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philmar
5th of March 2009 (Thu), 18:55
My current pc has:
Antec P180 aluminum mid-tower case
Intel D975XBX2 motherboard
Intel Core2 Duo E6600
3 Hard Drives 2 x WD Caviar 320GB
1 x WD Raptor 36GB
Antec TRUEPOWER TRIO 550W power supply

I want 2 new internal WD hard drives for storing data (RAWs and JPGs). I won't be using them for the OS or apps. One will be used as primary data base, the other as backup (in addition to an external backup).
What are the differences between:

WD Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s $120
and
WD Caviar Green WD10EADS 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s $105
and
WD Caviar GP WD10000LSRTL 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s $130

Given my hardware above and stated plans, are all of 3 above suitable/compatible?


Prices shown are from Newegg.ca. Given these price points and their intended use as data disks, is any of those drives better than the others?


And how easy is it to install a new HD? Just a matter of screwing it in and connecting a ribbon, or do I also have to enter the BIOS?
In2Photos
5th of March 2009 (Thu), 21:24
The Black series is the choice right now. Great performance and reliability at a good price.

As far as installation goes they are usually plug and play. The OEM versions from Newegg won't have a SATA cable so if you do not already have one you will need to buy one. Then simply screw it into your chasis, plug in the SATA and power cables, turn it on. You shouldn't need to enter the BIOS since these won't be used for boot drives. Once your OS comes up you will need to format the disks, either through My Computer or Disk Management.
MaxxuM
5th of March 2009 (Thu), 21:37
Have no clue on the HDDs; it's been a while since I've needed one. 8TB's is holding me for the moment lol.

Like In2Photos said, remember to buy a SATA cable regardless if the drive comes with one or not. Always get the snap in types that you have to pinch to remove. Over time these wires tend to bend and if tightly packed in a case can bend the HDD connector and sometimes loose connection intermittently causing mystery corruption.
philmar
5th of March 2009 (Thu), 22:48
Thanks guys - the SATA cable info is invaluable!!

Now perhaps someone can let me know if any of the 3 HDs are incompatible with my mobo - for whatever reason - and if one offers a technology/feature for my use that is worth paying extra for... My passion is photography - not PCs.
In2Photos
5th of March 2009 (Thu), 23:06
Thanks guys - the SATA cable info is invaluable!!

Now perhaps someone can let me know if any of the 3 HDs are incompatible with my mobo - for whatever reason - and if one offers a technology/feature for my use that is worth paying extra for... My passion is photography - not PCs.
As long as you have a SATA port available it should work fine.
philmar
6th of March 2009 (Fri), 00:10
thanks!!

I won't be in any RAID set up.....and I will be using another drive (my raptor) for the OS/program/boot.
So is there any real performance gain for me to choose black over green?
Faolan
6th of March 2009 (Fri), 05:29
If they are purely storage drives and not used for OS then I would go for the GreenPower range. I use 4 of these because of the power savings it can give.

The EADS is the latest generation of the drive but be careful as they are mixed currently with some of the older drives which don't have head parking and the like:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/green-terabyte-1tb,2078-2.html