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Hard Drives, who makes good ones?
Tyvar
Next best thing to a St. Bernard
in Zocalo v2.0
So Im sitting in the "lair" and my friend across the room is trying to set up his new ATA raid array, and he pulls out of the new retail box one of his brand new 160 gb HDs, and plugs it in and such, only to watch it go POOF, I mean we had sparking!
So now Im sitting here thinking. Who are the qualitiy HD manufacters out there?
Ive got a 60 GB Western Digital and a 120 GB Seagate in my box and well, I have an affinity for seagates because I have a couple that are over 3 years old (yes my mother is still running a 2 GB seagate HD) and they are chugging along fine.
But what does everybody else think?
So now Im sitting here thinking. Who are the qualitiy HD manufacters out there?
Ive got a 60 GB Western Digital and a 120 GB Seagate in my box and well, I have an affinity for seagates because I have a couple that are over 3 years old (yes my mother is still running a 2 GB seagate HD) and they are chugging along fine.
But what does everybody else think?
Comments
Anyway I better fallow this thread becuase i'm "Hoping" to be able to build a new computer some time soon.
[B]Ive been told to avoid Maxtor at all costs. [/B][/QUOTE]
I think it's only certain Maxtors... I have a 36 Gig I bought back in 1999 when I was working for Foundation Imaging. I bought it at BestBuy. Sucker still works excellent!
;)
Also, keep in mind that 7200RPM drives do generate a fair ammount of heat, so you will need adequate airflow in your case. If you don't, you'll dramatically reduce the life of any hard drive, no matter who made it. You don't have to go to extremes here, just make sure that the area they reside in has an active source of cooler air nearby.
Also, make sure you're using rounded drive cables (instead of the ribbon type) as they will help improve airflow considerably (unless you're using SATA drives; their cables certainly aren't going to impede airflow much).
I've only got one quantum in my personal systems, but I did build *many* systems for my employer, and found many many more quantums in various other desktops I've worked with. It's absolutely remarkable how old some of them are, and yet they still run with no problems...ever. I have Never seen a dead quantum, and this is just remarkable. I have seen dozens of dead maxtors, and the pile of IBM Deskstars at the office. And while there were two dead Western Digitals there, too, they were killed off by a power supply failure, not poor quality of the drives.
As for your deskstar...You're lucky. It was probably made after the massive plague of failures.
I still think that, from what I've seen, Maxtor drives are most likely to failure. [b]However[/b], I do think that heat is a *MAJOR* contribution to the failure of these drives. I know that one of the biggest problems in the office is high CPU and case temperature. This can easily translate into high component temperature. for a long time, we had some systems with hard drives at 50-54C due to a complete and utter lack of ventilation. But I do believe that Western Digitals were displaying a higher resistance to temperature. Yeah. Trust what Mr. Squid says. Heat is the enemy, and a good hard drive cooler works wonders.
I was running my IBM Deskstar inside a Coolermaster CoolDrive for ages, and it was absolutely chilly. the thing was kept perfectly safe up until last summer, when I retired it (I had originally purchased it when it was first released, and had been actively cooling it ever since)
Currently, I am partial to the low-noise versions from Seagate. They are much much quieter: no whine, just the ticking from the head moving.
Warning: make sure you get the quiet drive [b]with the shell[/b] that goes over either side of the case. Some OEM/whitebox versions, even though they are the correct model number don't come with the shell. (I found a place which specifically stated that although they were whitebox, the shells were installed).
I don't know if there are SATA versions available: (7500 or 10K) it's been 1.5 years.
Vertigo is dead on about heat issues. Heat kills HD's. Most of the heat comes out of the sides: the aluminum blocks that you screw it into the case with. Make sure that is either hitting metal or you've got cooling fins and airflow. (since a suspended drive is the most quiet way to go... if you can deal with the cooling issues).
[B]It does seem like an abnormally large number of maxtors fail... [/B][/QUOTE]
Not a single one of the four in my box right now oldest being from 1999.
I also have (seriously) a 100MB ( megabyte for those of you that dont remember how to think that small) Seagate drive that still works. I keep in a static bag and occasionally pull it out and grab a couple of files off it. I have the original South Park (Jesus vs Santa Clause) on that hard drive.
In my system currently...
2 WD 720 Raptors, those are the 72GB 10k RPM SATA drives, sure they make a little noise when they spool up, but oh so fast.
and 1 WD 250GB 7200RPM special edition (thats got the 8mb cache).
By the way, was the system on when you tried to install this hard drive? You said it sparked? If it was off, was the power supply switched off in the back and the power cable unplugged? Did you ground yourself with a static strap before touching it, did you at least touch the power supply to ground yourself if you didnt have static strap?
People, you need to remember, for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, its going to get cold soon, cold means more static electricity in the air. Static Electricy is death to your PC components. Either have a static safe work area ( static mat and static strap), or be smart when you open your computer. Unplug EVERYTHING and before you touch a component, touch the power supply to ground yourself.
It only takes one spark to take out your brand new $500 video card.
[b]As for your deskstar...You're lucky. It was probably made after the massive plague of failures.[/b][/quote]
Actually, I originally got my first one when they were first released. That one failed when my stupid father dropped the damn thing onto the floor "by accident". I RMA'd it and got this one (which has the firmware that fixed the "Deathstar" issue) and its been running flawlessly since the day I installed it.
[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by SpiritOne [/i]
[B]Unplug EVERYTHING and before you touch a component, touch the power supply to ground yourself.
It only takes one spark to take out your brand new $500 video card. [/B][/QUOTE]
But do NOT unplug the power cord running from your power supply to either your UPS (not having one is just fucking STUPID IMO) or the wall socket. Otherwise, touching the case won't do as much good.
[B]Actually, I originally got my first one when they were first released. That one failed when my stupid father dropped the damn thing onto the floor "by accident". I RMA'd it and got this one (which has the firmware that fixed the "Deathstar" issue) and its been running flawlessly since the day I installed it.
But do NOT unplug the power cord running from your power supply to either your UPS (not having one is just fucking STUPID IMO) or the wall socket. Otherwise, touching the case won't do as much good. [/B][/QUOTE]
Grounding to the unplugged case is still effective. The static charge on you is still transfered into the metal structure and pretty much dissipated in a way that would prevent one from zapping the card.
In general, Fujitsu and IBM were the top of the game. IBM spun their HDDs off to Hitachi and Fujitsu no longer make desktop HDDs. Seagate, WD and Maxtor are all fine too. My system currently has a Fujitsu and two Seagates, my server is running on a Maxtor that I've had for something like 6 years and an IBM.
[B]But do NOT unplug the power cord running from your power supply to either your UPS (not having one is just fucking STUPID IMO) or the wall socket. Otherwise, touching the case won't do as much good. [/B][/QUOTE]
it will do just fine, and its prefered. That way you dont maybe forget to turn off your power supply and have a hot wire or two inside your computer. The only thing worse than killing a component to static electricity, is killing yourself because you didnt unplug your 430W power supply.
[B]UPS (not having one is just fucking STUPID IMO)[/B][/QUOTE]
Not everyone needs one. There are plenty of places where the reliability and quality of the electrical grid makes a UPS unnecessary unless you're running critical hardware that needs the added "just in case."
However, it has been my experience that IBM and Western Digital hard drives are among the best when it comes to quality control and long term reliability.
Try to be a little less... direct with your opinions, vert. :)
[B]There are plenty of places where the reliability and quality of the electrical grid makes a UPS unnecessary... [/B][/QUOTE]
And California isn't one of them... :D
[B]Not everyone needs one. There are plenty of places where the reliability and quality of the electrical grid makes a UPS unnecessary unless you're running critical hardware that needs the added "just in case." [/B][/QUOTE]
Put it to you this way...I thought the lines at the old house were reliable too. Then all of a sudden, half the fuse box went dead which resulted in half the house loosing power. Then it'd pop right back on like nothing ever happened. Of course, my room was one of those that lost power. Had I not had a UPS between the wall socket and my computer, my computer would've been toasted.
At any rate, it turns out the problem was corrosion on the outside connection to the house. Once the line was replaced, things were back to normal. The house was barely 12 years old at teh time.
:rolleyes:
Fried half the house looking for a ground connection...
oui!
[B]Put it to you this way...I thought the lines at the old house were reliable too. Then all of a sudden, half the fuse box went dead which resulted in half the house loosing power. Then it'd pop right back on like nothing ever happened. Of course, my room was one of those that lost power. Had I not had a UPS between the wall socket and my computer, my computer would've been toasted.
At any rate, it turns out the problem was corrosion on the outside connection to the house. Once the line was replaced, things were back to normal. The house was barely 12 years old at teh time. [/B][/QUOTE]
Well, I'll put it to you this way. I used computers connected to the wall sockets without using a UPS in Finland for about 13 years, and I never had a fried one. Neither did any of my friends.
[B]Vertigo1, it's funny that you mention Quantum.
I've only got one quantum in my personal systems, but I did build *many* systems for my employer, and found many many more quantums in various other desktops I've worked with. It's absolutely remarkable how old some of them are, and yet they still run with no problems...ever. I have Never seen a dead quantum, and this is just remarkable.[/B][/QUOTE]
Ah Quantum's! Still have a working 20 Meg SCSI Quantum in my Amiga 3000...
;)
:D
I personally like Maxtors - they are quiet drives and I have never had one fail when new. I have had 2 really old (arround 10 year old) Maxtor drives fail (both under 350MBs) - but they only just failed in the last year - thats a good life for a HD.
I currently have 2 80GB ATA, and 1 160GB SATA Maxtors. We have also had WD, Seagate, and Quantum drives, though I beleive the largest of them we ever had was a 6GB drive - so none recent. The early Quantum drives (10+ years ago) and the old WDs (7+ years ago) had problems. Recently I have heard no problems with those brands though.
I understand that the Seagate drives are slower then competetors and the WD drives are louder. I keep hearing people say Maxtors have problems...but I have never had one fail that wasn't at the end of it's life anyway...though I do want to grab another 160GB drive so I can set up RAID on my system for backup purposes.
--RC
[B]Try those competent PG&E crews out here in CA who like to leave your home's main breaker turned on while they disconnect the ground cable and leave the 2 sides of the 220 connection to your house still active...
:rolleyes:
Fried half the house looking for a ground connection...
oui! [/B][/QUOTE]
Please tell me you billed them for the damages....
[quote][i]Originally posted by Curz[/i]
[b]Well, I'll put it to you this way. I used computers connected to the wall sockets without using a UPS in Finland for about 13 years, and I never had a fried one. Neither did any of my friends.[/b][/quote]
Good for you. My point is, while the lines may be great, you shouldn't depend on them to stay that way. Not having some kind of protection between you and the outside lines is flat out stupid and is just begging for something to zap everything. Thats like running your computer without an AV or anti-spyware program installed. While practicing safe surfing will keep most infections out, its not foolproof.
[B]Ah Quantum's! Still have a working 20 Meg SCSI Quantum in my Amiga 3000...
;)
:D [/B][/QUOTE]
Our 20MB SCSI died years ago...we bought a 730MB SCSI and plugged it into the Amiga 2000. Only with Amigas could a system designed in the late 1980's support a 730MB drive :D
[B]Not having some kind of protection between you and the outside lines is flat out stupid[/B][/QUOTE]
It's not quite stupid if it works, now is it?
Currently on my backup 6 gig.