New 2 TB hard drive - Which is the best?

[Darren Hodgson]

I'm planning on replacing an old 500 GB SATAII Hitachi Deskstar hard drive, which is currently used for backing up data onto, with a 2 TB hard drive but swapping it with a 1 TB Samsung SpinPoint F3 hard drive that I use for my Steam Library so the backup drive will be my 1 TB Samsung drive and the Steam Library will be on the new 2 TB drive. I will be using the same E: and G: drive letters and have worked out a system to copy the data from both drives onto my new one then copy the backup files onto the Samsung once I've set the drives up as I want.

That's the east part...

The hard part seems to be deciding on what 2 TB drive to buy. I was planning to buy a 3 TB drive but I understand that these can have problems with Windows due to its 2.2 GB partition size restriction. Anyway a 2 TB drive will be more than ample for the next year so my choices seem to boil down to:

1. 2 TB Hitachi Deskstar 7K300 (HDS723929BLA642) - £94.75 at Amazon.co.uk; or

2. 2 TB Seagate Barracuda ST 2000 (ST2000DM001) - £79.99 at Amazon.co.uk

I've had problems with Seagate drives in the past which required me to do a firmware update and they seem to be getting low user-review scores on Amazon due to hardware problems. Western Digital drives are a no-go (hence why I haven't even listed one here) because I've only had two hard drives die on me to date and both have been Western Digital ones. The Hitachi one seems like a safe choice given that I've not had any problems with them before but it is more expensive.

Which drive would you recommend?

Are there any other choices bearing in mind I'd prefer a 7,200 rpm 64 MB buffered drive that supports SATAIII (so I can use it on a new PC once I upgrade to a SATAIII motherboard).

[Mufflore]

That Seagate has 1TB platters, the Hitachi has 500GB platters.
Aside from that the specs are the same, so on performance alone I'd get the Seagate, its not a small margin of difference.

If performance isnt an issue and you want (potentially more) reliable, the Hitachi is fine, as are the Samsung Green drives.


Forgot to mention, I'm running a Hitachi 1TB drive that is over 3 years old and it hasnt hiccuped once.
Machine is on 24/7.

Previously I was very wary of Hitachi after they bought IBM, but its looking good.

[Darren Hodgson]

The Seagate *is* cheaper... will try that one then. Amazon have a terrific replacement policy so if it turns out to be faulty then I shouldn't have any problems getting a new one.

Thanks Mufflore.

[thatguy91]

I had problems with Seagate drives myself, but firmware CC4H seems to be better. Also turning off APM with crystaldiskinfo (you can set it up so it does it automatically upon boot) seems to help a bit with performance and stopping what seems to be the drive having a panic attack during heavy drive activity.

[Darren Hodgson]

I've checked several sites where customers rate the product, including Amazon and EBuyer, and there does seem to be a lot of complaints about the Seagate so I may go for the Hitachi after all. I'm not ordering the drive under next Wednesday/Thursday anyway so I'll have a long, hard think about it.

[TruMutton_200Hz]

...Or get a Barracuda Green ST2000DL 003-9VT166 (I own 5 of them).

[alanm]

Originally Posted by TruMutton_200Hz

...Or get a Barracuda Green ST2000DL 003-9VT166 (I own 5 of them).

Pron king.

[Pill Monster]

In my completely biased opinion I'd go with the Seagate option.

Fwiw I own 7 Barracuda's ranging from a 7200.9 to a brand spanking new 7200.14 and all have been trouble free. That's why I stick with Seagate even after they dropped their 5yr warranty.

Also fyi I do have the 7200.11 which was plagued with firmware problems, however I updated to the newer firmware when it was released and not had any issues....




This is the SMART report for my 7yr old 7200.9:

[TruMutton_200Hz]

Originally Posted by alanm

Pron king.

Nah.. I use them to make backups of my Buddy Holly music collection.