Western Digital, Maxtor or Seagate

[@drian]

For a spare PC, I'm considering setting up a RAID 0 array. Which make of
drive would be best for the array? I'm looking at 120GB, Serial ATA, 8MB
cache drives. The makes I'm considering are:

o Seagate / $108.00
o Maxtor / $110.00
o Western Digital / $118.00

Is any one make better for the RAID 0 array than the other? There would be
two identical makes on the array.

Also, I'm wondering if Western Digital is that much better than Maxtor or
Seagate, for the slightly price increase they command.

@drian.

 

[Strontium]

You just love starting flamewars, don't you?

-
@drian stood up at show-n-tell, in
[email protected], and said:

 

[Richard Dower]

You just love starting flamewars, don't you?

lol...you baitor.

To answer, two WD Raptors in RAID 0 can't be beaten right now, with 8MB
cache and 10,000 RPM...shave the balls off a monkey.

 

[@drian]

You just love starting flamewars, don't you?

LOL! I could have asked "Shall I go for an Intel or AMD?".

No, I'm just after some opinions on each person's experience with each brand
of drive. I have a couple of Seagates in one of my PCs and they run
slightly hot.

@drian.

 

[Ilya Dan]

o Seagate / $108.00

o Maxtor / $110.00
o Western Digital / $118.00

Is any one make better for the RAID 0 array than the other? There would be
two identical makes on the array.

It's my personal experience, but I didn't see WD hard drive that succeeded
to work longer then 4 month without falling apart. I've always replaced
twice, and then had to replace to Maxtor (Quantum), which is by the way 5$
more expensive here for some reason. Making a hard drive that will live for
years, seems to be greatest WD problem. Anyway in RAID, you will be able to
replace the faulty drives forever without loosing any data, so this will be
less problem for you

___________
Best Regards,
Ilya Dan.

 

[@drian]

It's my personal experience, but I didn't see WD hard drive that succeeded

to work longer then 4 month without falling apart. I've always replaced
twice, and then had to replace to Maxtor (Quantum), which is by the way 5$
more expensive here for some reason. Making a hard drive that will live for
years, seems to be greatest WD problem. Anyway in RAID, you will be able to
replace the faulty drives forever without loosing any data, so this will be
less problem for you

So you had longevity problems with WD?

I had some Maxtor SCSI drives a year or so ago, and they seemed rock solid,
probably because they were Quantum drives, and not actual Maxtors.

I suppose I should pick a capacity of drive, say 80 or 120GB, then hit the
review sites for more information. Of course, they don't tell you how long
the drive lasted.

@drian.

 

[Ilya Dan]

I had some Maxtor SCSI drives a year or so ago, and they seemed rock
solid,

probably because they were Quantum drives, and not actual Maxtors.

I forgot to mention that now I have 2 Quantum and 1 Maxtor drive: 4GB, 20GB,
120GB, the oldest 4GB drive is more then 5 years old, if I remember right.
NEVER had even ONE problem with any of them.

 

[Strontium]

-
@drian stood up at show-n-tell, in
[email protected], and said:

LOL! I could have asked "Shall I go for an Intel or AMD?".

No, I'm just after some opinions on each person's experience with
each brand of drive. I have a couple of Seagates in one of my PCs
and they run slightly hot.

Well, I was being 'slightly' sarcastic. But, you know as well as I do that
there are fanboys for every brand/make/model of everything....or do you lol.

I, personally, would choose WD. But, that's just my experience with them as
a whole. I don't do RAID. But, if I did...that's who I'd use. And, now I
will duck from all the anti WD freaks coming out of the woodworks...perhaps
they won't just to make me look paranoid ....they're out to get me, I
swear! haha!

lol

@drian.

--
Strontium

"You were the first thing, that I thought of. When, I thought
I'd drank you, off my mind. When I get lost, in the liquor, you're
the only one I find. If I did the thangs, I oughtta', you still would
not be mine. So, I keep a tight grip on the bottle...Gettin' loose
and, killin' time..." - Clint Black

 

[Larc]

| For a spare PC, I'm considering setting up a RAID 0 array. Which make of
| drive would be best for the array? I'm looking at 120GB, Serial ATA, 8MB
| cache drives. The makes I'm considering are:
|
| o Seagate / $108.00
| o Maxtor / $110.00
| o Western Digital / $118.00
|
| Is any one make better for the RAID 0 array than the other? There would be
| two identical makes on the array.
|
| Also, I'm wondering if Western Digital is that much better than Maxtor or
| Seagate, for the slightly price increase they command.

I'd choose WD hands down based on my experience with them. But you may want to
check around for a better price. The 120GB Special Edition is less than $118 at
Newegg and even locally at Best Buy (it's $110 including shipping at Newegg now
and is currently advertised for $79.99 at Best Buy stores in my area, but a
rebate is probably involved in getting to that BB price).

Larc



§§§ - Please raise temperature of mail to reply by e-mail - §§§

 

[Allen_L]

This thread is hopeless, as all kinds of different opinions will be posted
about *each* drive. They are all good, but will all fail at some point

I personally have had good luck with all three, never had a failure with
any...knock on wood. Seagate has a reputation for running a little hotter
than the others, and heat is a problem with any drive...so in a raid
situation you may need a hard drive cooler for the Seagates.

....Allen

 

[Bob Davis]

All my drives are PATA's. I have a Maxtor 160 DM+9 as C: and a WD1000JB as
D:, with four more WD's and three IBM's (!) used as firewire drives and
clones. The C: and D: drives run 12 hrs/day and the others only as needed.
The Maxtor is faster and quieter spinning, but the head movement is noisier.
It is my first Maxtor since the ESDI days (circa early 90's), but it has
been doing well for four months, and the WD's are all over a year old. The
only drive I've had fail in the past 15 years is an IBM 75GXP last year
(knock on wood), replaced in warranty with a 60GXP which is still running
(clone, run only for 15 minutes per month).

 

[Craig]

For a spare PC, I'm considering setting up a RAID 0 array. Which make of
drive would be best for the array? I'm looking at 120GB, Serial ATA, 8MB
cache drives. The makes I'm considering are:

o Seagate / $108.00
o Maxtor / $110.00
o Western Digital / $118.00

Is any one make better for the RAID 0 array than the other? There would be
two identical makes on the array.

Also, I'm wondering if Western Digital is that much better than Maxtor or
Seagate, for the slightly price increase they command.

@drian.

Does your locatation have a OfficeMax? If so checkout the Sunday
newspaper for Office Max sales paper.
I recently purchased a WD 120GB hard drive, after rebates it was $80.00

Craig

Craig

 

[Will Dormann]

LOL! I could have asked "Shall I go for an Intel or AMD?".

No, I'm just after some opinions on each person's experience with each brand
of drive. I have a couple of Seagates in one of my PCs and they run
slightly hot.

In that case, I'll share my experience.

I bought a Maxtor almost a year ago. 80GB, one of the first FDB drives
from Maxtor. Failed in a month or so. Got a replacement drive from
Maxtor and it had two big '?' marks written in pen on the drive.

I set it aside for a while since I didn't trust it with anything mission
critical. This summer I built a PVR machine with it. It failed after
about 2 months of use. Got another replacement from Maxtor. Again,
clearly used as it had scratches on the sides and top.

This one failed within one month.

I'm waiting to get drive #4 from Maxtor in the mail. The drive was
adequately cooled, and the PSU is fine in both systems that I've used
Maxtor in.


So personally, I'll never touch or recommend Maxtor again. No problems
with Seagate. They run slightly warm, but I keep them in an area with
good airflow.

-WD

 

[@drian]

This thread is hopeless, as all kinds of different opinions will be posted
about *each* drive. They are all good, but will all fail at some point

I personally have had good luck with all three, never had a failure with
any...knock on wood. Seagate has a reputation for running a little hotter
than the others, and heat is a problem with any drive...so in a raid
situation you may need a hard drive cooler for the Seagates.

That's funny you mention that, as said, the Seagates I have run hot too. In
fact, they run as hot as SCSI drives I had a while ago.

@drian.

 

[@drian]

Well, I was being 'slightly' sarcastic. But, you know as well as I do that
there are fanboys for every brand/make/model of everything....or do you

lol.

Oh yeah, I know. I'm hoping to hear from more civil people who don't stoop
to criticizing others for their choice of drive. Maybe I'm asking too much.

@drian.

I, personally, would choose WD. But, that's just my experience with them as
a whole. I don't do RAID. But, if I did...that's who I'd use. And, now I
will duck from all the anti WD freaks coming out of the woodworks...perhaps
they won't just to make me look paranoid ....they're out to get me, I
swear! haha!

LOL!

@drian.

 

[@drian]

I forgot to mention that now I have 2 Quantum and 1 Maxtor drive: 4GB, 20GB,
120GB, the oldest 4GB drive is more then 5 years old, if I remember right.
NEVER had even ONE problem with any of them.

Interesting. Of course, you probably bought those when you could actually
buy a Quantum. I just wondered why the WD is slightly more expensive than
Maxtor or Seagate, you know, going on the phrase "you get what you pay for".

One thing I like about Maxtor is they actually do an 80GB drive, WD doesn't,
not from what I see.

@drian.

 

[@drian]

I'd choose WD hands down based on my experience with them. But you may want to
check around for a better price. The 120GB Special Edition is less than $118 at
Newegg and even locally at Best Buy (it's $110 including shipping at Newegg now
and is currently advertised for $79.99 at Best Buy stores in my area, but a
rebate is probably involved in getting to that BB price).

Less than $118 at Newegg? That's where I got my price! LOL! OK, I'll need
to re-check. I noticed they changed prices on a few things recently, within
the last day.

I'll need to check the local Best Buy here in California, I always assumed
brick and mortar shops were more expensive, but like you say, it's probably
more up front then you are refunded via a rebate.

Thanks.

@drian.

 

[@drian]

All my drives are PATA's. I have a Maxtor 160 DM+9 as C: and a WD1000JB as
D:, with four more WD's and three IBM's (!) used as firewire drives and
clones. The C: and D: drives run 12 hrs/day and the others only as needed.
The Maxtor is faster and quieter spinning, but the head movement is noisier.
It is my first Maxtor since the ESDI days (circa early 90's), but it has
been doing well for four months, and the WD's are all over a year old. The
only drive I've had fail in the past 15 years is an IBM 75GXP last year
(knock on wood), replaced in warranty with a 60GXP which is still running
(clone, run only for 15 minutes per month).

Wow, you have them all! I don't mind a noisey drive, believe it or not. I
like to know it's working. The rest of my PC is quiet so a slightly noisey
drive isn't a problem for me. I loved my old SCSI drives that clicked and
whined, I knew they were working.

Just curious, where are your Maxtor's and WD's made? Are they still made in
Japan or is it Malaysia now?

Thanks for your post, interesting.

@drian.

 

[@drian]

Does your locatation have a OfficeMax? If so checkout the Sunday
newspaper for Office Max sales paper.
I recently purchased a WD 120GB hard drive, after rebates it was $80.00

Yes, I have an OfficeMax in Lake Forest, CA - a few cities from me. I'll
check the paper, thanks. This is especially useful, as I need to buy two of
them.

Thanks again.

@drian.

 

[kony]

For a spare PC, I'm considering setting up a RAID 0 array. Which make of
drive would be best for the array? I'm looking at 120GB, Serial ATA, 8MB
cache drives. The makes I'm considering are:

o Seagate / $108.00
o Maxtor / $110.00
o Western Digital / $118.00

Is any one make better for the RAID 0 array than the other? There would be
two identical makes on the array.

Also, I'm wondering if Western Digital is that much better than Maxtor or
Seagate, for the slightly price increase they command.

@drian.

Generally there are two groups of HDD users... those who have a drive
fail and swear off the brand, thinking another is better, and those
who've had several drives fail of different brands and realize that,
beyond certain drives with particular defects (like the Deathstars),
the rest are all having pretty low failure rates.

Buy whatever you can find a good price on, these are just now being
offered on sale, with rebates, etc. For $110-120 ea. you might be
abel to get 160GB drives instead of 120, if you keep an eye-out for
sales & rebates.

Generally the WD drives have better performance when there are
multiple read requests, would be better for something like an
IDE-implementation of a webserver. The Maxtors have higher sustained
throughput, IIRC, so would be better for large files. It's splitting
hairs though, in use you'd likely never notice the difference except
that the WD drives are significantly louder.

I haven't been using the newer Seagates so can't comment on them, but
I wouldn't worry about the heat difference too much because you should
have a solid cooling plan that could handle the Seagates even if you
were using one of the other alternatives.

Dave