Hitachi vs. Western Digital vs. Seagate

[Jeremy]

Anandtech's Benchmarks

"...even though two of the three drives that we reviewed today have 3.0 Gb/sec SATA interfaces, the 1.5Gb/sec drive topped both of them in most of the benchmarks...."

"...the WD4000YR took the lead performing 769 IO operations per second under the Business Winstone 2004 test and 505 IO operations per second in the Content Creation Winstone 2004 part of the test. Seagate's 500GB 7200.9 came nowhere close to these numbers, but rather took a few steps back."

"The WD4000YR also performed the best out of the three in the application load time tests with applications starting at around half a second faster consistently, which is a big deal. With this test, we were not only testing the specified application load times, but also general access times and service times.

All of the physical specifications of the WD4000YR tell us that it won't perform as well as the two 500GB models, but our benchmark results say otherwise. Those of us who are familiar with hard drive technology know that the higher transfer rates that the 3.0Gb/sec models have to offer can only be achieved when multiple disks are striped, but we never thought that a 1.5Gb/sec unit could out-do those with double the theoretical transfer rates.

Currently, the WD4000YR is going for as low as $213 at certain online retailers while the Seagate 500GB 7200.9 and Hitachi 7K500 are going for $350-$400. If you're not looking for a future-proof product and want quick performance for a low price, the WD4000YR is the way to go. The performance of the 7200.9 is just not up to par to recommend at the moment. It may quite possibly give much better performance in a RAID array..."

All that being said, I'd go with the Western Digital x2 in Raid0.

[Lagamorph]

Western Digital are notoriously unreliable, and have a habit of breaking much sooner and much more easily than Seagate ones. If you ask me Seagate Barracuda Hard Drives are the very best you can get. Ultra-reliable. I've had my 160GB one for nearly 4 years and haven't ever had any problems with it, and I've had a 40GB one for close to 6 years, and no problems with that either.

That WD may be cheaper there, but you'll end up needing at least 2 or 3 in the same lifespan of a Segate one.

[Jeremy]

Not every harddrive is going to be perfect. Some drives are going to be bad, regardless of the brand. Someone whose had a harddrive literally combust into flames will forever be telling people to stay away from them, judging purely from that one horrific experience. I have a Western Digital IDE 120GB which came with my Dell 2 and a half years ago and I haven't had any problems with it.

If the harddrive goes bad, I'll RMA it and get a replacement one free. I'd still go with whatever those guys at Anandtech recommend and my confidence in their ability to single out a very good product will not be diminished simply because any harddrive from any manufacturer has the potential to just die on you...

[spacesurfer]

Based on experience, I'd go with Maxtor instead. Never had a problem with it before.

I know of someone who's had problems with Western Digital, but I'm sure we can find others who have has problems with every other brand. It all depends on which one you have luck with.

[Blade_yaj]

I'd go with WD personally, cause I've never had any trouble with them. But then it might just be me, cause i've used maxtor and sea gate as well and not have any trouble also. of course i've probly never had them long enough. unless your talking old stuff. like a 6 gig. then I've had one in my e-machine (maxtor I think) t hat's lasted me for about 10 - 12 years now.

[Jeremy]

Both of you just stated that you'd go for two different brands because you've never had problems with them. I'm going with Seagate because I find them to be the most reputable HD brand. All brands do their share of screw-ups, though... it's all based on your own experience. I personally won't go for a Maxtor, but if that was my only option, I wouldn't hesitate to plug one in. If it's bad, RMA it for a replacement and have fun. I like how new drives have the NCQ feature, too.

[Vitalix]

"...even though two of the three drives that we reviewed today have 3.0 Gb/sec SATA interfaces, the 1.5Gb/sec drive topped both of them in most of the benchmarks...."

The average HD (7200RPM, 8MB Cache) pumps out around 65MB/sec (sustained transfer rate). 3.0Gb/sec is the same as roughly 375 megabytes per second. You would need 6 of these HDs (in RAID-0 no less) before reaching 3.0 GB/sec.

For a onesy-twosy setup, whichever benchmarks the best should be the one purchased. The GB/sec meter is really targeting the enterprise businesses setting up arrays.

From an enterprise perspective, Seagate is standard. We have had good experiences with WD. Seagate has longest warranty (5 yrs). WD is 3 years. Both have top-notch support

STAY AWAY FROM MAXTOR! Bad things have happened to us...

[daz98]

When looking on the internet about all the different hardrives i came across somthing i dont understand.

Shich is better whith the ms thingy in all hard drives is lower better or is higher.

Segate had 11ms

WD had 8.9ms

Hitachi had 8.8ms

what does that mean??

[TravisO]

Back in the mid/late 90s WD was one of the best consumer grade HDs on the market, but I switched to IBM once I found out they were much quieter and better. Back then WD was infamous for begin VERY noisey but IBMs were whisper quiet. Of course we're talking 10yrs ago but I highly doubt WD quality has "gone down the drain" and I'm sure they are still a good buy, but probably not the best buy.

Now-a-days I buy Maxtor (they were total junk in the 90s) becuase they are very good drives and very cheap but I still have some IBMs I rely on still. Aside from a maxtor I've never had a HD fail (I'm seen a few Maxtors fail in the 90s so I'm not one of those "1 drive fails and the whole brand is crap" guys).

Edited December 12, 2005 by travisowens

[Jeremy]

My WD is starting to go now. It takes forever to defrag and I made two coasters today. My burner is fine, it is a NEC. I suppose I have banged it against surfaces a few times and it doesn't help that it was originally in a Dell.

[Rob00GT]

OK, my personal experience is only with Western Digital and Maxtor. Here's what I've noticed, and when I use the word "modern" it means the drives I've purchased in the last 2 years:

*Modern WD and Maxtor drives are comparably quiet.

*Modern WD drives run much cooler than Maxtor.

*If a modern Maxtor drive survives it's first 24 hours in use, it should be fine. Of about 10 Maxtor drives I've purchased over the last 2 years (all of them 160-200GB in size) I've had to return 2 of them the next day. In my tiny sample size that's 20% failure, so I test them accordingly immediately after purchase.

*If a Modern Maxtor drive survives that first 24 hours it will work reliably for years.

*I've never had a failure of any WD drive.

*If you wait for a sale at Frys you can get a Maxtor far cheaper than any other brand. That's why I continue to buy them despite the problems I've had.

As for longevity, I still use the first hard drive I ever bought... a Western Digital Caviar 2.5GB from 1996. It's in my Windows 98 pc that I use for hacking Tivos and despite being loud (like all drives from that era) it's earned the nickname "Old Faithful".

Edited December 13, 2005 by Rob00GT

[Andromeda43]

Going all the way back to when we were using the old Seagate 20 meg 5.25" drive, the major drive makers have gone through various stages of reliability/un-reliability.

Many of the companies that I really liked ten years ago or more are no longer in business or have been absorbed by other large companies.

Quantum was a good example. At one time they were at the top of the heap. If you could afford a Quantum HD you had some real bragging rights.

They slipped, suffered a loss of quality and have since dissappeared all together.

This year (2005) WD has taken a huge hit in reliability. I've had to RMA three WD SATA drives this summer alone. Many of my tech friends will no longer install any WD drive. All my wholesalers are practically giving them away just to clear their shelves.

Right now, today, Maxtor and Seagate seem to be the only viable options.

I hate is when I can't rely on any drive my wholesaler happens to have on their shelves.

Now I have to pick and choose. Just one more thing that is making being in the computer business harder than it was.

You can benchmark till your butt falls off and in the long run it don't mean a dang'd thing.

When that super fast HD that you just bought a few months ago, after much benchmarking, blows its brains out and leaves you stranded, what good was all that benchmarking?

If you have time to spare, play some pool or go down to the pub and have a few beers with the guys.

But forget all the benchmarking. It's truly a total Waste of your time. And don't ask individuals who have only had a couple of drives in thier whole life. Talk to computer dealers who deal with hundreds of drives, not just one or two. Get the reports from the mass wholesalers who deal with all the RMA's on broken HD's.

Even my own experiences are somewhat limited since I only deal with less than a hundred HD's per year.

But, this year has been a bad year for WD's. It's cost me a bundle in shipping charges, insurance, etc. sending back bad WD drives. The last RMA drive I got back from WD was made in China and was so scratched up it looked like someone had kicked it accross a concrete floor. Maybe they did.

I may use it for backups of my backups, but nothing more important than that. Right now, it's sitting on my spare parts shelf.

Hitachi is still making the same drive that we tech's all knew as the IBM DeathStar.

If you don't super cool that thing it will just burn up. I replaced four of those things in just one year,,,,all due to heat fatique. If you Have to use one....mount it in an open bay and attach a two-fan cooler to its belly.

The last one I had, died on me while I was on-line. When I reached in to remove it, it burned my hand.

Buy a Maxtor or Seagate.

Merry Christmas everyone,

Andromeda43

Edited December 14, 2005 by Andromeda43

[nmX.Memnoch]

Quantum was a good example. At one time they were at the top of the heap. If you could afford a Quantum HD you had some real bragging rights.

They slipped, suffered a loss of quality and have since dissappeared all together.

They're owned by Maxtor now (but see below).

Right now, today, Maxtor and Seagate seem to be the only viable options.

........................

Buy a Maxtor or Seagate.

They are about to be one in the same...

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=28482

[LLXX]

WD's quality seems to be declining...

Approximately a year ago I bought a WD1200JB (120Gb) that is still working. I am very satisfied with it. It's extremely quiet and vibration-free. It's almost impossible to tell if the drive is spinning or not. It does run a little hot, although a heatsink and fan solved the problem, keeping it below 30°C.

Recently I decided to get another WD1200JB, thinking of setting up a matched pair. This one was completely different. It runs cooler than the older one, but it vibrates heavily. They've also changed the sound greatly - the older one spun up and down with a loud whine but was very quiet when seeking and idling, while this one spins up and down quietly but idles with a low growling and seeks like a snoring elephant. Perhaps they aren't balancing them well enough now. I'll see how long this one lasts...

For comparison, I have a Maxtor 7245AT (230Mb) from the early 90s that still runs perfectly fine, quiet and fast.

[nmX.Memnoch]

You must've gotten one that the dealer had in stock for a while. WD recently changed the motors in their drives so they run really quiet now. I know what you're talking about though...I have a pair of WD 250GB SATA drives that I ended up taking out of my machine because of the noise. The drives are fast, I just couldn't deal with the whine.

Edited December 22, 2005 by nmX.Memnoch