HARD DRIVES- let's compare

[Kido]

I am looking for a new HDD. I am not sure with which to go - MAXTOR OR WesterDigital ?
Which one are faster ( I am talking about
7200 rpms, UDMA/66 drives, 20.5 Gigs).
Can you leave a couple benchmarks ?

Thanks

[seti]

If you go to Storage Review (http://www.storagereview.com/) they have a Database section...well, I guess I can link you directly there (http://www.storagereview.com/comparison.html). You'll most likely be able to select the two drives, or atleast two drives from the same family's, just different sizes and compare them. I know they have the 20.5 wd, but you'll probably have to compare it with maxtors 40gb.

From what I know of the two top end ata drives from maxtor and wd...they're pretty much equal.

There's also a review of the Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 40 family (27gb is reviewed in this case) at anandtech. That can be read here (http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1225).



[This message has been edited by seti (edited 04-15-2000).]

[Dominus]

I have an IBM 22GXP (7200RPMs, 2MB cache, 22Gb) and I love it. It's extremely fast, and virtually silent, except for the rev-up on boot.

Some benches of my system can be found here (http://www.angelfire.com/nf/gutbusters/bench.html).

[shadow]

I know it's not 7200rpm, it's a WD84AA Caviar 8.4mb 5400rpm with 2mb cache capable of running UDMA/66 but is running at UDMA/33 in this benchmark.

http://www.geocities.com/pw5599/wd.jpg

[Stan]

Yep, I agree with Dominus... any 22Gxp or 34Gxp from IBM will do... fast...

Stan

[seti]

IBM makes a solid hard drive...but I'd have to advise against buying one over the drives he's looking at...it's slower and runs warmer. The DiamondMax rocks.

Business Disk WinMark99

win95 fat32
DiamondMax Plus 40 4257
Caviar 7200rpm 4183
34gxp 3980

nt4 ntfs
DiamondMax Plus 40 5370
Caviar 7200rpm 5150
34gxp 4523

Highend Disk WinMark99

win95 fat32
DiamondMax Plus 40 13933
Caviar 7200rpm 13000
34gxp 13800

nt4 ntfs
DiamondMax Plus 40 17167
Caviar 7200rpm 16133
34gxp 4523 13267

ThreadMark 2.0 Data Transfer Rate

win95 fat32
DiamondMax Plus 40 13.50
Caviar 7200rpm 13.34
34gxp 10.84

nt4 ntfs
DiamondMax Plus 40 18.53
Caviar 7200rpm 18.45
34gxp 4523 12.99

There are a lot of good benchmarks compareing these three drives in the anandtech review starting on this page
http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1225&p=4

They show the maxtor pimp'n and the WD and IBM fighting.



[This message has been edited by seti (edited 04-16-2000).]

[Kido]

Seti,
Thanks a lot. I am going to order mine as soon as staples get it in stock. They had it in the morning (the praise rose from 149.95 on the 041500 to 159.99 on the 041600) but until the time i decided to get it (4 hours later) they were all gone. I hope this week they get some more so i can order it

10x

[BEOR999]

Well just because customer A gets xyz transfer speed, don't belive for a second that you will too.

There are so many other factors to look at, you should really just go with the brand you trust most. If the drive is not noticably slower, but has more chance of serving you for a long time, then that's the one to buy.


Makes sence when I buy !

[CONTRiC]

If you want speed, try out the Quantum Atlas IV 10,000 (Ultra2) drives. Of course it's scsi :P

[hd581]

Forget that, go SCSI U160.

[Biff]

Yeh, I like the IBM, works good for me !

[CONTRiC]

hd581 Ultra160 drives are special order (at least from where I am from). Ultra2 Quantum Atlas (7,200/10,000 RPM) drives are rather abundant and mucho cheaper. Plus U2 controllers are much cheaper and more abundant http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif