//flex table opened by JP

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Senko
11-14-2003, 03:07 PM
I'm putting together a new system: ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe, haven't decided on P4 speed yet, 1GB DDR500 (Cosair or OCZ), ATI AIW 9800 Pro, SB Audigy 2 Platinum, Lite On 52x24x52/DVD, Sony DRU-510A. DigiDoc 5+.

Was thinking about twin WD Raptors 37GB in Raid 0, but have since decided on a single WD Raptor 74GB which as the new liquid bearing motor and command queue caching which is quieter, cooloer and faster than the old Raptor. I figure the speed of the slower + RAID 0 is about a wash with the speed of the newer Raptor standalone (same overall capacity).

My idea is to have a second SATA drive for data, MP3s, video, etc in the 160GB range and an external 250GB USB2 drive which would normally be off but to which I would ghost the internals on a periodic basis.

My question is what would be a good drive in the 160GB range that isn't too hot, too noisy, or too slow? From my research, the Caviars are slow, the DiamondMax 9 Plus are fast but make a clicking sound, and the Seagates have mixed reviews. What would you suggest?

BipolarBill
11-14-2003, 03:14 PM
The Caviars are slow? Since when?

http://www.storagereview.com/

You'll notice a new review of the Hitachi Deskstar SATA 7K250. It looks good and comes in 160GB too.

Word of advice on the USB drive - get an integrated unit from WD or Maxtor. Most separate enclosures won't recognize over 127GB.