250GB vs 500GB

Twist86

Twist86

Active Member
So I was curious is there any issues with the larger drives?

I will be buying a new drive in the next month or so and I was curious.


I was just curious for $6 more on Newegg you can get a 500GB over a 250GB and I never actually owned anything higher then my 320GB drive and it has been such a issue that it makes me wonder if a 250GB is better for primary.


My thoughts were

250GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148262

or

500GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148395
 
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There's shouldn't be any issue and either brand should be fine. I've got seagates as well but they were the cheapeset when I was buying them.

What was wrong with your 320GB?
 
When I boot up my PC to Vista after the loading bar it makes a BRRRRRRRRR sound for 20 seconds delaying my boot up...then it continues..the sound is x2 louder then when you 100% tap your HDD and its working its bum off. (closest I can give you on sound) it almost sounds like a motor issue or something is getting stuck.

I do a format and it will stop...till about 3 days then it continues on. Passes all the seagate tools and the last 2 RMA drives I have had did the same thing. Seems to happen after I pass the 230GB unused mark.


So I am trying to avoid this issue on the next one. The 250GB drive is what I bought for my mothers PC and it works perfectly.

Its kinda sad when a X2 5400 @ 3.0ghz beats a 3.2ghz quad-core system on boot up by 20+ seconds.


I also believe it could be causing my slow/delays on my PC when coverting files and compressing them. Also when loading firefox for example would the HDD play any kind of role?
 
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I say get the 500GB. Notice that the 500 is .12 while the 250 is .10.

Pretty sure that means the 500 is two generations newer.
 
True but just because its new doesn't mean its better. The .11 drives from what I heard were the worst drives Seagate every threw up.

One thing I wonder about new drives is how long will they last...they could have massive failures in 6 months for all we know.


Also the .12 drive is a naming scheme for a new drive but the .12 is 500GB on 1 3.5 platter where as .11 was 320GB per platter and .10 was 250GB per.

*edit*

This brings up a curious question....320GB platter on a .10 drive would that mean it has 2 plattters or did they shove it on a single? Could this be the issue?
 
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This brings up a curious question....320GB platter on a .10 drive would that mean it has 2 plattters or did they shove it on a single? Could this be the issue?
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I believe 320GB 7200.10s are 2 platter drives.

I have the same size/model drive (320GB 7200.10) and it has given me no problems. I really think your drive problems are/were just bad luck.

That said, if you think a 500GB WD will do better by all means grab one, brand loyalty doesn't get you anything. As for trying to decide between the 250 and 500, $6 for 2x the space is a good deal and it would be silly not to go for the bigger drive.
 
I see so the .12 500GB = 1 platter correct?

I was pretty sure it was the drive itself...I RMA each drive twice to get the same issue that means I got 6 drives of which it happened.... I guess it is bad luck ^-^


I was pushing to the 500GB though for the price. Also I am sticking with Seagate both 250 and 500 were seagate drives.


*edit*
Eh screw it bought the 500GB will see how it goes...if I get kicked in the nuts again I will try WD out and see what happens with them. My last seagate was a 2mb 80GB PATA and it lasted a solid 10 years and is still going (but its almost ready to die)


Thanks for the help :)

I was right btw on the 500GB .12 is 1 platter though correct?
 
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seagates have been lacking in quality lately though, a look at a few western digital drives might save you a serious headache.
 
To late now lovely :)

If it becomes like the 320 I will go with WD next time through.


Quality in general is poor anymore.....nobody seems to want to do the job right. I pissed off a guy fixing my AC unit (didn't have tools to do) because he tried to half-ass the job and I caught him.

Same thing with my fence some idiot who put it in did it wrong and even left 1 of the 2 gate pins not inside thus the door cracked etc.


Makes me wonder what it will be like in 20 years.
 
Well it just came today gotta love the new move I get my packages in 2 days vs 3 at my old place.






It varies but the burst + min and max are TWICE as fast as the .10...its slowest times were the .10 FASTEST times drive is still sluggish though but I believe its because I have yet to disable all the crap Vista loads.


Everything looks normal with the drive however? Last time I tried ACHI and I got a "drive not found' message during bios boot up...so I put it back to SATA/IDE.


Just want to make sure I am making it sing its perfect tune though I think the screenshots tell me the answer.
 
Twist86 said:
Well it just came today gotta love the new move I get my packages in 2 days vs 3 at my old place.






It varies but the burst + min and max are TWICE as fast as the .10...its slowest times were the .10 FASTEST times drive is still sluggish though but I believe its because I have yet to disable all the crap Vista loads.


Everything looks normal with the drive however? Last time I tried ACHI and I got a "drive not found' message during bios boot up...so I put it back to SATA/IDE.


Just want to make sure I am making it sing its perfect tune though I think the screenshots tell me the answer.
Click to expand...

Damn thats fast. My Seagates max out around 60.
 
Twist86 said:
Yeah it is fast....I just hope this works out....last Seagate drive if it doesn't.
Click to expand...

I bought nothing but seagate until the 7200.11 drives.. after having to rma both my drives(one of them twice) ive decided that im switching to western digital drives from now on. Although if you get a working drive the 120mb/s+ read speeds are pretty awesome...
 
Twist86 said:
Quality in general is poor anymore . . . nobody seems to want to do the job right. I pissed off a guy fixing my AC unit (didn't have tools to do) because he tried to half-ass the job and I caught him.

Same thing with my fence some idiot who put it in did it wrong and even left 1 of the 2 gate pins not inside thus the door cracked etcetera.

Makes me wonder what it will be like in 20 years.
Click to expand...

It makes me wonder why AMD and Intel can make processors that have a 1 in 10,000 failure rate but hard drive manufacturers are dropping the ball.

I have an old Western Digital Parallel ATA 74.5 gigabyte hard drive that is still running fine that is over five years old. I hope the 232 gigabyte Seagate hard drive I just bought about six months ago doesn't turn out to be a bad one. Hopefully it will last me at least three years.

But that is why is you have an external hard drive.
 
Twist86 said:
Yeah if only it had the seek times of a raptor ^-^
Click to expand...

At seagates current rate a 10000rpm drive would shatter the platter, break through the side wall of the drive, break through the side of the case and cut someones neck>_> Seagate used to make the best drives.... But the 7200.12 seems to be alot better than the trouble plagued 7200.11's..... I have a 250gb western digital that i dropped off my desk twice(it was in an enclosure) and it still works fine... At least wd makes a pretty good product still.
 
I have the same drive that the OP decided to get and I have no complaints on it. Like he said, if it fails I agree with him, would be my last seagate as well. I had a 250gb 7200.10 drive in the rig and it failed not long after I got this drive, thank goodness for a warranty. If the new one fails, I will be getting WDs for now on. So far so good, its been going strong for a few weeks now and I have tortured the drive within that time. Countless formats, several different installs, etc. I want to make sure its going to hold up. I do that with every new drive I get as a part of wearing it in. Not one complaint out of this drive. Having one platter also helps them run quite a bit cooler than a 10 series drive too. I had a WD 500 right before this one and it screeched to a hault and died so I went Seagate. Every company has their faults, but I just thought I'd give em a chance and see if the new drives were any good. I would never lay my hands on a 11 series for anything. What were they thinking?!? Seems Seagate wanted to make it right with the 12 series. We all shall see won't we. Thanks for reading my rant.
 
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