Hard Drive questions 1

[dave31175]

I'm considering purchasing a new hard drive (IDE). What features should I be looking for? Are there specific brands you would recommend for or against? How significant is the difference between 5400 & 7200 RPM? I guess I'm just looking for some general advice! TIA

 

[ngagne]

All depends on what you have for a system. If your motherboard can only support ATA66, then you're wasting money purchasing a ATA100 drive. Post your system specs and others will be able to make a recomendation. Nate Gagne
ngagne@numa-inc.com

 

[bergis]

As most ide drives now are ata100, and since ata100 is downward compatible with both ata66 and ata33, and since there is virtually no price difference I see no reason not to get a ata100. Other than that there are small differences in ide specs, at least thats how it appears to me, if you check

http://www.storagereview.com,

you will find a lot of tests, and you can also compare drives. This way you can look around for disks that you think you could afford, then go back and compare their specs.
When it comes to the real world and (for me) win98, I don't think a regular user will notice much difference between a 5400 & 7200 rpm drive. Earlier it seemed that 7200rpm disk had a tendency to get very hot, but most hd manufacurers have solved that.
I have a new ibm 60gxp 40g ata100 and a older wd 205bb 20g ata66. I'm happy with both.

Kjell

 

[paparazi]

You'll pay about 25% more for a 7,200rpm drive, they are the ultimate to get if you "feel the need for speed"
It really depends on what you want from your system, If your aim is the fastest, both graphically and work intensively then you have to get a 7,200, on the other hand if space is more of a priority than speed the differance in cost between a 7,200 and a 5,400 could well get you an extra 10 gig but with a slightly slower drive.
ie: 20 gig 7,200's are about the same price as a 30 gig 5,400.
As for ATA 100. as was said earlier, most are now 100, and are backward compatible so don't settle for less, although hard drive data transfer has not yet reached the old UDMA 66 rate yet, so it may on the face of it look pointless to have UDMA 100, but I am sure these rates will rise as quicker board chipsets are introduced in the near future.
Martin

 

[dave31175]

Thanks all for the advice, and thanks bergis for the link. I checked my mobo specs (DFI CA61) and it only supports ATA66, but perhaps that is irrelevant if ATA100 is the standard, and beyond that, I'll probably be upgrading my mobo eventually anyway... And from what you and others have told me, it doesn't sound to me like a 7200RPM would be worth the extra $ for me -- I get the impression the speed difference is not exactly a night & day difference.

Thanks again! I appreciate all the info.