Whats your experience with the raptor hard drives? Are they worth the extra cost? I'm trying to decide whether to get a 37gb raptor, or a higher capacity standard drive. I have a file server, so the small size isn't a sacrifice... but are they really better?
Well if you don't plan on buying a couple of standard drives and RAIDing them, or buying some U160 or U320 SCSI drives, then i think they're about as fast as it comes. Good buy IMO, and it's probably the next thing i'll be buying
i couldn't specifically say anything about the raptor, but i am running a 15k U320 drive for my main windows drive and it makes one hell of a difference when compared to 7200 rpm drives, especially upon boot-up before my 15k drive i was using a 10k U160 drive for my system drive and still noticed a definite improvement over 7200rpm i reckon go for it, dont bother with raid0 though, does very little to imporve any performance with deskop uses
Something else i forgot to ask... Its going to be mounted on its side, as its in a custom case. Would that be ok with the raptor? I know its fine with normal drives, but with this one spinning so much faster, i'm not certain...
I have 2 of the 36gb Raptors, they are installed on their side and have been fine for months now. They are run in RAID0 and are bloody fast too I'm very happy with mine
Bear in mind the 74gb has faster transfer rates and quicker seek time than the 37gb. I'd definitely get one if I had the money. From what I've heard, yes they are really better than a standard 7.2krpm!
Agree with all of above, 25 sec boot time for windows XP with a RAPTOR, I love it.... Now to get a normal 120 gig for my media Better Graphics too.... Speakers.....
Well if it were me and it was just for a personal (ie non business) file server i wouldnt bother with speeds i would go for size, but thats up to you. However i am awaiting a 74GB Raptor coming from the states soon in my Dads suitcase. It was $253 from newegg and wiht the exchange rate at the mo its only £137 wich is pretty good considering Bit's own pricewatch function tells me the cheapest is £194 plus delivery (and probably VAT). To me this price is justified as i can remember when an 80 GB HD was about that money anyway (not too long ago). This will be the system drive and a place to transferr video from my DV cam in my main rig. :edit: yey 750 posts
The 74GB drive is actually quite a bit better than the 37GB version, as well as besting most 10K SCSI drives and even some 15K SCSI drives. I would get one 74GB raptor, forget about raid. They don't need it, and for personal use, the access times will give you better performance. 8-ball
I don't think i can really afford the 74gb raptor... not yet anyway. I think i'll just get a normal cheap 80gb drive, then upgrade later. No sense spending £80 on something that isn't all that great.
I read a review in some magazine, with about 6 drives; the 37GB raptor had the fastest accesstimes, but there was a standard 7200RPM drive (120GB) that was slightly faster at transfers etc. and ofcourse less expensive! I think it was called Samsung spinpoint "D-series". They also stated that it was hard to come across. Anyone has any info on this disk? Anything at all?
Yeah, agreed and that is what I did and even though I did have a second thought over the money issue (due to other haedware I got at the time I guess ) Having lived with it for a cople of months now I wouldn't go back again. Perfect system drive - all those heavy disk activity tasks you hate are speeded up - its a pure joy. If ya got the dosh do it
I second this - I have the 37 gb Raptor for system/os drive and a 160 gb WD 8mb cache drive for data. Windows is quite a bit snappier and loads quicker as well - real noticable. Loading Call of Duty and similar maps is A1 great - why wait when you could be fragging......of course I suck so its more like why wait when you could be getting fragged.....
If you can afford them, the Raptor Drives are about like the Ferrari's and Lamborghini's of Hard Drives. Not a whole lot that is faster without being a WHOLE lot more expensive.
