Price Guides, October 2005: Storage
by Jarred Walton & Haider Farhan on October 15, 2005 6:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Guides
SATA - 3.0Gbps
SATA drives in the 3.0Gbps category have gone up about $0.02/GB since our last analysis two weeks ago. It seems as though the 250GB hard drives are still the “best bang for the buck” at the moment with the 250GB Hitachi Deskstar [RTPE: T7K250] leading the competition at $0.44 per GB. Coming in close behind is the Western Digital 250GB Caviar SE [RTPE: WD2500KS] at $0.45 per GB. The prices on most drives are also trending down at a steady rate, with the WD drive dropping about $1 per week.
Those interested in the fastest access times will benefit from the 10,000 RPM of the WD Raptor. The Raptors often fluctuate quite a bit in price, with an overall slow drop as time passes. Although they are not much cheaper than our last analysis, at least one vendor still has a $20 mail-in rebate. The best price that we can find this week is for $166 shipped, or $152 if you're willing to wait for the MIR.
SATA drives in the 3.0Gbps category have gone up about $0.02/GB since our last analysis two weeks ago. It seems as though the 250GB hard drives are still the “best bang for the buck” at the moment with the 250GB Hitachi Deskstar [RTPE: T7K250] leading the competition at $0.44 per GB. Coming in close behind is the Western Digital 250GB Caviar SE [RTPE: WD2500KS] at $0.45 per GB. The prices on most drives are also trending down at a steady rate, with the WD drive dropping about $1 per week.
Those interested in the fastest access times will benefit from the 10,000 RPM of the WD Raptor. The Raptors often fluctuate quite a bit in price, with an overall slow drop as time passes. Although they are not much cheaper than our last analysis, at least one vendor still has a $20 mail-in rebate. The best price that we can find this week is for $166 shipped, or $152 if you're willing to wait for the MIR.
Western Digital 1.5Gbps 74GB 10000RPM 8MB Raptor
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JarredWalton - Saturday, October 15, 2005 - link
Smaller cables, and on many chipsets slightly faster performance. Overall, it's not enough that I'd really upgrade to SATA (i.e. get rid of a PATA drive for an SATA). However, I'd purchase SATA if buying new, unless there was an awesome deal on a PATA drive. Many intel motherboards, for example, only come with one PATA connection, so you'd max out at a DVDR and a single HDD.mongoosesRawesome - Sunday, October 16, 2005 - link
another reason I am hesitant to go with SATA with a new build is that you need a floppy drive to install the SATA drivers.I've heard of using USB keys or CDs to install the drivers. Anyone have a link on how to do this?
Whenever I recommend new systems to people, I always suggest PATA, because its cheaper and they don't have to worry about obtaining a floppy drive in the future if they ever have to reformat.
While the cables are nice and thin, ive also heard of cables falling out, because the attachment system isn't very secure.
PrinceGaz - Monday, October 17, 2005 - link
I didn't need any SATA drivers to install Windows XP SP2 on my SATA drive connected to an nForce4 SATA channel. The box doesn't even have a floppy drive.mongoosesRawesome - Monday, October 17, 2005 - link
oh. somehow i was under the impression that all SATA controllers required drivers from a floppy.btw, I've already gotten my rebates. i purchased the drive sometime in early september.
bob661 - Sunday, October 16, 2005 - link
Both of my computers run SATA with no floppy drives. Whether or not you need a floppy to install drivers depends on the the SATA controller.photoguy99 - Sunday, October 16, 2005 - link
Most motherboards do not need a special driver for SATA.There is no reason not to use it in a new system. Less cable mass, simpler configuration, etc.
ProviaFan - Saturday, October 15, 2005 - link
I've been under the impression that it's best not to run an optical drive and a hard disk on the same IDE channel, as well. Maybe it isn't the case with newer optical drives, but if true, it's definitely another reason to prefer SATA drives on a mainboard with only one IDE connection.