what PC do you use?

[Bokishi]

Western Digital just released a 150 GB Raptor. Time to save up!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

They're fast, but they're noisy.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Performance > Noise

[metadigital]

You'll be looking into a phase-change cooler for your next self-made PC, then ...

[Gabrielle]

Big deal about minor noise. I have 5 fans running on my computer, a little bit of HD noise wouldn't be a problem. Plus I usually have the volumn turned up to the music I'm playing or the game I play.

 

I don't see the big deal of a 10,000 RPM over a 7500 RPM hard drive. It offers some performance but nothing noticeable aby you the user.

[metadigital]

The cache makes a big difference (8MB is on the way out, now: 16MB is better) and the SATA-II standard with NCQ batches the reads and writes to improve bandwidth efficiency.

[Gabrielle]

Speaking SATA, my C: drive is a SATA drive yet I don't see the big performance that it is hyped up to be.

[metadigital]

Still a young tech (especially SATA-II), more improvements as the controllers and bus take advantage of the wider baud, etc.

[Gabrielle]

Well I'm no computer wiz, I just read things in computer magazines and have the ability to install simple things like video cards and memory.

[mkreku]

NCQ (nonsequential command queueing) sounds really neat on paper.. but in reality it doesn't make any noticeable difference. I just read a huge test on HD's today and the only speed difference that mattered for the common user is.. Raptor's move from 7200 RPM to 10000 RPM. They didn't detect any noticeable difference between 8 MB cache and 16 MB cache either.

 

Too bad the Raptor sounds like a small jetplane trying to take off inside your computer case.

[SamuraiGaijin]

My current desktop rig:

P4 3.0, ASUS P4P800-E, 1 GB RAM, 2x WD 100 GB SATA in RAID 0, Audigy, Generic NVidia 6600GT

... the generic VGA was my worst purchase ever - I saved about $50, and got what I paid for ... it looks great, but has cooling issues, after a couple of hours of gaming, I am forced to take a break by it overheating and locking up my system.

 

My current laptop:

Sony VAIO S560P, P-M 1.6, 2 GB DDR-II RAM, NVidia Go 6400, 80GB HD

... it took a lot of shopping to convince me that a Sony would be the right computer for me - I'm not a "proprietary" kind of guy, and Sony VAIO's are about at proprietary as they get. The S-series came in the size I was looking for (13" screen), the video looked fabulous, and the specs, frankly, blew me away for the cost. DDR-II RAM was quick at 512 MB - after day shopping around in Hong Kong, I found 1 GB sticks for half the price of a 512MB stick at the local Sony store and almost as cheap as 512MB sticks online ... I bought 2, and have never been happier with performance in a laptop. I can play 3d games, but performance is sluggish (as would be expected in any 5-pound laptop - now, a Dell XPS or Alienware laptop would rule, but I don't need a desktop replacement). I've had it for four months of frequent use, and have had no complaints.

 

My next rig (sometime next fall, most likely) will be:

- mid-range Intel or AMD ... not sure which yet (I've been an Intel user for a long time, but like the price/performance promises of AMD)

- SLI compatible (just in case) w/ 1x hi/mid-range VGA (probably a 7800, which should be more moderately priced by then)

- Maxed out on high-end RAM (after three home-built PC's, three laptops, one "off the shelf" PC of my own, and years helping friends and family troubleshoot and upgrade their computers, I'm convinced that this is by far the easiest and most noticable upgrade)

- Audigy 2ZS (from my old gaming rig, which just died a gruesome death)

- 2x WD Raptor 36GB in RAID 0 for the OS and games (also from my old gaming rig - see my comment about the Raptors below)

- plus 2 additional HD's (probably salvaged from my current rig), one for long-term storage, one to store a backup image of the Raptors

 

About WD Raptors ... they're more performance than most people need, and current 7200 rpm drives do provide similar performance specs (but the benchmarks generally put Raptors on top) with roughly 25% the $/GB cost ratio. I used 2 Raptor 36's in RAID 0 for about two years in my gaming rig, never had any problems whatsoever, and could barely hear them over my fans (the two in the front of the case were the loudest). The new Raptor 150 is louder (I think I remember seeing 40+ dB, but don't quote me on that) than most and higher performing than anything else on the market today (including some RAID 0 rigs). If you don't plan on storing tons of movies, pictures, etc. one Raptor 74 is probably enough for a single-drive system - and especially when playing games (with frequent saves and level-loads), you'll appreciate the difference. But if price is an issue, stick with mid-range, "last generation" drives - no one "needs" bleeding-edge performance in a hard drive.

Edited February 15, 2006 by SamuraiGaijin

[J.E. Sawyer]

I just wanted to add that my Hitachi harddrive is fast, reliable, silent.. and they've all died within 3 years from purchase.

Dead hard drives are the quietest of all.

[alanschu]

I tend to be a big fan of hard drive quantity.....are the Raptor's really that much faster to warrant picking up something that is sub 100GB for more money than a 250 GB SATA I can pick up?

[SamuraiGaijin]

I tend to be a big fan of hard drive quantity.....are the Raptor's really that much faster to warrant picking up something that is sub 100GB for more money than a 250 GB SATA I can pick up?

If you think you'll ever need half that much disk space, then ... no, the Raptor's not for you. If you're running a file server and don't want to go SCSI, or just want to be able to blink and miss a level load, then go for it.

 

I love my Raptors, but they're sports cars in a pick-up truck market.

[CoM_Solaufein]

Custom built myself.

 

2.8Mhz P4

512 RAM

9600 ATI video card

Soundblaster Audigy Platnum

80G HD

120G SATA drive

DVD drive

CD R/RW player

WinXP Pro

Logitech surround sound speakers

And a nice green case that has a see through panel with and it glows inside, floresent green.

6 fans

[Gromnir]

I tend to be a big fan of hard drive quantity.....are the Raptor's really that much faster to warrant picking up something that is sub 100GB for more money than a 250 GB SATA I can pick up?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

that is why Gromnir initially passed on the raptor. heck, most of the games we play is single-player crpgs and strategy games. saving milliseconds on loads is not as important to us as is relative silence and reliability.

 

...

 

'course what we were thinking were a reliable drive is now getting some bad, bad feedback/reviews from the locals.

 

 

taks suggested checking out the following site when we were asking 'bout heatsinks.

 

http://hardforum.com/

 

zalman didn't have a single good heatsink that they were saying would be compliant with our msi mb. we went to hardforum and within a day we gets 10 responses... and the responses were a consensus kinda thing too. "go with the thermalright xp-90 and a quiet 92mm fan." so far the thing is working better than we coulda' hoped... and we had never even heard of thermalright before.

 

each sub-fora has usually got a stickyed thread or two where they is comparing typical hardware. is some good feedback on hard drives and some included links to other review sites that is helpful.

 

HA! Good Fun!

Edited February 15, 2006 by Gromnir

[LadyCrimson]

Wasn't there a thread like this not long ago? Well, I typed out a long list on that one, I don't feel like repeating myself.

 

So the cliffs: P4 3ghz, geforce 6200AGP/128, 2 GB RAM, SB Audigy 2ZS, and all the other things that complete the package known as a PC, plus a 2nd really old put-put machine I use for certain things. We bake from scratch.

[Setzer]

Custom built

 

AMD Athlon 64 3400+ Newcastle 800MHz FSB Socket 754

DFI LANPARTY UT nF3 250Gb Socket 754 NVIDIA nForce3 250 ATX AMD Motherboard

CORSAIR XMS 2GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200)

eVGA Geforce 6600GT 128MB GDDR3 AGP

Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive

Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 SATA NCQ 3Gb/s 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

Creative SOUND BLASTER X-Fi Platinum

BenQ Black DVD Burner With LightScribe Model DW1655 X 2

Logitech MX518 8 Buttons 1x Wheel USB + PS/2 Optical Mouse

Saitek PZ30AU Black USB Wired Standard Eclipse Keyboard

Antec LifeStyle SONATA II Piano Black Steel ATX Mid Tower W/ 450w PS

 

I gotta list my monitor too because it's the BEST LCD I have ever owned....

 

Acer Ferrari F-20 Black-Red 20" 8ms gray-to-gray Wide-Screen LCD Monitor, 300 cd/m2 800:1 Built in Speakers 0.258mm Pixel Pitch

 

I'm going to eventually upgrade here soon. Probably when NWN2 gets released. :D 754 and AGP are doing what I need it to right now.

[kumquatq3]

^ can I borrow 5 bucks?

[Judge Hades]

You can have the 5 bucks. I want his monitor.

[Gabrielle]

I want something cool. But I can't complain since what I have was free.

[alanschu]

How much of a speed boost do the Raptor's give?

[Deadly_Nightshade]

I want something cool. But I can't complain since what I have was free.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My PC was free 2...

 

Deadly_Nightshade

[Bokishi]

Geforce 8 is going to be a Dual Core GPU

[SamuraiGaijin]

How much of a speed boost do the Raptor's give?

As much as 15-20% in some benchmarks. In real-world use, it's noticable.

[metadigital]

NCQ (nonsequential command queueing) sounds really neat on paper.. but in reality it doesn't make any noticeable difference. I just read a huge test on HD's today and the only speed difference that mattered for the common user is.. Raptor's move from 7200 RPM to 10000 RPM. They didn't detect any noticeable difference between 8 MB cache and 16 MB cache either.

 

Too bad the Raptor sounds like a small jetplane trying to take off inside your computer case.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Really?

 

Not having conducted any tests myself, I am at the mercy of others that do. I have no reason to doubt Custom PC; their methodology looks sound and they seem to provide common-sensical results that don't pander to any particular manufacturer ... who did your test?

[mkreku]

Really?

 

Not having conducted any tests myself, I am at the mercy of others that do. I have no reason to doubt Custom PC; their methodology looks sound and they seem to provide common-sensical results that don't pander to any particular manufacturer ... who did your test?

Mikrodatorn

 

Swedish printed newspaper that are also very thorough in their tests. They test with synthetic programs as well as real life applications. I trust them. Especially since their magazine costs like $10 for every issue