Hitachi/Seagate/WD 750GB hdd

[bmat]

I'm about to buy a pair of 750 GB drives since I've used the capacity on my 500s. I'll move the stock 250 to an external enclosure, and replace it with the 750 and use the other 750 for back up. (I assume I should just install the OS on the 750 and then use the transfer utility from the 250.)

Going on the OWC website, there's a plethera of 750 options -- and I've usually purchased Seagate or WD. They're all within $30 of each other, but the Hitachi has a 32 mb buffer, whereas the other 2 are 16 mb. Of couse, the Hitachi is cheaper -- and since I believe there's no such thing as a free lunch, does the 16 versus 32 matter, and am I just missing other intangibles out there that Seagate and WD have.

All are 7200 rpm.

 

[thxdave]

One other datapoint you might consider is drive heat. I just bought a new Seagate 500 gig SATA drive yesterday after doing an incredibly stupid thing during a backup of another 500 gig HD. The Seagate seems to run VERY hot compared to other HD's I've owned. I'd be curious how much heat the Hitachi generates if you decide to go that way. Can you keep us posted? The Seagates may very well be designed to run at this temp but I'm very hesitant to put 4 of these inside a MP as the fans would constantly have to overcome this heat.

 

[WildPalms]

One other datapoint you might consider is drive heat. I just bought a new Seagate 500 gig SATA drive yesterday after doing an incredibly stupid thing during a backup of another 500 gig HD. The Seagate seems to run VERY hot compared to other HD's I've owned. I'd be curious how much heat the Hitachi generates if you decide to go that way. Can you keep us posted? The Seagates may very well be designed to run at this temp but I'm very hesitant to put 4 of these inside a MP as the fans would constantly have to overcome this heat.

What other 500GB drives have you run?

 

[thxdave]

Sorry, wasn't clear in my last statement. I meant different brands of HD's re: heat generation. I'm copying (even as I type this) about 450 gigs of video and audio from my new Seagate back onto the Lacie external 500 gig (the one that I hosed yesterday) and I haven't cracked the case open to see what brand of HD is inside. Lacie uses whatever HD's they can get their hands on but whatever is inside that case is much cooler than the Seagate that is sitting here (bare) on my desk. IIRC, the old IBM Deathstars were also very hot-running. Don't get me wrong....I like Seagates and have used several over the years. That 5 year warranty makes me feel somewhat safer, too. But I was really surprised to see how hot this thing runs. Based on the heat generated, I might not be using 4 of them inside my new Mac Pro (whenever it is announced).

 

[bmat]

Unless I'm mistaken, which very well could be the case, I don't see specs on heat output.

 

[MacsAttack]

I'm about to buy a pair of 750 GB drives since I've used the capacity on my 500s. I'll move the stock 250 to an external enclosure, and replace it with the 750 and use the other 750 for back up. (I assume I should just install the OS on the 750 and then use the transfer utility from the 250.)

Going on the OWC website, there's a plethera of 750 options -- and I've usually purchased Seagate or WD. They're all within $30 of each other, but the Hitachi has a 32 mb buffer, whereas the other 2 are 16 mb. Of couse, the Hitachi is cheaper -- and since I believe there's no such thing as a free lunch, does the 16 versus 32 matter, and am I just missing other intangibles out there that Seagate and WD have.

All are 7200 rpm.

I've been running a pair of Hitachi 750s for about 5 months. They are both quieter and faster than the drive that came stock in the Mac Pro (also a Hitachi - 500MB in this case). I beleive that the latest Segates and WDs have a slighty higher data density on their platters than Hitachi. Of course you have to be sure you are getting the latest version of the drive and not being fobbed off with the last of the previous model

With higher data density Segate and WD can cut back on the number of R/W heads and platters in the drive - which results in quieter and cooler running. However, I think the benifits are more apparent in the 1TB drives where the Hitachi version had an 5 platters to start with. Think they cut it down to 4 now. At the moment I'd say Segate's latest drives have a very slight edge - but you are paying a premium for it.

I think I read someplace that the buffer size makes little differnce over 16Mb, and that the Hitachi drives were using it because a) big numbers look good on the marketing blurb, b) the difference in cost between 16 and 32 Mb chips was just about zero, and c) availibility of 32 Mb chips was better then 16Mb chips right now.

Now the real fun starts when the new Samsung drives are available. They have even higher data density than anything else on the market. Will be intersting to see how they rack up on real world performace.

As a footnote... I've just added two 1TB Hitachi drives to my system. They work just fine so far. I'd say the old IBM DeathStar days are long gone. Now - if only somebody would get a 2TB drive out...

 

[ocbo41]

I was reading one of the many seagate 750gb reviews lately and it mentioned the heat. From what he says there designed to take the extra heat.

Would it be worth the extra cost to buy a 1GB Seagate 7200.11 drive?

1 TB drive $329

How is the noise on the 750GB seagate? I read a lot of reviews complaining about its seek noise. (might have been mostly 500gb drives if that makes a differance)