PDA

View Full Version : HDD Life

xyte
02-21-04, 02:01 PM
How long on average do Hard Drives go on for before they fall over or start to accumlated bad sectors etc?

My is 2 yrs ago, going to get a pc upgrade but don't really want to replace the harddrive.

cheers.
-=DVS=-
02-21-04, 02:09 PM
Hard to tell i hope they last way more then 2 years mine are old to , would be bad if they failed all of the sudden :eek:

some drives have S.M.A.R.T capability it shows 50% on my drives , and 80% on my other computers new one, if thats have anything to do with longlevity.
Skuzzy
02-21-04, 02:20 PM
The current crop of IDE/SATA drives should probably be replaced every two years or so. They really are cheap commodity product and only the high end SCSI server drives would be the only ones I would trust past two years.

The spindle motors are made of some pretty cheap stuff in IDE/SATA hard drives.
Dazz
02-22-04, 05:22 AM
My 10GB IBM GXP34 is almost 4 years old, it's pretty slow compaired to my 80GB WD J800 and nosier dispite both being 7200rpms.
sxotty
02-22-04, 08:09 AM
Got a WD from 1998 kicking around still. HAve IBM drives that are from 1994 and still work... it all depends on your luck.

And yes current drives are crappier than these older ones, that is why the warranty went from 3years to one.
stncttr908
02-22-04, 12:07 PM
Drives should last for a pretty long time. Of course there are exceptions, including the two WD800JB's that I had to return.
-=DVS=-
02-22-04, 12:48 PM
I sure hope Maxtor put good parts into my drives :( , moveing data and reinstalling windows and all the apps is pain in the ass.
monkeydust
02-22-04, 01:32 PM
I don't think I have ever had a HD actually fail. I have been using Maxtor's for about 5 years now and have had good luck with them.

I'll look to them first for some SATA drives when I build my new system later in the year.
Nutty
02-22-04, 02:37 PM
Thinking of getting a new drive meself.. mainly to improve boot times, my OS drive is an old (prolly 0 cache) 5,400rpm 30 gig mator.

Was thinking of a Maxtor +9 SATA, or Samsung one. Samsungs are supposedly very quiet.. Was considering Seagate, but looked at some reviews and it seemed to get stomped on. Then theres WD, and after reading some posts here think I'll skip them.

Its a toss up between this one;
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Maxtor2.html (top one)
or
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Samsung.html (top one

hmmmmm..
Dazz
02-22-04, 03:57 PM
I would wait for the native SATA drives which are said to be far faster then current drives which are all PATA. Something to do with a special cache system and the ability to run data up and down like SCSI.
Nutty
02-22-04, 04:04 PM
Haven't heard of anything like that. In some reviews I saw, alot of SATA drives performed identical to PATA counterparts. The maxtor one however was way ahead.

I'm pretty sure I have one of those at work, but it seems a tad noisy, tho I dont have the accoustic management on.
vampireuk
02-22-04, 07:22 PM
9 smegging months:rolleyes:
xyte
02-23-04, 02:50 AM
My IBM Drive is bout 2 yrs old so bit worried.

Got a old Western Digital Drive thats around 6 yrs old yet I know friends etc whos hard drives crap out after 6-9 months.

Thinking of getting a Western Digital 80Gb WD800JB IDE 8Mb 7200rpm ATA100 Hard Drive, will they go the distance? (min 3 yrs)
Nutty
02-23-04, 03:33 AM
I've got an IBM 60GXP as my 2nd drive.. Started making some clicking sounds a while ago, just when IBM released the new firmware to improve longevity. Still think its gonna go soon tho.
shim
02-23-04, 04:02 AM
ive had my 30gig Quantum Fireball for over 3 years now, still goin as fast as it did the day i got it.. but a clean OS helps :P

also had my Seagate 80gig for bout 2 years now and thats still goin strong aswell..
sxotty
02-23-04, 07:33 AM
Well my WD800jb is only two years old so I can't tell you how long it will last... just have to wait and see.

But at least it has a 3yr warranty unlike most of the crappy drives people buy so it is more likely to last at least that long.
Dazz
02-23-04, 12:45 PM
Originally posted by Nutty
I've got an IBM 60GXP as my 2nd drive.. Started making some clicking sounds a while ago, just when IBM released the new firmware to improve longevity. Still think its gonna go soon tho. It might of been updated alittle to late.
Reaper106
02-25-04, 10:42 AM
The next generation of S-ATA will have Native Command Queuing just like SCSI Drives. The controller as well as the drive have to support it. The WD Raptors with NCQ will be awesome. have already seen these drives in action with a controller that supports NCQ. It allows a drive to take up to 32 commands and intelligently reorder or rearrange them, before reading or writing the data.:firedevil
schuey74
02-25-04, 01:46 PM
Which SATA currently supports NCQ? I wasn't aware of any. :confused:
Reaper106
02-25-04, 02:25 PM
Originally posted by schuey74
Which SATA currently supports NCQ? I wasn't aware of any. :confused:
The next generation of S-ATA will support NCQ.:firedevil
Reaper106
02-25-04, 02:27 PM
Originally posted by Reaper106
The next generation of S-ATA will support NCQ.:firedevil

I have seen beta tests of these drives. Not released to the public yet. I think it was Maximum PC that did a write up on these as well and tested them in their labs.:firedevil