What hdd should I go with?

Angel_OD · 03-04-2009, 12:51 PM

Here's the deal; My hdd just went belly-up, and I need a new one.
The one I had was a 4200 rpm 40 gb.
I didn't use Nlite or anything, just did some tweaks I found somewhere, and got the boot time from 2½ minutes to just under 2 minutes.
I'd love to get that waaaaay down, 1 minute would be perfect...

It's a 2 Ghz P4 with 512 gigs of memory, running XP pro and CF.

I'm thinking of running Nlite this time, but should I choose a 7200 rpm, or ssd?
I can live with 16 GB, no problem, perhaps 8 gb if neccesary...

Help is much appreciated.

(I DID search in here, but couldn't find anything helpfull, maybe I'm just blind...

)

RyanB95 · 03-04-2009, 08:16 PM

SSD for sure. No need to worry about going over big bumps or anything. With how much the prices have dropped on them since they firs launched they are so worth it now. You can get a 30/32GB OCZ for a little over $100 or something like that. I'm using a 30GB OCZ SSD for right now until I gather the funds to get another 64GB one to use for media storage. Then I'll just use the 30GB for Windows/program installation.

They're awesome.

As for boot time: I think I get around 20 seconds COLD BOOT with my SSD, and probably around 10ish from hibernate. I think that alone is reason enough to grab one.

WuNgUn · 03-04-2009, 08:24 PM

1/2TB, 7200RPM desktop drive...just make sure you mount it vertically!

TruckinMP3 · 03-04-2009, 09:12 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by WuNgUn

1/2TB, 7200RPM desktop drive...just make sure you mount it vertically!

We as a user community have no proof at all that drive orientation matters.

That being said a desktop drive is a fine solution, many of us have been running them for years and in some cases 10+ with no issues.

The cost per gig is really in the desktops favor.

upspace · 03-05-2009, 03:56 AM

Is it possible to connect a SSD drive to an Intel 201 board which only has IDE drives. All the SSD I see to buy are SATA.

Are there adapters SATA to IDE or similar available?

DarquePervert · 03-05-2009, 08:07 AM

You would need a SATA controller. They make PCI models that are pretty cheap.

However, I don't think that the added expense of an SSD is worth it. I would go for a standard-issue 2.5" IDE HDD.
Save yourself some money and hassle.

WuNgUn · 03-05-2009, 09:15 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by TruckinMP3

We as a user community have no proof at all that drive orientation matters.

That being said a desktop drive is a fine solution, many of us have been running them for years and in some cases 10+ with no issues.

The cost per gig is really in the desktops favor.

It's just common sense that you'd mount it vertically, with the heads travelling perpendicular to the direction it's going to receive the most shock and G loads...

I had an OmniFi MP3 player for the car once, which used a 40GB laptop drive, and even they recommend mounting the driver vertically for this very reason...

If your HDD gets head-crash, that's all she wrote for that drive!
And I surely don't need to tell you how close the heads run over the platters, do I?

No proof? Maybe...but why chance it? Go ahead and mount your drive anyway you wish!

vorin · 03-05-2009, 09:44 AM

I'd go with a large 2.5" too, the cost per gig is worth the extra boot time.

RyanB95 · 03-05-2009, 04:43 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by WuNgUn

It's just common sense that you'd mount it vertically, with the heads travelling perpendicular to the direction it's going to receive the most shock and G loads...

I had an OmniFi MP3 player for the car once, which used a 40GB laptop drive, and even they recommend mounting the driver vertically for this very reason...

If your HDD gets head-crash, that's all she wrote for that drive!
And I surely don't need to tell you how close the heads run over the platters, do I?

No proof? Maybe...but why chance it? Go ahead and mount your drive anyway you wish!

I'm not sure if this was the ONLY reason for my old hard drive failing, but I had a regular 2.5" IDE HDD held by velcro to the lid of my lock box. It was mounted horizontally and eventually failed and would no longer boot up. Not sure if that was the only reason, but I had it in my mind that the way it was mounted certainly contributed to it failing. I supposed it could have been pure coincidence as well. Either way it gave me an excuse to get an SSD

.

Rob Withey · 03-05-2009, 05:18 PM

You always hear about the drive failures, why would anyone say anything about a drive working normally? Just like the front page of newspapers is more often than not all doom and gloom.

I had a 2.5" drive mounted horizontally in a car with stuff suspension for 6 years, it never missed a beat, even when I tried to cook the thing due to inadequate cooling. The drive is still working perfectly.

Meltz014 · 03-06-2009, 11:25 AM

My mobo doesn't have SATA, either, so i have been thinking about a $10 IDE to CompactFlash adapter and just booting off of a CF card. Do you think this would give a significant boot-time improvement?

TruckinMP3 · 03-06-2009, 04:48 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by Rob Withey

You always hear about the drive failures, why would anyone say anything about a drive working normally? Just like the front page of newspapers is more often than not all doom and gloom.

I had a 2.5" drive mounted horizontally in a car with stuff suspension for 6 years, it never missed a beat, even when I tried to cook the thing due to inadequate cooling. The drive is still working perfectly.

I used the same drive from the early 90's until '06.... desktop drive 3.5"
Horizontally mounted. It was in several cars.

Sorry, mounting orientation is not a factor above normal drive failure.
Additionally the end user or PC hardware expert is not able to determine root cause of drive failure. We do not have any hard evidence on the matter of drive failures related to orientation.

Angel_OD · 03-09-2009, 07:12 AM

Thx for the replies guys.

I desided to go for a 7200 rpm 2,5" for now, as I got a great deal.

I'll let you know how the boot-time Vs. my old 4200 rpm is when I receive it, and get it set up!

FirstAid · 03-09-2009, 08:48 AM

I use a 2.5" 7200RPM, 16Mb Cache, Sata II Hdd and I think it's great. The system resumes in 10 seconds and cold boots in 20 seconds, a great improvement over my 5400RPM IDE drive. I haven't stripped anything from the installation CD, I have added plenty to it though - IE7, SP3, WMP11, windows updates etc. I run XP Pro with CF2.

I was thinking about buying an SSD but I ended up with this drive for one reason or another and I have to say since I installed it I have forgotten all about buying an SSD.

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