Windows 10: Advice on Choosing a new HDD

Hi there people!

I'm beggining my hunt for a new HDD for my recent laptop, the toshiba it currently has is good, but sometimes hurts performance (8 MB cache and 5400 RPM), specially when processing big files on Clip Studio or Photoshop, so I decided that, since my warranty is about to expire, is a good time to start looking to good alternatives.

I've read that the most important thing in a HDD is the spinning speed and the cache... I would look for an SSD, but I need a great capacity (currently on 1 TB and I feel good) and SSD's are still quite expensive (and I'm still worried about the that reading/writte cycles limitation they might have). So my alternative is to look for a 7200 RPM spinner...

Now, I'm having a hard time deciding for a good HDD, I could probably sacrifice spinning speed if the cache is the thing that will improve performance...

Say, I got this Toshiba, 5400 RPM, 8 MB Buffer, and I see a Seagate Barracuda, 5400 RPM, but has 128 MB Buffer (O_O), or I see a Western Digital Black, 7200 RPM, but 64 MB Buffer.

In this scenario, which of the 3 disks will have better performance? I sometimes play games (N64 stuff, nothing big), and use Photoshop and Clip Studio Paint EX, to constantly save and export files (PNG's and TIF's), and of course, I move files and use my Windows 7 64 Bit Virtual Machine from time to time.

Thank you so much for your advice.

Cya!! *Biggrin

:)

 

Choosing a new mobile

i must say again some people may have issues not all these issues would be in the minority you never see good press much in here at all so dont let some peoples issues affect your decision again i would suggest the E 5 to you from PERSONALL point of view
also it been a smartphone there is more to offer with this than the C3 which is a budget phone

 

Choosing a new mobile

I have been through the C3/WIFI thread again and there are still people posting that they have WIFI problems with this phone..so clearly it is not solved. So , to return to my original question, with the C3 now out of the frame, what options
meet my requirements?

 

Hello Frego mate I prefer Seagate if I use spinners and you definitely want a 7200rpm one or even a hybrid and as I don't know what your budget is I cannot say which but a hybrid would be my first choice and then 7200rpm.

My self I do not like large drives too much to lose if thye go south I would sooner use more smaller ones than one large.

Anyway have a look at this http://www.seagate.com/au/en/solutio...-state-hybrid/

 

A quick look at newegg.com shows a number of 1TB hybrids. They all seem to be 5400 RPM, though, including the Seagate FireCuda.

I'd suggest a Western Digital Velociraptor (WD1000CHTZ, 10k RPM), but it's 15 mm thick, and I'm unsure whether it'd fit in the laptop. (The Toshiba is 9.5 mm thick.) A 1TB version is surprisingly inexpensive; maybe no one wants Velociraptors any more, as SSDs are available.

 

Yep I know Bob and I am really ticked off that they still insist on using slow spinners but at least the hybrid will fire up a tad quicker. I set up one on an old Toshiba with someone I worked with and it seemed ok but she was not that careful in how she used the thing really but at least it booted faster.

It is a pity the machine is not a dual drive machine like the one I am on now and a small SSD for the OS and the spinner for the data would be great. Plus if the machine were not to be carried around I suppose an external spinner would just as handy.

 

As much as I would love to get a Seagate, seems all their 2.5 drives for laptops are 5400 spinners, so that means goodbye to seagate unless I'm able to find a model that is a 7200 RPM spinner with 1TB space (I use VM's, so I need more tha 500 GB of space to feel safe and give enough space to windows to update and run)

Unfortunately, that Velociraptor model seems too thick for this laptop (Aspire E5-553), I'll see if I have some luck hunting for a good fast spinner in Mexico. Still, thank you for clarifying me my doubt about the spin speed and the buffer *Biggrin

Cya!

 

Did you see this lot Ferchogt mate some are up to 10000rpm!! Desktop Internal Hard Drives, Hard Drives, Components - Newegg.com 50001305 600003269 600003490

 

You wont see much of a performance gain between the Toshiba, 5400 RPM, 8 MB Buffer and the Seagate Barracuda, 5400 RPM, but has 128 MB Buffer. You need to be looking at 7200RPM drives maximum.

 

I have no experience with laptop drives, but for standard desktop drives it can be quite important to get a recent model rather than a model from 2 or 3 years earlier.

The speed tests I have run on desktop drives typically show that a 5400 rpm drive from say 2014 is faster than a 7200 rpm drive from say 2011.

I'd guess that laptop drives differ in the same way, but it's up to you to find online speed tests for any prospective purchase, making sure the test is for the exact same make and model number under consideration. Be very careful about the model number.

As for brands, there is too much randomness and too many unknowable factors to steer you toward any particular brand, unless you can find online reports that particular model numbers have a clearly unusual failure rate. Normally, I'd expect to find horror stories about any of them.

I'd probably consider return privileges with the vendor, customer service reputation, and warranty as seriously as any other factor. The last I heard, some of the major manufacturers have a totally pathetic customer service reputation. If you are lucky, you'll never need to contact them. If you are not lucky, prepare to rend your own flesh.

 

@ignatzatsonic You are correct, a company's support reputation and the length of their warranties are important factors to consider as well.

 

Yes well I don't claim to be any expert on that matter but having a bit more of a thought about the subject and looking at ignat's reply gave me an idea too that perhaps it is not the actual platter speed so much as how much technology has advanced on drive controllers and the enhanced actuating read/write arms speed at what they function at now, and we also have to take in the increase in total cache levels too. Unless I am terribly wrong and do stand to be corrected then in all probability a 5400rpm drive is going to be way ahead of the old ones we used to use or why else would they still produce them because that would not make economic sense if nothing else.

I am hypothetically assuming here that even though the platter is only spinning at 5400rpm it doesn't necessarily follow that the improved controller circuitry or even the actuating arms are slow. Plus we now have software systems that keep drives up to scratch as it were.

Having said that I am still an SSD user myself but if I were to use a spinner then maybe some of the tings I have outlined might influence me to use one.

 

Yes. Drives with the same rotation rates have the same rotational latency. Drives with few platters (higher data density) have higher continuous data transfer rates. (Newer drives tend to use fewer platters.)

As a compromise for the OP, I suggest a 500GB SSD. I don't know about Mexico, but in the US they have become reasonably priced. I stuck one in my Lenovo laptop, and it flies.

 

Do you have an optical drive in laptop?

If so, you can replace that with a hard drive enclosure holding (say) a 1 TB drive, and put ssd in main drive slot.

You can put the optical drive in an external usb caddy.

This way, you get best of all worlds.

You really do not need to worry about read write cycles anymore. SSDs outlast HDDS these days.

 

If I were getting one for a client it would be a SSD or a WD black with the 5yr warrenty. I would also consider the 512 SSD like was mentioned.