In search of..... a 500 GB HDD

I've been looking around for a 500 GB HDD for my PC and so far found this from NewEgg.com

http//www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144007[]http//www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144007

Maxtor DiamondMax 11 500 GB IDE (ATA133) with 16 MB cache for $280

Is this the best bang for my buck, or does anyone know of another place I can find a 500 GB ATA133 drive for less? Any help is greately appreciated.

Not sure, but that sure makes my mouth water. P

why buy a 500gb IDE drive? wierdo... go SATA

damn what u gonna do with all that gig

[quote5bdd9f1df5="Tholek"]Not sure, but that sure makes my mouth water. P[/quote5bdd9f1df5]

Spoken like a true nerd.

[quote6e63d4183a="JOSHBOX"]why buy a 500gb IDE drive? wierdo... go SATA[/quote6e63d4183a]

Gee... I'd love to.. Except I don't have the money to go out and get a new motherboard/cpu/ram just so I can use SATA.. I'm working with what I got and IDE is ideal for me.

what's the difference between IDE and SATA?
They both hold 500gb don't they?

[quote410dc2844f="bruman"]what's the difference between IDE and SATA?
They both hold 500gb don't they?[/quote410dc2844f]

SATA's transfer rate is 150Mbps where as an IDE's transfer rate is 133Mbps (however an additional 17Mbps is not noticeable and really makes no difference to me whatsoever as the drive will only be used to stream video/music and share files on the network and the additional 17Mbps will make no difference in my situation), SATA is also hot-swappable (which I will also never have any use for). SATA is also more expensive.

IDE (ATA133) is the perfect choice for my setup.. I'm wondering if this $280 drive will be the best bang for my buck in terms of a 500gb IDE ATA133 or if I can find one a bit (or a whole lot) cheaper.

Why not just get 2 of these? )

http//shop2.outpost.com/product/4596277?site=srSEARCHMAIN_RSLT_PG

You get an extra 100 gigs and save about 100 bucks ) Problem is..does your case have room for two..

Of course! Fry's! Why didn't I think of that?

That's the one thing I miss about Washington... I love that store.

KMA+

I'll buy two and slap one for my computer and put the other one in my XBOX.

[quote9af0b2633b="bruman"][quote9af0b2633b="Tholek"]Not sure, but that sure makes my mouth water. P[/quote9af0b2633b]

Spoken like a true nerd.[/quote9af0b2633b]

You should see how I react to the pictures johnjimjones posts...

[quote88af30a9c8="h3x"]Of course! Fry's! Why didn't I think of that?

That's the one thing I miss about Washington... I love that store.

KMA+

I'll buy two and slap one for my computer and put the other one in my XBOX.[/quote88af30a9c8]

Haha, wow, that's alot of GB! A 300 GB HD for an Xbox is crazy!

there was a sweet deal on a 500gb last week that was listed on fatwallet. it was wicked cheap

Just in case you still want that Maxtor...
http//www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=100723
$234.00 and Free Shipping

Here's a Seagate ATA100 500GB one for $179
http//www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=338835&pfp=073006sale[]http//www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=338835&pfp=073006sale

I don't know if you got the outpost deal, they say they are currently unavailable, that deal's been there for a while.

You can get a SATA controller card for less then 20$ and it fits into a PCI slot.

[quote836978f2de="Allen626"]You can get a SATA controller card for less then 20$ and it fits into a PCI slot.[/quote836978f2de]
I may be wrong, but I don't think PCI can handle 150 mbps bandwidth, so it would prob. be even worse than using 133ATA.

[quote8cce70485a="freedesktoppc"][quote8cce70485a="Allen626"]You can get a SATA controller card for less then 20$ and it fits into a PCI slot.[/quote8cce70485a]
I may be wrong, but I don't think PCI can handle 150 mbps bandwidth, so it would prob. be even worse than using 133ATA.[/quote8cce70485a]
True, PCI spec is limited to 133Mbps, however SATA isn't anywhere close to approaching that. In fact all SATA controllers up until recent PCI-express versions have run on the PCI bus.

The 150Mbps spec for SATA1 and 300Mbps for SATA3g are just theoretical limits. Not even my 10K RPM Raptor approaches PATA maximum bandwidth, let alone SATA. Only recently have SATA drives begun to exceed the real-world throughput of PATA drives (which aren't anywhere close to their ATA133 theoretical limit, either), but still aren't even up to 133Mbps, let alone 150/300.

SATA makes sense for other reasons, however

1. HDD's typically outlive motherboards, meaning you'll transplant your drive to future systems most likely. I'm running quite a few drives that I've had for several years. PATA ports will begin diminishing and ultimately disappearing after more optical drive mfgs start releasing their SATA versions, making SATA more future-proof.

2. SATA cabling is neater, easier to run and allows better airflow in the case.

3. No more master/slave relationships to worry about.

4. As drive technologies and densities improve, such as with Seagates parallel storage technology on their latest 7200.10 series, throughput will begin to surpass PATA and approach SATA's theoretical limits.

5. In multi-user, server scenarios, SATA begins to pull ahead of ATA due to features like command queuing and increased bandwidth for multi-I/O traffic.

I buy only SATA for all those reasons, not because they're significantly faster today, but because they are more future-proof and I prefer building systems with them. Also, I run RAID arrays in a lot of my boxes and all my RAID controllers are SATA now. Using SATA adapters on PATA drives is a major pain, too.

[quote0f4f5a0020="dmorris68"]Using SATA adapters on PATA drives is a major pain, too.[/quote0f4f5a0020]

How so? I have two in my case right now, and they seem fine.

[quote209a35cd18="Tholek"][quote209a35cd18="dmorris68"]Using SATA adapters on PATA drives is a major pain, too.[/quote209a35cd18]

How so? I have two in my case right now, and they seem fine.[/quote209a35cd18]
Oh don't get me wrong, they work fine, they just get in the way of everything if your case is anywhere close to cramped. When I upgraded video cards I had to move the drives so it would fit. Then every time I was fiddling in the case I'd bump one loose -- they didn't fit snugly and with the stiff SATA cables they pulled loose all the time, resulting in boot failures and minor panic attacks. )

Heh, I can see how that might happen. ;)

I do hate SATA cable strain on my mobo though. I consider that a significant drawback to SATA.

[quotead25c5af89="Tholek"]Heh, I can see how that might happen. ;)

I do hate SATA cable strain on my mobo though. I consider that a significant drawback to SATA.[/quotead25c5af89]
Not all SATA cables are so stiff. The flat red ones you get with mobo's are the worst. The blue one that came with my Raptor was much more flexible and easy to work with.

I got orange ones with my MSI mobo, and thought they were all the same. I'll be on the lookout for something more flexible now. )

+KMA