Samsung Spinpoint 32mb Cache F1 vs Seagate Barracuda 32mb Cache

Mr.PS · Jan 26, 2008, 03:06 PM

Which one of these 500gb drives is better? I've been browsing Newegg for two hours now reading reviews. The Seagate drives seem to come with bad firmware that causes performance and cache recognition issues. The Samsung drives have a high failure rate.

Whats the real deal? Has anyone here had any bad experiences with either drives?

Seagate:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148294

Samsung (yea it's a 750gb not 500gb):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152100

kittiyut · Jan 26, 2008, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr.PS

Which one of these 500gb drives is better? I've been browsing Newegg for two hours now reading reviews. The Seagate drives seem to come with bad firmware that causes performance and cache recognition issues. The Samsung drives have a high failure rate.

Whats the real deal? Has anyone here had any bad experiences with either drives?

Seagate:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148294

Samsung (yea it's a 750gb not 500gb):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152100

You might want to consider Seagate ES.2, costs slightly more.
I ordered 5 x 1TB, will post my experience when I get them.

netdog · Jan 26, 2008, 03:27 PM

Anybody here had an F1 fail on them? (1TBs aside as everybody's seem to fail with some frequency still)

edesignuk · Jan 26, 2008, 03:34 PM

I've gone for 2 x 750GB Samsung F1's. Didn't look in to it that far to be honest, just heard good things about the F1's and went for it

shinji · Jan 26, 2008, 03:35 PM

I know you didn't ask about WD but I'm using this 750 gb http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136131 in my Mac Pro, and I love it.

netdog · Jan 26, 2008, 03:49 PM

I've heard nothing but good things about 750GB F1s everywhere. Quiet. Reliable. Very fast.

That has been my experience so far too.

sdschwendener · Jan 26, 2008, 06:33 PM

Seagate 300GB 16MB 7200 Serial ATA150

I've spent a lot, I'm getting a few of these instead.. It looks like a good and fast drive (except the cache and size of course)

musicforme · Jan 26, 2008, 10:13 PM

I installed a Seagate 32 MB 1TB drive this morning. The drive is dead quiet.

So far I've only had Time Machine back up to it. I did manually copy one 1 100 MB file over to it and it was practically done as soon as I let go of the mouse button.

BTW, the screws to attach the drive are already attached to the drive tray for the early 2008 Mac Pro. The video I watched on OWC's site shows that you need to provide your own screws for the "older" Pros.

Random Chaos · Jan 26, 2008, 10:21 PM

From what I've read, most of the Samsung failures are on Via and Promise SATA chipsets, and it's a drive to controller comminication issue rather than a real failure apparently. I've got 4 samsungs running in three different mac pros with no issues (2 2006/7 and 1 2008). Mac Pros use an Intel SATA chipset.

ackzot · Jan 26, 2008, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdschwendener

Seagate 300GB 16MB 7200 Serial ATA150

I've spent a lot, I'm getting a few of these instead.. It looks like a good and fast drive (except the cache and size of course)

Considering that the Mac Pro uses a SATA 300 interface, why are you going for SATA 150 drives?

faumble · Jan 26, 2008, 10:33 PM

Samsungs are better since they are 3 platter disc (against the seagate 4 platter), the less platter the better cause it has less parts that could get damaged. Heat is also lessed thanks to 3 platters.

Mr.PS · Jan 26, 2008, 11:32 PM

Looks like the spin points are no brainer. Raptors while nice are small, noisy, and a bit dated now, especially considering there performance gains are marginal. They do feel quite quick because of the lower seek times; I had two of them in raid 0 on my PC since early 2003. The lower number of platters seems awsome as well.

I'm going for 2 x 750gb 32mb cache seagate spin points in raid 0 for my main drive.

Does anyone have these bad boys in Raid yet?

amik · Jan 26, 2008, 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr.PS

Does anyone have these bad boys in Raid yet?

I don't have any samsung drives yet, but I did see this press release the other day about the release of the new F1 Raid class drive. http://www.techpowerup.com/index.php?48987

ekwipt · 12:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr.PS

Which one of these 500gb drives is better? I've been browsing Newegg for two hours now reading reviews. The Seagate drives seem to come with bad firmware that causes performance and cache recognition issues. The Samsung drives have a high failure rate.

I know there is later firmware for the seagates to get over this problem, i'll try and digg up the forum and post back here

edit:

http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/sup...nloads/cuda-fw

Random Chaos · Jan 27, 2008, 12:06 AM

I've got 2 Samsung 750's in software mirrored raid, but that probably isn't what you are looking for.

seany916 · Jan 27, 2008, 08:23 AM

great thread. I was wondering the same thing.

imacdaddy · Jan 27, 2008, 08:37 AM

The Samsung F1 500GB has only 16MB cache. The 32MB cache drives are the 750GB (HD753LJ) and 1TB (HD103UJ). I can't find them anywhere where I live!

I want to get 2 x 750GB F1 for my data, 1 x 320GB F1 (HD322HJ w/ 16MB) for OS X and Apps and the stock 320GB for Win bootcamp.

rds · Jan 27, 2008, 12:24 PM

Edit: I just lied.

netdog · Jan 27, 2008, 12:27 PM

I think that the impression being given by some that F1s are unreliable, at least using Mac-based Intel SATA chipsets, is wrong. I have found nothing online to back up the idea that any of us Mac users should be reluctant to use Samsungs, and again I ask if anyone here has bad experiences using them with an Intel-based Mac. I think they are actually some of the quietest, fastest and most reliable drives on the market, all at a pretty good price.

Cromulent · Jan 27, 2008, 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdschwendener

Seagate 300GB 16MB 7200 Serial ATA150

I've spent a lot, I'm getting a few of these instead.. It looks like a good and fast drive (except the cache and size of course)

Except it is a SATA 150 drive and the Mac Pro uses SATA 300 so you've pretty much cut the speed on the drives interface in half.

cineapple · Jan 27, 2008, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cromulent

Except it is a SATA 150 drive and the Mac Pro uses SATA 300 so you've pretty much cut the speed on the drives interface in half.

Do you recommend or know of any 500GB Sata 300 drives? Looking to buy a couple when my mac arrives.

Cromulent · Jan 27, 2008, 12:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cineapple

Do you recommend or know of any 500GB Sata 300 drives? Looking to buy a couple when my mac arrives.

Any of these.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/produc...d=14&subid=940

Mr.PS · Jan 27, 2008, 06:55 PM

I think I'm set on two Samsung Spinpoint F1 750gb's in software Raid 0.

LeKiD · Jan 27, 2008, 07:31 PM

Question from a Newbie:

-How do you fix a raid on HDs? And do you really have to?

Cromulent · Jan 27, 2008, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeKiD

Question from a Newbie:

-How do you fix a raid on HDs? And do you really have to?

What do you mean by fix? Do you mean one of your hard drives has crashed or that you have corrupted the RAID volume?

Jan 26, 2008, 03:06 PM	#1
Mr.PS macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jan 2008	Samsung Spinpoint 32mb Cache F1 vs Seagate Barracuda 32mb Cache Which one of these 500gb drives is better? I've been browsing Newegg for two hours now reading reviews. The Seagate drives seem to come with bad firmware that causes performance and cache recognition issues. The Samsung drives have a high failure rate. Whats the real deal? Has anyone here had any bad experiences with either drives? Seagate: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822148294 Samsung (yea it's a 750gb not 500gb): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822152100 __________________ 2008 Mac Pro: 8x2.8ghz, 16GB RAM, 2x750GB, nvidia 8800GT, Dual 30" Apple Cinema Displays. 2009 MacBook Pro: 2.66ghz, 4GB RAM, 9600M GT, 128GB SSD.
	0

Jan 26, 2008, 03:27 PM	#3
netdog macrumors 603 Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: London	Anybody here had an F1 fail on them? (1TBs aside as everybody's seem to fail with some frequency still) __________________ We don't see the world as it is. We see it as we are. -Anais Nin Classical Homeopath and Naturopathic Doctor in London
	0

Jan 26, 2008, 03:34 PM	#4
edesignuk Demi-God (Moderator emeritus) Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: London, England	I've gone for 2 x 750GB Samsung F1's. Didn't look in to it that far to be honest, just heard good things about the F1's and went for it __________________
	0

Jan 26, 2008, 03:49 PM	#6
netdog macrumors 603 Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: London	I've heard nothing but good things about 750GB F1s everywhere. Quiet. Reliable. Very fast. That has been my experience so far too. __________________ We don't see the world as it is. We see it as we are. -Anais Nin Classical Homeopath and Naturopathic Doctor in London
	0

Jan 26, 2008, 06:33 PM	#7
sdschwendener macrumors regular Join Date: Feb 2007	I have a smaller budget but this is what I got Seagate 300GB 16MB 7200 Serial ATA150 I've spent a lot, I'm getting a few of these instead.. It looks like a good and fast drive (except the cache and size of course) __________________ iPad 16 gb Lg quantum wp7 Liquid cooled pc Nvidia surround
	0

Jan 26, 2008, 03:35 PM	#5
shinji macrumors 6502a Join Date: Mar 2007	I know you didn't ask about WD but I'm using this 750 gb http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136131 in my Mac Pro, and I love it.
	0

Jan 26, 2008, 10:13 PM	#8
musicforme macrumors member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Phoenix, AZ	I installed a Seagate 32 MB 1TB drive this morning. The drive is dead quiet. So far I've only had Time Machine back up to it. I did manually copy one 1 100 MB file over to it and it was practically done as soon as I let go of the mouse button. BTW, the screws to attach the drive are already attached to the drive tray for the early 2008 Mac Pro. The video I watched on OWC's site shows that you need to provide your own screws for the "older" Pros.
	0

Jan 26, 2008, 10:21 PM	#9
Random Chaos macrumors member Join Date: Jan 2008	From what I've read, most of the Samsung failures are on Via and Promise SATA chipsets, and it's a drive to controller comminication issue rather than a real failure apparently. I've got 4 samsungs running in three different mac pros with no issues (2 2006/7 and 1 2008). Mac Pros use an Intel SATA chipset.
	0

Jan 26, 2008, 10:33 PM	#11
faumble macrumors regular Join Date: Jan 2008	Samsungs are better since they are 3 platter disc (against the seagate 4 platter), the less platter the better cause it has less parts that could get damaged. Heat is also lessed thanks to 3 platters.
	0

Jan 26, 2008, 11:32 PM	#12
Mr.PS Thread Starter macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jan 2008	Looks like the spin points are no brainer. Raptors while nice are small, noisy, and a bit dated now, especially considering there performance gains are marginal. They do feel quite quick because of the lower seek times; I had two of them in raid 0 on my PC since early 2003. The lower number of platters seems awsome as well. I'm going for 2 x 750gb 32mb cache seagate spin points in raid 0 for my main drive. Does anyone have these bad boys in Raid yet? __________________ 2008 Mac Pro: 8x2.8ghz, 16GB RAM, 2x750GB, nvidia 8800GT, Dual 30" Apple Cinema Displays. 2009 MacBook Pro: 2.66ghz, 4GB RAM, 9600M GT, 128GB SSD.
	0

Jan 27, 2008, 12:06 AM	#15
Random Chaos macrumors member Join Date: Jan 2008	I've got 2 Samsung 750's in software mirrored raid, but that probably isn't what you are looking for.
	0

Jan 27, 2008, 08:23 AM	#16
seany916 macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Southern California	great thread. I was wondering the same thing.
	0

Jan 27, 2008, 08:37 AM	#17
imacdaddy macrumors 6502a Join Date: Feb 2006	The Samsung F1 500GB has only 16MB cache. The 32MB cache drives are the 750GB (HD753LJ) and 1TB (HD103UJ). I can't find them anywhere where I live! I want to get 2 x 750GB F1 for my data, 1 x 320GB F1 (HD322HJ w/ 16MB) for OS X and Apps and the stock 320GB for Win bootcamp. __________________ 1991 Macintosh IIsi (retired); 2006 20" iMac G5 w/ iSight (retired) \| Early 2008 Mac Pro 2.8GHz Octo \| 2010 Mac Mini server \| Mid 2011 15" Macbook Pro
	0

Jan 27, 2008, 12:24 PM	#18
rds macrumors regular Join Date: Aug 2007	Edit: I just lied.
	0

Jan 27, 2008, 12:27 PM	#19
netdog macrumors 603 Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: London	I think that the impression being given by some that F1s are unreliable, at least using Mac-based Intel SATA chipsets, is wrong. I have found nothing online to back up the idea that any of us Mac users should be reluctant to use Samsungs, and again I ask if anyone here has bad experiences using them with an Intel-based Mac. I think they are actually some of the quietest, fastest and most reliable drives on the market, all at a pretty good price. __________________ We don't see the world as it is. We see it as we are. -Anais Nin Classical Homeopath and Naturopathic Doctor in London
	0

Jan 27, 2008, 06:55 PM	#23
Mr.PS Thread Starter macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jan 2008	I think I'm set on two Samsung Spinpoint F1 750gb's in software Raid 0. __________________ 2008 Mac Pro: 8x2.8ghz, 16GB RAM, 2x750GB, nvidia 8800GT, Dual 30" Apple Cinema Displays. 2009 MacBook Pro: 2.66ghz, 4GB RAM, 9600M GT, 128GB SSD.
	0

Jan 27, 2008, 07:31 PM	#24
LeKiD macrumors regular Join Date: Aug 2007	Question from a Newbie: -How do you fix a raid on HDs? And do you really have to? __________________ Pardon Multimedia - please give MM another chance!
	0

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