Avoid the WD GP (and RE2-GP) series of drives. They're decent in terms of STR, excellent in power/heat/noise, but they're 5400rpm drives. Ignore the marketing nonsense saying that they're "5400-7200rpm" drives. WD has been intentionally vague. Contrary to popular opinion, they do NOT change RPM dynamically; WD specifies the RPM for the entire series of drive, leaving the possibility of a 7200rpm variant in the future. There are none now.
It looks like the WD Black WD1001FALS is becoming available now, but if you're looking for something that's been out for a while and proven--this isn't it. It's WD's first 3-platter 333GB 7200rpm design, their first 32MB buffer design, etc...it's likely a very solid drive, but it isn't "proven." Samsung's drives are held in pretty high regard right now. What controller card are you using? Supposedly the Samsung F1 has some issues with Intel's ICHxR in RAID modes. It does have 334/GB platter technology, meaning that it's a current-generation drive and has only 3 platters. This is a good thing. Hitachi's 1TB drive is actually one of the oldest 1TB designs. It's a 5-platter design, using 200GB/platter tech. I'd avoid it. It's basically 1.5-2 generations old, and 5 platter designs are very uncommon in the industry due to the complexity of such an arrangement. Remember the 75GXP? Seagate's 1TB drive is also one of the older designs. It uses 250GB/platter tech, hence has 4 platters. Probably okay, but it's a generation old technology. Ultimately, not a lot of choices IMO if you're wanting the latest generation technology. I think I'd go in this order: WD Black 1TB WD1001FALS Samsung F1 Seagate 7200.11 Hitachi 7K1000 WD GP-RE2 WD-GP Greg > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:hardware- > [EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Brian Weeden > Sent: Sunday, July 06, 2008 6:54 AM > To: hwg > Subject: [H] 1 TB drives? > > Looking to replace the 250 GB drives in my RAID 5 HTPC array with 1 TB > ones. The Seagates in there now have been champs and really hoping I > can get the same performance out of the new drives. I was going to go > with the WD GreenPower line as they seem to be out the longest and > hopefully have had all the kinks worked out. But going through the > reviews on Newegg, I saw the WD RE2 which is supposed to be an > enterprise-class drive (and is $240 as opposed to $180) and also the > WD Caviar Black which had twice the cache of the other 2 at 32MB for a > price between them. > > Seagate, HItachi, and Samung also now have 1 TB drives out with the > Samsung Spinpoint supposedly being reviewed the best and the Hitachi > being really new with not a lot of reports yet. > > Anyone on the list have thoughts/opinions/experiences? I know at this > point it seems like the "quality" of a manufacturer can shift every > few years and collectively from what I've read anecdotally there are > higher than normal reports of DOAs and early deaths with all of these > 1 TB drives than what we have seen in the past. > > ---- > Brian
