Keith Devens .com

Go for the 10k RPM serial ATA drive. You won't be sorry.
When I built the last gaming rig, I went with two 7200 ATA and two 10k SATA drives. I was goinbg to originally to a RAID 0+1, but now I run a mirror and use the 10k SATA drive for storage of various thing.

They're definatly a lot faster than the 7200 drives. I'm sure some of that is the SATA too. But I'll probably never go back to regular ATA drives if I don't have to.

Thanks for the recommendation. If I was building a new computer there would probably be no question. Thing is, I bought my current computer back in April of 2000. It's a 700 mhz P3 from Dell -- my main hard drive is 20 gigs (but I have a 40 gig secondary drive I bought off my friend). It still works great, and I have no plans to get a new computer for probably 2 years at least. So, it's hard to justify for performance reasons, but it's even harder to justify for cost reasons.

I figured a hard drive is a great investment because it's one of the things that's easiest to take with you when you build/buy a new computer, so when I built my next computer I'd take it with me. Considering that I don't plan to do that for years, it probably makes more sense that I buy a new hard drive then, and just get something that meets my needs now. However, when I do get a new computer I'd bet you that I will wind up using in it the hard drive I get right now regardless of what it is. So, I should probably get the best drive I can now, right?

I'm so trying to rationalize...

I'm so trying to rationalize...

Heh, I know that feeling...

I thought I'd weigh in with my two cents... I bought one of those WD Caviar SE 120 GB and although I'm pretty satisfied with it for the most part, if noise is an issue, it does whine more loudly than any other HD I can remember owning.

Of course, if you're considering a 10K RPM HD, I'm guessing it isn't.

I dunno, there's a possibility the 10000 RPM drive is even quieter than my current drive. I'm pretty sure my current drive is either the WD204BB or the WD204BA. According to Western Digital, the accoustic ratings for those drives are:

For the BB:

Idle Mode**
35 dBA (standard)
31 dBA (quiet)

Seek Mode***
38 dBA (standard)
33 dBA (quiet)

For the BA:

Idle Mode**
38 dBA (average)
42 dBA (maximum)

Seek Mode***
45 dBA (average)
48 dBA (maximum)

According to the site the 10000 RPM drive has accoustics of:

Idle Mode ---- 32 dBA (average)
Seek Mode 0 -- 36 dBA (average)

The 120 gig Caviar is actually noisier at:

Idle Mode ---- 35 dBA (average)
Seek Mode 0 -- 39 dBA (average)
Seek Mode 3 -- 37 dBA (average)

As someone who owns representatives of both categories, I can say that they are approximately the same loudness (I do actually own a db Meter, but I'm not about to waste time getting specific numbers), but the 10K drives whine at a significantly higher pitch, which I find a little bit annoying.

Of course, I keep that box in the closet anyway, so whatever.

but the 10K drives whine at a significantly higher pitch

Ah, I would find that irritating. Those drives are aimed at servers, so it's probably usually not an issue for people, but my computer's right under my desk