Thread: HDD recommendations needed!

Okay, I am looking forward to buying a new HDD. Currently I have a 160GB maxtor (1 year old) and a 80GB maxtor (ext) (5-6 Years old) The capcity of this future drive is going to be 750GB or 1TB! The budget would be: $100. But I want other things too, so if I can get a HDD for about 70 bucks that would be great! I would be getting this HDD from compUSA.

I am very confused, people report DOA, crashes, and dieing after 2-3 weeks. For almost every brand this is the case: WD, Segate, etc.

The purpose of this HDD: is to store Movies and music, and maybe an OS in the future. I dont care about speeds, I CARE ABOUT RELIABILITY! Since I will be importing this HDD (Where I live 1TB HDD cost $200 and above) so claiming warranty is going to be VERY HARD! Thats why I want a very reliable HDD. Something that will last 4 years or so!

Now: These I think are pretty good. (Only from COMPUSA)

Hitachi 7K1000.B Hard Drive - 1TB, 7200RPM, 16MB (80 bucks, cool)
- This looks good, but will it last?
http://www.compusa.com/applications/...Sku=TSD-1000H4




Seagate ST31000528AS Barracuda 7200.12 Hard Drive - 1TB or 750GB edition.
- I heard that 7200.12 are the most reliable, is that the case?
http://www.compusa.com/applications/...691122&CatId=8


Western Digital Caviar Green WD10EADS Hard Drive - 1TB
- 3 year warrenty compared to 5 year one...Hmmm.
http://www.compusa.com/applications/...426054&CatId=8

Also, Is installing HDD's as easy as 1,2,3? I have this motherboard: Intel D945GCNL: http://support.intel.com/support/mot...ktop/D945GCNL/

So it is easy right? I dont have to worry about compatibility right?

Any others are most welcome. BTW: I am a gamer too, and I recently upgraded my Monitor to a 19-inch one. And the 8600GT is showing its age, should I just get a GPU instead? I can manage with 160GB + 80GB but having space is awesome. But then I wont be able to upgrade GPU. Should I just wait for DX11 GPU'S?

Personally I would avoid WD, I have had several fail on me. I am currently using x3 500GB Hitachi HDD's and had no problems, had them about a year. Seagate are pretty good as well. As a fellow gamer though, its a bit of a tough decision, GPU or Space, I would go for GPU, the price of HDD's keep coming down, you may find a better deal.

Hope this helps.

I think your decision between different brands is pretty much a moot point. All spinning HDDs will eventually fail and WD vs Seagate vs anyone else. Just keep your firmware up to date and make sure you perform REGULAR backups! The warranty period is worth extra money depening on how their replacement process works. I have been using the seagate method for a while now, because when one of my drives goes bad, I just pay the $20 to have them cross ship a new one with the prepaid return label and I am back in business in short order.

If your gaming needs are immediate, and your HDD needs are future, it makes more sense to me to invest in the GPU now and invest in the HDD later. Always remember, HDDs are NOT permanent investments. They WILL break.

I would go with a SeaGate 1tb. I have had mine since Christmas, and no fails, nothing. This computer has been running 24.7 for about 4 months now, not one thing wrong. Only thing that I don't like about it, is that I already used 950GB of it. :laugh:

I bought my SeaGate before the 5 year warranty went down to 3, so I got a good deal. If it *does* fail, I can just send it in and get a brand new one in return. SeaGate + NewEgg = the best experience ever! Both of these companies are the best with warranties and returns.

Western Digital Black 1TB drive was on sale at newegg the other day for $75 free shipping, that woulda been perfect

I am using Seagate Barracuda ST31000528AS
But BE WARNED
These drives had an issue, I done the firmware upgrade on Seagates website, and have never had a problem since
Had it for almost 2 years now, with my pc running 18 hours a day

mmm id recommend the WD black the green isnt really made for life/performance imo

Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drives - Internal Hard Drives

Maybe other people have had different experiences with WD but from my experiences with WD drives, all I have to say are good things about them. I have had 4 hard drives and all of them WD, all still work fine, no issues. I still suggest with whatever drive you go with, it is key to keep backups of your files whether it be on hard media, external drives, etc...

I would probably get a Seagate drive over most others out there. That is really only based on personal preference and use over the past 10 years or so. But I can tell you this much, most evidence of drive failures is anecdotal at best. These drives are mass produced and there are going to be bad ones in every single lot out there. Unless a specific problem is recognized by the manufacturer detailing a specific part failure or problem with the microcode, statistically speaking one drive is just as good as the next. Pick the one that suits your needs specific to the task and lies somewhere in the $:GB ratio that you want. All that being said I use this drive as my external storage solution:

Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST31000528AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - Internal Hard Drives