Western Digital's VelociRaptor Hard Drive Hits 1 TB

[dragonsqrrl]

[citation][nom]chicofehr[/nom]Raid 2 of them together and get ssd speeds with 2TB of storage for 650. A 2TB SSD would cost much much more. There, now it sounds good I might get 2 of them. I need both capacity and speed. I game and do professional work on my workstation so SSD wont do. Some of my files are huge and speed is important for more then just games for me. I think this is a good balance in my mind for those who use their computer for both work and gaming.[/citation]
hmm... probably still wouldn't provide the same performance as a SSD, but you also wouldn't get anywhere near the same capacity. And raid 0? Concerned about reliability?

 

[jaber2]

Any reason why WD sticking to this technology when SSD will rule the HD arena? $1/GB is high now, imagine I paid $120 for 100MB hard drive not long ago, so prices will go down when people adopt this technology more.

 

[signothorn]

[citation][nom]ivan1984[/nom]They still make these?,SSD's have made VelicoRaptors extinct.[/citation]

Not really, there are still good uses for them, due to the cost per gb. I use a 128gb ssd for my o/s and a 600gb raptor for all other progs. Useful and cost effective for gaming as the games are still stored locally.

 

[slabbo]

[citation][nom]gamerk316[/nom]Call me when SSD's can last for 20+ years. Until then, I won't touch them. I don't want to be forced to buy a new SSD every 5 years because the flash decided to die on me.[/citation]
LMAO, are you saying that HDD's can last 20+ years? that's a good one...

 

[vittau]

[citation][nom]hannibal[/nom]Yes velocity raptor is very guiet drive!...[/citation]
[citation][nom]CDdude55[/nom]Still running with a 300GB Velocirapter...[/citation]
[citation][nom]ivan1984[/nom]They still make these?,SSD's have made VelicoRaptors extinct...[/citation]

I'll be down-voted, but seriously, is it that hard to spell VelociRaptor?

 

[garyhope]

Does anyone know or can predict when "regular" hard drive prices will go back down to "normal"
affordable levels? Are they having to totally rebuild all the flooded HD factories and clean rooms?

 

[kyuuketsuki]

I dunno about anyone else, but looking at either one of these or a Momentus XT to be a high-performance complement to my small-ish SSD, I'd take the Momentus XT any day. Quiter, cooler, much better $/GB, and performs better where it counts for general usage.

'Course, if someone would make a 10k RPM 3.5" hybrid HDD, that'd get my attention.

 

[Reynod]

My first SSD died and I replaced it with a Momentus XT.

The SSD did about 2 years of constant duty ... no warning ... just died in my sleep.

While I like the raptor it wasn't in my price range.

I want another SSD but I am a bit wary spending that much money and having it die like the last one.

 

[halcyon]

Sweet. I'd like either 2 of these or 4 x .5TB models to replace my Barracudas in RAID. The 2 x .6TB I have in RAID 0 in my Mac Pro help make my VMs very very quick. The Raptors/VelociRaptors are great drives. In fact I've never had any of mine (4) go bad and don't know anyone that has had them go bad either.

 

[verbalizer]

see you in a few years on eBay..

 

[unksol]

Raid 2 of them together and get ssd speeds with 2TB of storage for 650. A 2TB SSD would cost much much more. There, now it sounds good I might get 2 of them. I need both capacity and speed. I game and do professional work on my workstation so SSD wont do. Some of my files are huge and speed is important for more then just games for me. I think this is a good balance in my mind for those who use their computer for both work and gaming.

^i approve this comment. yes raid 0... Meh. but SSDs are probably just as unreliable. I'd rather have good drives at fast speed. at a good price.

If you disagree and are on the insane SSD bus fine. I wont pay for either at the moment. I've looked, but memory and sleep work fine. its just game loads and really? a few seconds?

The bottom line is there is a market for the capacity/speed. if its not for you fine. but its good for EVERYONE that advanced format HDs and higher rpm/speeds be pushed. It can only push the SSD/HD and speed/capacity issue forward. and we ALL benefit

 

[unksol]

I'll be down-voted, but seriously, is it that hard to spell VelociRaptor?

I didn't pay that much attention. and with a lot of us on phones mistakes happen. and its proprietary. still. I <3 you

 

[mavroxur]

[citation][nom]alvine[/nom]$319? Thanks but no thanks[/citation]


Seen many 1TB SSD's for $319? Heck, for the price a 1TB SSD demands, you could take two of these raptors and stripe them, and still be ahead of the game by a $1000+ and get stellar performance. While it may not be quite as fast as an SSD, a pair of these striped would be 400+MB/sec and probably 3-4ms access times. Still great numbers for spindle drives.

 

[halcyon]

Seen many 1TB SSD's for $319? Heck, for the price a 1TB SSD demands, you could take two of these raptors and stripe them, and still be ahead of the game by a $1000+ and get stellar performance. While it may not be quite as fast as an SSD, a pair of these striped would be 400+MB/sec and probably 3-4ms access times. Still great numbers for spindle drives.

...and likely faster than most of us needs. The V-Raps I currently have are, again, very fast...even when striped in software RAID.

 

[tolham]

there's really no point to this, but ok.

 

[tolham]

[citation][nom]unksol[/nom] its just game loads and really? a few seconds?[/citation]
also quickens audio and video encoding and muxing.

 

[bebangs]

I'm expecting a 2.5inch hdd but it could be a velociraptor!

What a load of crap! a 2.5inch hdd stuff in 3.5enclosure.
Removing the drive out of the enclosure will VOID the so-so-year warranty.
these are the older 12.5mm hdd(hence the dinosaur name) that had lots of compatibility issues.
why not just buy the cheaper 3.5inch version instead?

 

[Antimatter79]

Both of my raptors died in roughly 3 years, within a few months of each other, so I won't go down the expensive 10K RPM road again. Next time I'll likely just do RAID 0 with a couple cheaper drives for less money and faster speed. And of course, 3 years later I will complain when one of those drives dies and I lose everything again anyways.

 

[dreadlokz]

not interested! Where are the SATA III SSDs with 1TB and better iops?

 

[dreadlokz]

[citation][nom]reynod[/nom]My first SSD died and I replaced it with a Momentus XT.The SSD did about 2 years of constant duty ... no warning ... just died in my sleep.While I like the raptor it wasn't in my price range.I want another SSD but I am a bit wary spending that much money and having it die like the last one.[/citation]

Next time try Intel... 5 years warranty! Prob not gonna last that much, but...

 

[moonzy]

I suppose if these drives go down in price (if they do) after the market stabilizes
the sales of these drives will skyrocket!
Not everyone cares to go to SSD for the cost of entry.
When they go down in price to say, $225ish, I'm game!

 

[moonzy]

BTW. does anyone still backup their data?

It's generally suggested you use an external backup.
I picked up a USB 2.0 WD elements for well under $100 on sale. At least it's worth
a try, guys.

 

[moonzy]

Personally, I think Tom's needs put more work into reviews and working solutions
to backup of DATA. Maybe then I wouldn't have to read these sad stories of people
losing their data and groaning about a Hard drive's lifespan.

Just do it, Tom's. Make it sexy so they like it more! (women in bikini's if you must, like the AMD add)

 

[danwat1234]

[citation][nom]gamerk316[/nom]Call me when SSD's can last for 20+ years. Until then, I won't touch them. I don't want to be forced to buy a new SSD every 5 years because the flash decided to die on me.[/citation]

SSDs are far more reliable than you think. The Intel G2 SSDs are rock solid.

 

[pocketdrummer]

[citation][nom]amstech[/nom]Call me when a spinner can last 20+ years.7-9 years is about the most you will get out of the toughest HD's, even the industrial drives we get here at work for our big RAID/backups.I'd take an SSD over these anyday.Noiseless, rocket ship performance with great reliability. Just don't use over 65% of its space on a SSD to ensure max performance/life.[/citation]

Considering SSDs are already painfully small from a storage standpoint, this only makes them less desirable. $300 for a 256gb drive and you can only use ~150gb if you want it to last? That's basically $2/gig. Hell no.

Both options are ridiculous. Just buy two 2TB drives and RAID 0. I know the random access times aren't nearly as fast, but it's just too expensive to put a useful amount of data on an SSD in order to really enjoy it. I don't really care about boot times...