View Full Version : WD Raptor pricing
John Reynolds
08-Aug-2007, 18:56
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136012
Just ordered one. Considering these puppies went for almost $300 at launch, $165 was too hard to resist (assuming that rebate, good until Friday, comes in). Yes, yes, I'm well aware of the price delta between these and other, much larger, SATA drives, but just wanted to post this in case others have been jonesing for a Raptor and balked at that $250+ price for a 150GB drive.
Yep, that's what I got mine for from newegg when I built my system recently. Worth the extra imo, faster than my WD SATA2 500Gb. Everyone has their opinions about these drives however, and they're entitled to them. Was still $60 more than my 500Gb though :grin:
digitalwanderer
08-Aug-2007, 19:15
10k rpm? Sweet!
John Reynolds
08-Aug-2007, 19:34
I actually ordered this for my upgrade to Vista Ultimate 64-bit. Didn't feel like backing up all the data and game patches/save files and wifely stuff on my current system, so this way I'll slowly move things over from one spinning disk to the next and I won't have to format my existing drive right away for the upgrade. I dread reinstalling all the games, which, between what I test with at SimHQ and what I play, is a looong list.
SugarCoat
08-Aug-2007, 19:41
not to be a party crasher but you could buy the OEMs for $200 or below for quite awhile after rebates. Still arent worth it in my opinion.
Maintank
13-Aug-2007, 17:52
I use these as my boot drive, and my NAS for storage. Though i am thinking about getting a 2nd hard drive as I am finding with todays games, 74GB just isnt enough hehe.
Once you go 10k, you cant go back. Everything feels so sluggish on a 7200 rpm drive. Hard to explain without witnessing it first hand.
Skrying
13-Aug-2007, 19:14
Have you tried any recent 7200RPM drives, from say Hitachi?
John Reynolds
13-Aug-2007, 19:38
Once you go 10k, you cant go back. Everything feels so sluggish on a 7200 rpm drive. Hard to explain without witnessing it first hand.
I know what you mean. I used to say the exact same thing when I was running SCSI drives with Millenium and Windows 2000. Even the response and feel of the OS after a clean boot seems different with high-end drives.
I've got a pair of 150s, but I don't boot from them. They're my scratch space (RAID0), so I put Windows' pagefile on, Photoshop's temp dir, WinRAR's temp extraction dir, my build output directories and anything else that's IO-bound on there.
They're so fast like that and do so much good for basic Windows performance it's not even funny.
I boot from and store my data on 3 other 7200rpm disks, two of which I'll change soon to Caviar SE16 750GBs :cool:
nutball
13-Aug-2007, 20:15
*shrugs* well I "upgraded" from a Raptor 150 to a WD 500GB 7.2k drive and to be honest the overall performance difference didn't seem that great in general use. Whilst the Raptor was nice and fast when I first installed Windows on it, a year or so of Windows bit-rot soon did for it. The new Windows install on my new drive is equally fast, if not faster.
Does that mean that my new drive is faster than the old one on a fresh install? That I can't answer, but IMO the quirks of Windows are far more important than the performance of the drive in general overall interactive usage.
$165? Maybe that means it's time for the next ver to arrive. I have one for my boot drive, but I've got a Seagate 7200.10 like everyone else for the heavy duty storage.
*shrugs* well I "upgraded" from a Raptor 150 to a WD 500GB 7.2k drive and to be honest the overall performance difference didn't seem that great in general use. Whilst the Raptor was nice and fast when I first installed Windows on it, a year or so of Windows bit-rot soon did for it. The new Windows install on my new drive is equally fast, if not faster.
Does that mean that my new drive is faster than the old one on a fresh install? That I can't answer, but IMO the quirks of Windows are far more important than the performance of the drive in general overall interactive usage.
I went from a pair of 80 Gig raptors running raid 0 to a pair of Seagate 7200rpm drives running raid 0. Frankly with the exception of compiling work projects where the seagates are marginally slower, I can't really tell the difference.
And the Seagates are much quieter.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136012
Just ordered one. Considering these puppies went for almost $300 at launch, $165 was too hard to resist (assuming that rebate, good until Friday, comes in). Yes, yes, I'm well aware of the price delta between these and other, much larger, SATA drives, but just wanted to post this in case others have been jonesing for a Raptor and balked at that $250+ price for a 150GB drive.
The 1TB Hitachi drive is roughly the same speed (faster in some tests, slower in others), has a ton more storage, and only costs an extra $120. Plus it runs much more quietly and cooler.
Start here: http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.aspx?i=2949&p=5
John Reynolds
14-Aug-2007, 17:03
http://www.storagereview.com/php/benchmark/bench_sort.php
The Hitachi loses in every test I looked up in that database, and gets crushed in the random access read times by the Raptor.
http://www.storagereview.com/php/benchmark/bench_sort.php
The Hitachi loses in every test I looked up in that database, and gets crushed in the random access read times by the Raptor.
Eh? The only Hitachi's I see are the 400GB, 250GB, 147GB, 74GB, and 300GB. No 1TB.
Hell, I only see the 36GB and 74GB Raptors on those tests as well.
John Reynolds
14-Aug-2007, 17:13
Just check the performance database.
Though after writing my last post, I hit the actual review here: http://www.storagereview.com/HDS721010KLA330.sr
And in single-user usage, it's faster than the Raptor according to their testing.
And I'm assuming that you will be a single user. :-P
John Reynolds
14-Aug-2007, 17:19
And I'm assuming that you will be a single user.
Naturally. Unless you want to come over and sit on my lap while we surf gay midget porn together.
I'm still happy with the Raptor purchase. That Hitachi is a full $200 more, though its higher capacity is great for those who'll use it and it's nice to see the Raptor's performance position being challenged. My year-old XP install on a 150GB Raptor still has over 30GB of free space, and that's with dozens of apps installed.
Naturally. Unless you want to come over and sit on my lap while we surf gay midget porn together.
:lol:
I'm still happy with the Raptor purchase. That Hitachi is a full $200 more, though its higher capacity is great for those who'll use it and it's nice to see the Raptor's performance position being challenged. My year-old XP install on a 150GB Raptor still has over 30GB of free space, and that's with dozens of apps installed.
I got my drive for $285. That's only $120 more than the raptor.
Froogle is your friend. http://www.google.com/products?q=hitachi+1TB+7200RPM&btnG=Search&show=dd&scoring=p
:-P
John Reynolds
14-Aug-2007, 17:35
You're determined to make me regret my purchase, aren't you.
Albuquerque
14-Aug-2007, 17:39
For the performance, storage and pricetag, I wouldn't even blink at the Raptor with the 7K1000 on the market. Niiiiiiiiiice....
Found a place selling them for $263 in the states, albeit out of stock at this moment.
You're determined to make me regret my purchase, aren't you.
15 Day return is your friend. :twisted:
John Reynolds
14-Aug-2007, 17:45
15 Day return is your friend.
I believe it's 30 days.
Hate you.
ShaidarHaran
16-Aug-2007, 01:08
For those of us too impatient to purchase online, Best Buy (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp;jsessionid=051UIAREMGMEXKC4D3LVAFI?sku Id=7821949&st=raptor+x&type=product&id=1142294266684) has the X model (windowed version) for $199.
You're determined to make me regret my purchase, aren't you.
No but we will make you regret this quote:
Naturally. Unless you want to come over and sit on my lap while we surf gay midget porn together
ps: is that an open invitation :D
I believe it's 30 days.
Hate you.
Gooood.... Goooooooood.... Let the hate flow through you. It makes you powerful!
:twisted:
The_Wolf_Who_Cried_Boy
18-Aug-2007, 06:33
$165? Maybe that means it's time for the next ver to arrive.
The current model launched ~ Jan 2006, the first model ~ Jan 2004, that would suggest a new model is due. I haven't seen any rumors at Storage Review yet though.
A desktopized Savvio 15K would be nice while we're at it...
one of these would be nicer ;)
http://www.hyperossystems.co.uk/07042003/hardware.htm#hyperosHDIIproduct
bigtabs
20-Aug-2007, 01:36
drooooool!
'fires up windows in 2 seconds' :)
Holy Cow. I want the 17-unit raid-5 system. :lol:
"Does not need to be defragged since it is a Random Access Device."
John Reynolds
30-Oct-2007, 01:10
And allow me to join Geo as a not-so-proud member of the dead Raptor club.
Condolences, my brother. :-|
Even after I found out it's still under warranty, I haven't even gone to the trouble of sending this second one back. I should, just to punish them, but I have no intention of putting another one in any of my systems so just haven't bothered.
Get yourself a nice 750GB for ~$200 and be happy and safer. :smile:
PS. I don't see it on this thread, but obviously I mentioned it somewhere around here --in the middle of September my second (i.e. a replacement of the original dead one) Raptor died a sudden and horrible death, taking my C drive with it and forcing me to an entire new install, etc. Data loss minimal, as I don't keep data on the C drive for the most part, and such user data which is on my C is pretty well backed up. Nevetheless, a painful and time-consuming event. I've sworn off Raptors with a 100% personal failure rate. Maybe they're fine. Maybe they just hate me personally. Whatever, we're done.
AlphaWolf
30-Oct-2007, 01:19
Condolences, my brother. :-|
Even after I found out it's still under warranty, I haven't even gone to the trouble of sending this second one back. I should, just to punish them, but I have no intention of putting another one in any of my systems so just haven't bothered.
There's always ebay.
John Reynolds
30-Oct-2007, 01:20
Condolences, my brother.
Even after I found out it's still under warranty, I haven't even gone to the trouble of sending this second one back. I should, just to punish them, but I have no intention of putting another one in any of my systems so just haven't bothered.
Get yourself a nice 750GB for ~$200 and be happy and safer.
This one was the first Raptor I purchased sometime last year. I think I will RMA it if I still can and then sell the f'n replacement on eBay for whatever I can get and maybe buy that 1TB Hitachi Natoma kept trying to push on me. Thing is, I still have two other Raptors in my computer room, and I'm typing this on a clean XP reinstall on one that's barely been used (my new one a la this thread), so let's see how long it lasts. Watching LOTRO's launcher d/l 8153 files before I can play the game kinda sucks. And this after I went through two Windows installations and dead memory trying to get a QX9650 article done for the NDA lift, and it's not even published yet. God hates me.
digitalwanderer
30-Oct-2007, 01:29
Y'know you two are turning me off to the Raptor idea entirely.....thank you. ;)
I used to run a set of 10K rpm Raptor 74Gb drives for my main OS and games. I have since switched over to 7200 rpm WD RE2 750Gb drive. The RE2 is faster than the Raptor. It offers more storage for the price. As an added bonus, it's quieter too.
John Reynolds
30-Oct-2007, 02:12
Better yet, my USB memory stick is apparently dead too, so I just lost license keys, a few saved games, etc. Stuff I *really* didn't want to lose. :(
I used to run a set of 10K rpm Raptor 74Gb drives for my main OS and games. I have since switched over to 7200 rpm WD RE2 750Gb drive. The RE2 is faster than the Raptor. It offers more storage for the price. As an added bonus, it's quieter too.
Faster than the 74, yes, but not faster than the 150. Nevertheless, the WD 750 is what I'm running now too --the marginal speed increase of the Raptor 150 (and it's not that much) just isn't worth it.
Of course, having said that, if tomorrow they come out with a new 300GB Raptor that's about 1/3 faster than the 150GB there will be lust in my heart.
But I'll resist it. Sudden and total C drive failures are just NO FUN AT ALL.
Better yet, my USB memory stick is apparently dead too, so I just lost license keys, a few saved games, etc. Stuff I *really* didn't want to lose. :(
Ouch. :sad: Tried every machine within a two mile radius in the hopes of a different answer? I've heard of that, but never seen it on a flash drive that isn't practically new.
Condolences, my brother. :-|
Even after I found out it's still under warranty, I haven't even gone to the trouble of sending this second one back. I should, just to punish them, but I have no intention of putting another one in any of my systems so just haven't bothered.
Get yourself a nice 750GB for ~$200 and be happy and safer. :smile:
PS. I don't see it on this thread, but obviously I mentioned it somewhere around here --in the middle of September my second (i.e. a replacement of the original dead one) Raptor died a sudden and horrible death, taking my C drive with it and forcing me to an entire new install, etc. Data loss minimal, as I don't keep data on the C drive for the most part, and such user data which is on my C is pretty well backed up. Nevetheless, a painful and time-consuming event. I've sworn off Raptors with a 100% personal failure rate. Maybe they're fine. Maybe they just hate me personally. Whatever, we're done.
Always get them in pairs. This way you can at least try and swap the logic boards. It's always worth a try unless you're 100% sure mechanical parts are damaged.
John Reynolds
30-Oct-2007, 14:48
Ouch. Tried every machine within a two mile radius in the hopes of a different answer? I've heard of that, but never seen it on a flash drive that isn't practically new.
I get prompted to format the stick on 3 different systems. There went about 100 hours worth of exported NWN2 character builds. So in the past two weeks that's one bad mobo, a dead stick of DDR2 1066 that's being RMA'd, a dead Raptor, and a dead USB stick. I think my 4yo daughter is playing a game of "let's ESD daddy's 'puter while he's at work."
Have you put it in a linux system? I find linux can sometimes read a corrupted FAT16/32 when windows cannot.
you can also "repartition" the usb stick and sometimes recover files
I get prompted to format the stick on 3 different systems. There went about 100 hours worth of exported NWN2 character builds. So in the past two weeks that's one bad mobo, a dead stick of DDR2 1066 that's being RMA'd, a dead Raptor, and a dead USB stick. I think my 4yo daughter is playing a game of "let's ESD daddy's 'puter while he's at work."
I've had 3 dead drives in the last 18 months (the third was a Seagate 7200.10 on my wifes machine, but luckily it had very little on it yet), which is probably as many as I had in the previous 15 years combined. I'm leaning towards a lack of QA of late in the computer industry!
How old was the flash?
Albuquerque
30-Oct-2007, 18:16
I've had 3 dead drives in the last 18 months (the third was a Seagate 7200.10 on my wifes machine, but luckily it had very little on it yet), which is probably as many as I had in the previous 15 years combined. I'm leaning towards a lack of QA of late in the computer industry!
How old was the flash?
That would make me wonder about funky EMI sources or "bad power" in / around your house... I mean, that's a LOT of drives. Granted, good PSU's should be properly regulating the power delivery to your computer, so the chances of killing three drives due to bad power (while somehow not affecting other components of your system) is pretty nil.
But still :shock: I bet that you've become quite the believer in backups, if you weren't before. Minus the whole forum database debacle ;)
Well, one was DOA from Newegg, so I think not there. And the other two were on two different machines in very different parts of the house and both hooked up to UPS. And there's a few more drives around here that are much older and have survived just fine in this period. So, no, I'm thinking it was just bad drives of recent vintage. I'll give the Seagate a tentative pass for the moment regarding banning them from my machines going forward as it was only one (so far --we do have another in the house but it's okay so far).
Albuquerque
30-Oct-2007, 18:48
Funnily enough, the first real hard drive I ever owned (a 102mb Seagate PIO-mode, circa '91) is still alive and running. I've got some older double-height 20Mb SCSI drives (circa maybe '89?) that weigh about 40 lbs each that also still work.
But I have a huge stack of 4Gb Western Digitals from around '96 that are complete rubbish, I think of the nine I started with, I have three that still work. Maybe QA goes in cycles? They overbuild the drives, and then decide they could cheapen up the process a bit, which then results in a few months / a year of bad drives, when then results in a few years of really good ones to make up for it, which then results in bad -> good -> bad -> ...
All conjecture at this point, surely. DoA obviously can be a million things, but to have one die in your machine is still scary. I don't recall the last time I had an "active" drive die on me.
There's always ebay.
Or give it to me to return. My raptor is running perfect since I got it 4 years ago.
I've had 3 dead drives in the last 18 months (the third was a Seagate 7200.10 on my wifes machine, but luckily it had very little on it yet), which is probably as many as I had in the previous 15 years combined. I'm leaning towards a lack of QA of late in the computer industry!
How old was the flash?
*cough* "We aren't lowering the warranty period b/c the products are worse"
I seem to remember that :) Only drives I had die were seagate and IBM so far. I had bad luck with seagates for awhile, but I don't swear off them b/c once they went to 5 year warranty after dropping to 1 I figured I could deal with the hassle if a drive died.
I've always bought 3+ year warranty drives (usually the manufacturers have one with 1 year and one with 3+ in the same capacity) and haven't had a drive die in 8 years+
Go figure.
digitalwanderer
30-Oct-2007, 21:05
Oddly enough, I've always had insanely good luck with Seagate drives. :???:
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