Hitachi's Deskstar 7K3000 3TB hard drive

[zombie67]

http://techreport.com/articles.x/20562

As impressive as 3tb drives are, my next personal machine will run on SSD. Slow-but-large spindle tech is still fine for backup.

[Dorsilfin]

I like the speed of SSD.. I just cant get over the price tag.. 128 gig drive for 200+ bucks.. Ouch!

and of course id need two to raid them =o haha

[Fire$torm]

I like the speed of SSD.. I just cant get over the price tag.. 128 gig drive for 200+ bucks.. Ouch!

and of course id need two to raid them =o haha

I concur. Fantastic speed. Ludicrous price.

[DrPop]

Here's something to consider as well, if you can't afford a SSD.

HDDs load the platter from the outside in. If you get a large - 2TB or more - HDD spinning at 7200RPM, with a SATAII or SATAIII connection, and you only load say 20 to 40GB or so on it ... you are only using 1 to 2% of the drive capacity. While it won't match SSD speeds, it will be quite fast, as you're just barely filling up the outside edge of the platter.

I still haven't wrapped my head around SSD prices for a crunching rig...and I'm not even sure it would help, so I haven't bit yet myself. :p
I do have an SSD in my wife's laptop, and the thing DOES boot into Win7 fast.

[Fire$torm]

Here's something to consider as well, if you can't afford a SSD.

HDDs load the platter from the outside in. If you get a large - 2TB or more - HDD spinning at 7200RPM, with a SATAII or SATAIII connection, and you only load say 20 to 40GB or so on it ... you are only using 1 to 2% of the drive capacity. While it won't match SSD speeds, it will be quite fast, as you're just barely filling up the outside edge of the platter.

I still haven't wrapped my head around SSD prices for a crunching rig...and I'm not even sure it would help, so I haven't bit yet myself. :p
I do have an SSD in my wife's laptop, and the thing DOES boot into Win7 fast.

That is why I like using multiple HDDs. I create several partitions on each HDD and use the first partition of each drive for the things that require the fastest access like OS, Temp Folder, Swap File, etc... I still use all available space on the drives balancing file access against speed across the drives. My current setup has 4 HHDs with a total of 11 partitions.

[zombie67]

A couple of points:

How much space do you need for a dedicated cruncher? A 32gb or 64gb SSD would be plenty.

And for a personal machine, how much space do you really need for your primary HD? Not much really, especially if you have attached storage for your archive (pictures/movies/etc). I have been living in a 120gb HD on my laptop for years, no problem. The cost for SSDs are *almost* there, IMO. A little bit lower, and spindle drive will be relegated to servers and attached storage.

[DrPop]

Yeah, I am coming more and more inline with your thinking, there, Zombie. I figure when the fast ones get to 64GB for about $99, I'd like to have one. ;) I've seen some specials get awful close to that lately...

[rgathright]

Yeah, I am coming more and more inline with your thinking, there, Zombie. I figure when the fast ones get to 64GB for about $99, I'd like to have one. ;) I've seen some specials get awful close to that lately...

3TB drives are nice but everyone is right, SSD is in a perfect niche right now for most users.

I must note that I recently crashed a SSD to the point of no return when I filled it with BOINC workunits. Please make sure you do not over fill your SSD drives. :-t

[Mumps]

Well, Kingston does have

V+ Series SSD drives (64 Gig) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139112&cm_re=kingston_V-Series_SSD-_-20-139-112-_-Product) $129.00

that are getting really compelling price and performance-wise. Then also, there's the newish breed of Hybrid drives:

Seagate 500 Gig SSD hybrid drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148591&cm_re=seagate_Hybrid_drive-_-22-148-591-_-Product) $99.00 with an additional $5.00 off.

I just got 2 of these for a RAID set on a server. They aren't fooling around, with that 4.17 ms average access time and a 5 year warranty...

NOTE: These are both 2.5" Laptop model drives. Which makes them even sweeter for me. :)

[rgathright]

Well, Kingston does have

V+ Series SSD drives (64 Gig) (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139112&cm_re=kingston_V-Series_SSD-_-20-139-112-_-Product) $129.00

that are getting really compelling price and performance-wise. Then also, there's the newish breed of Hybrid drives:

Seagate 500 Gig SSD hybrid drive (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148591&cm_re=seagate_Hybrid_drive-_-22-148-591-_-Product) $99.00 with an additional $5.00 off.

I just got 2 of these for a RAID set on a server. They aren't fooling around, with that 4.17 ms average access time and a 5 year warranty...

NOTE: These are both 2.5" Laptop model drives. Which makes them even sweeter for me. :)

Thanks. Nice to see you around. How is the crunching arena for you?