What Hard Drive is better, WD 640GB AAKS or Samsung F1 640GB?

[PiracyX]

I have been looking at buying 2 hard drives, one for the boot, the other for Storage.

I have already picked my storage disk i would like (Samsung F1 1TB) but i am not sure on what to get for my OS boot drive.

Obviously i would like the HD to be as fast as possible and not too big in space as i will only be installing programs/games etc.

I have two drives in mind for this but can't decide between them.

1) Western Digital 640GB AAKS
2) Samsung F1 640GB

There is only a few pounds difference between them with the Samsung F1 being slighly more expensive but i just want the best drive out of these two i listed.

The Samsung 750GB is close to the same price as the 640GB but it has 3x250GB platters which means it is slower than the 2-platter one i listed. I would consider going RAID 0 prehaps in the future aswell if i ever want/need to.

If anybody can't help me that would be great.

Thanks.

[Koolpc]

If it is just for a boot drive why not go for a WD 320g Single platter drive?

[PiracyX]

If it is just for a boot drive why not go for a WD 320g Single platter drive?

I did think that but the WD320GB AAKS is a bit of a lottery is it not? I mean some are 2x160GB. I am currently looking into getting both from Scan but i am not sure if indeed all of their 320GB AAKS re single platter. If this is the case then i would take this route. Just thinking about it thought it's only an extra £15 for double the space.

I would consider the Samsung F1 320GB but there is not ETA when these drives will arrive anywhere.

[Koolpc]

Well, i have been told from an OcUK worker that thiers are the single platter but for £6 more you can get the 640gb (WD) from Scan, that includes free delivery too!!

[looney]

that wd drive is highly rated, would get that over the samsungs

[PiracyX]

Well, i have been told from an OcUK worker that thiers are the single platter but for £6 more you can get the 640gb (WD) from Scan, that includes free delivery too!!

That's what i mean. I did look over at OcUK but i am not too keen on the prices really. Scan are a little more competitive in my opinion and free delivery aswell.

I can't fault OcUK service though in the past, they have been very good to me.

[Koolpc]

Is 640g a bit big for an OS drive though?

[SiM]

Is 640g a bit big for an OS drive though?

He can always partition it.

[Koolpc]

Would that make the performance drop?

[SiM]

Would that make the performance drop?

Nah, if anything it would increase the performance...

[latrosicarius]

Nah, if anything it would increase the performance...

you mean, if he partitioned a small portion of the large capacity drive for use by the OS, and made sure to leave the remainder unpartitioned.

[SiM]

You can partition the other bit too for storage, just make sure that its not read/writing all the time...
http://forums.hexus.net/hexus-hardwa...on-theory.html
Or just google for it... it is a well known concept

[peterb]

What do you mean by "better"? - cost per G/byte, reliability, longevity, speed, warranty terms, noise, power consumption? SMART facilities supported, ATA command set support?

These are all possible differentiating parameters - what is important to you?

That said, I doubt that in the real world you would notice any significant difference between tyhe two. Both mfrs are quite highly trated 0 Samsung have a reputation for being quiet and their warranty terms are good. WD have a reputation for reliability (not that Samsungs are regarded as unreliable).

I suspect both would give you good service.

[PiracyX]

Ok after thinking about it for awhile prehaps 640GB will be too much than i need.

I know the newer WD320 AAKS is a single platter but can anyone confirm that Scan actually have the new stock? I heard the single platter version got released end of January by WD but old stock could still be out there even after 7 months.

What do you guys suggest? I don't want to risk buying the 320GB AAKS (for the 2-platter version when i want the 1-platter) even though the smaller storage is much better for me but i would prefer this over the 640GB.

[SiM]

Don't risk it... if you don't know for sure if its single platter then don't get it...

[peterb]

If it is a small drive for he OS only, there is a range here.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/produc...d=14&subid=167

You mentioned RAID 0 in your original post, but unless you are running specific applications - particularly heavy use databases - it really isn't worth it. Real performance (in the real world) will only be marginally better (if at all) and write performance can be worse.