg today, and the price is $81.99. They're the RAID edition disks with 5 year warranty.
 

maxtoons

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I am looking at three WD HDDs from newegg. All three drives are in the $80 range. I will likely buy one and then add another later, potentially for a RAID0 setup. How much better for a RAID0 setup is the 2nd one listed below than the other two... I like the 250GBx2 better than the 160GBx2 in terms of mass storage, but exactly why are the 160GB HDDs supposed to be better for a RAID configuration? And what is the difference between the forst one and the third one, 8MB cache vs. 16? Thanks.

*******************************

Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

$84.99

Average Latency: 4.2ms
Average Seek Time: 8.9ms
Cache: 8MB
Features: Fast Cool-running Quiet SecureConnect FlexPower Data Protection Enhancements
Form Factor: 3.5"
Manufacturer Warranty: 3-Year
Model #: WD2500JS Item #: N82E16822144417

*******************************

Western Digital Caviar RE WD1600YD 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

$85.00

Average Latency: 4.2ms
Average Seek Time: 8.9ms
Average Write Time: 10.9ms
Cache: 16MB
Features: RAID-specific time-limited error recovery improves compatibility with RAID adapters, and prevents drive fallout caused by the extended hard drive error-recovery processes common to desktop hard drives. 1 million hours MTBF meets enterprise-class reliability standards, backed by an industry-leading five-year warranty.
Form Factor: 3.5"
Manufacturer Warranty: 5-Year
Model #: WD1600YD
Item #: N82E16822136009

*******************************

Western Digital Caviar RE WD2500YD 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

$89.99

Average Latency: 4.2ms
Average Seek Time: 8.9ms
Average Write Time: 10.9ms
Cache: 16MB
Features: FlexPower– connector technology that accepts power from either industry-standard or new SATA power supplies. Hot plug support – allows swapping of hard drives without having to power down the system or reboot; promotes system design flexibility, data availability, and serviceability. Backplane compatibility – uses the SATA industry standard connector which includes alignment
Form Factor: 3.5"
Manufacturer Warranty: 5-Year
Model #: WD2500YD
Item #: N82E16822136010

If you have a FRY's store near you they have sales each month.
I picked up some Seagate 300GB drives for $74 each and they come with 5 year warrentys...run cooler than the WD's as well (if you can trust MBM5).

By the way,Segate has bought out WD a couple of months ago.

Z
I belive they Bought out Maxtor not WD
 

Titanion

Distinguished
Dec 8, 2002
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19,295
Weekend Sale
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250820AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Average Latency: 4.16ms
Cache: 8MB
Features: Native Command Queuing One-stop shopping with a broad range of capacity, cache and interface options Best-in-class environmental specification and reliability features New perpendicular recording technology enables higher areal density, fewer moving parts and increased dependability. Adaptive Fly Height offers consistent read/write performance from the beginning to the end of your computing workload. Clean Sweep automatically
Form Factor: 3.5"
Manufacturer Warranty: 5-Year

Model #: ST3250820AS
Item #: N82E16822148142
In Stock
$79.99
Free Three Day Shipping
 

Pain

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I think the WD has 16M cache/buffer, but other than that I can't say what the difference is, other than maybe what has been said about the Raid Edition.