2 TB SATA - which is better?

[JoeBro]

I'm comparing two internal 2TB HDDs for my home PC (Win7 Home Premium 64-bit) use:
HITACHI Deskstar HDS722020ALA330 (0F10311)
Western Digital Caviar Black WD2001FASS

I cannot find any technical comparisons between the two. I am not doing any kind of fancy RAID setup; it just needs to be a fast, reliable use as my main HDD.

The differences that the WD has over the Hitachi are:
64MB cache (vs. 32MB)
dual processor (vs. one)
5 year warranty (vs. 3 year)
$50 more

What do you recommend please?

Thanks,
Eliezer

 

[BadBigBen]

Choose your weapon (in this case benchmark):

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/3.5-hard-drive-charts/Average-WriteTransfer-Performance,659.html

http://www.storagereview.com/Testbed4Compare.sr

Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[JoeBro]

Ben, thanks for the links, but they unfortunately don't help me: StorageReview doesn't have either drive - and TomsHardware only has the WD.

Also, those are so technically detailed - I wouldn't know which benchmark to use - even if I could compare the two drives! I'm just looking for an overall good drive.

Since an understandable techincal comparison doesn't seem so easy to come by, I guess I'd settle for general advice (a.k.a. a guesstimate)...

Thanks,
Eliezer

 

[BadBigBen]

Ok, well sry if it wasn't reflected in those benchmarks...

but generally speaking, you probably would not notice the difference in speeds, with everyday use...

the only time you would probably notice would be if you do video editing or use the drive in a file server (here I would go with the WD)...

so go with the cheaper Hitachi drive...


Ben
"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."
How to ask a question, when posting them to a professional forum.
Only ask questions with yes/no answers if you want "yes" or "no"

 

[JoeBro]

Thank you very much!

 

[kjv1611]

JoeBro,

If you want the performance, but not the price, then look at the Samsung F2/F3 line.

You could get the 1TB Samsung F3, dirt cheap, right now:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...52185&cm_re=samsung_f3-_-22-152-185-_-Product

Those drives are screaming fast, and they run cool. And given you won't be moving it around a lot, it should do well.

The current WD drives are VERY good drives, especially the blacks. They can take more of a moving around and such, it seems, and they have the shortest access times outside the WD Velociraptors.

Also, if you want more than 1TB, but can deal with less than 2TB, then you could get this WD Black:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136592&Tpk=wd 1.5tb black

In my personal experience, I'd put hitachi at the bottom. Right now, I'm mainly using WD drives and the Samsung F3s. Seagate makes pretty good drives if you go to the 2.5 inch drives, but there as well, I personally prefer WD.

Sorry to muddy the water, but consider your options.

Also, why do you need a 2TB system drive, anyway? If you don't need a lot of storage, then I'd spend a little less, and get the faster drive. The WD Black 640GB drive has been REALLY popular for its performance, and that's more than enough for most people anyway.

 

[JoeBro]

KJV, I'm looking for a large drive because I'd like "breathing room" on my PC - and because this is my last slot for a harddrive - so it's capacity is gonna have to last the life of this PC.

Thank you very much for your comments and advice!
Eliezer

 

[firewolfrl]

one of the biggest issues on the drives is adequate cooling. make sure that is in place