Seagate 320GB sluggish boot drive?

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Seagate 320GB sluggish boot drive?

I saw the following in a Macworld lab test of the new 8 cores, one of which I ordered with the above drive.
"However, not all the results were promising for Apple's latest pro desktop model. The eight-core 2.8GHz system lagged in some of our tests, results we attribute to its somewhat sluggish Seagate hard drive."
http://www.macworld.com/article/131538/2008/01/macprobench.html
As I'm setting up a 1GB RAID 0 for my media files, I don't want to have a slow boot drive. Anyone with this drive have any comments? Alternate boot drives?

G5 dual 1.8, Mac OS X (10.4.6), 3GB RAM, ATI Radeon X800 XT

Posted on Jan 26, 2008 9:38 AM

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Answer 1

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The hatter

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Jan 26, 2008 10:26 AM in response to Don T

Apple is using WD 320 in some but a lot of people move the system to a faster drive. Anything from 10K Raptor to 1TB unit with 750GB being one favorite.

Never been a fan of the OEM drives, or of Seagate (except their 15K Cheetah) so use it for backup/clone and make all your updates and changes on the new drive. You will still have a good boot drive.

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Answer 2

Don T Author

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Jan 26, 2008 10:47 AM in response to The hatter

Thanks. I've had good luck with WD drives. I was thinking about taking the 320 out and using it in an external case for backup (although w/ Time Machine that isn't a lot of space). I have ordered:
(a) two 500GB Western Digital RE SATA RAID Edition 16MB Cache 7200rpm Enterprise with 5yr Western Digital Warranty (WDGWD5000ABYS) - to stripe raid my photos, video, and other media files
I'm fairly committed to getting a:
(b) 1.0TB Western Digital 'GreenPower' SATA-II HDD 16MB Cache New w/3yr Warranty (WDGWD10EACS) - for a an incremental (SuperDuper) non-Time Machine backup of my media, in addition to an external OWC Mercury Elite 750 to smart update my media. Somewhere in there I'll have a Time Machine drive for my User folder.
Rambling, but I'm thinking of a 750GB Western Digital RE2 Enterprise Class SATA-IIW/NCQ 16MB Cache 7200rpm w/5yr Western Digital Warranty (WDGWD7500AYYS) for a boot drive. 750 is way more than I need now, but then I've got 250GB drives that seemed plenty and are now useless.

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Answer 3

The hatter

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Jan 26, 2008 11:14 AM in response to Don T

Two thoughts on your ramblings...

320GB emergency. Maybe just for emergency and critical files or system. An emergency boot drive that is just that and not a working clone backup or copy.

Can also buy spare drive sleds for $25 each if needed.

A fast boot drive not for its size but for performance. Costs the same as 10K Raptor but larger, even if you partition as 50% with 50% unused free space. Quite but darn fast.

I like having one internal drive for TM. Or hook up a couple 500s or 750s in a dual SATA case $67 running off the 'spare' SATA ports. Maybe a small boot volume on that as well for your backup/emergency boot drive, and yes as RAID. I've been running RAIDs for years and two months of TM backups to RAIDs.

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Answer 4

Don T Author

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Jan 26, 2008 12:39 PM in response to The hatter

Thanks Hatter. Which drive are you referring to here?
+A fast boot drive not for its size but for performance. Costs the same as 10K Raptor but larger, even if you partition as 50% with 50% unused free space. Quite but darn fast.+
I always have at least one cloned backup of my boot drive.

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Answer 5

The hatter

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Jan 26, 2008 12:54 PM in response to Don T

I wanted to leave the choice of drive open, as most any are going to be fine. My taste goes to 10K Raptor but now that the 750GB WD and others are out, you can check Barefeats and such for a comparison of numbers (I posted links in another thread this AM).

The OWC price on 750GB WD SE16 is $175 if you use the link from accelerate your mac "specials".
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com has a drive upgrade database of user experience also.

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Answer 6

Don T Author

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Jan 31, 2008 5:20 PM in response to The hatter

Appreciate the "heads up" on AccelerateYourMac. I just got the Seagate 1TB as a backup drive for $20 less. Also appreciate the pointers to comparisons. Got this one based on Tom's Hardware The Terabyte Battle
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/11/05/theterabytebattle/page9.html
I'll be getting the WD 750 for a boot drive soon. By the way, I just read your RAID setup. Pretty insane speed, huh?

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Answer 7

Jan 31, 2008 8:32 PM in response to The hatter

not sure if this is the same drive Hatter is mentioning but you can order here for 155$ or they have a discount for 150$ ending sometime this week i think.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136131&nmmc=EMC-IGNEFL012408&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL012408-_-ComputerHardware-_-E0--22136131

promo code @CHECKOUT: EMCABCEAG

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Answer 8

Don T Author

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Feb 1, 2008 4:44 AM in response to AppleNewton

Good tip. It's the same as this, but cheaper
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Western%20Digital/WD7500AAKS/
Which is a step down from this
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Western%20Digital/WD7500AYYS/
(Enterprise w/ 5 yr vs 3 yr warranty). Not sure which one I'll get, but thanks for the pointer.

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Answer 9

Don T Author

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Feb 1, 2008 4:53 AM in response to AppleNewton

Just for fun, I tried applying the coupon code to the better WD 750, already $20 less than OWC, but it didn't work.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136144

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Answer 10

The hatter

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Feb 1, 2008 5:27 AM in response to AppleNewton

Please, plesase, please (is that enough?) avoid these OEM drives. Yes, you save, and yes some work, but I also read like today of people having problems, won't mount, or format. They have different firmware than "regular" and retail drives. Maybe one reason OWC doesn't sell OEM units.

Sometimes, you really do get what you pay for.

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Answer 11

The hatter

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Feb 1, 2008 5:30 AM in response to Don T

If you plan to use in RAID, then RE2. If you will use it with a Port Multiplier SATA controller (Sonnet, etc) then you need the RE2 as both Sonnet and WD (and OWC) don't "endorse" (or support) the use of the SE series and there can/are issues (I've tried and have four SE16s that I played with, and talked to both).

The 500GB RE2 is only $115 at OWC. Buy 3 or 4 🙂

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Answer 12

Don T Author

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Feb 1, 2008 5:54 AM in response to The hatter

I'm probably going to go with the OWC 750GB Western Digital RE2 Enterprise Class SATA-IIW/NCQ 16MB Cache 7200rpm w/5yr Western Digital Warranty (WDGWD7500AYYS) due to the better ratings and longer warranty. The piece of mind is worth a few extra bucks on a Mac Pro 2x4, 10GB RAM, NVidia card, etc. It's for a boot drive, not RAID but still probably worth it. Thanks.

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Answer 13

Yositimy

Level 2

243 points

Feb 1, 2008 9:00 AM in response to The hatter

OWC certainly sells OEM drives when they think they will work. There are problems with firmware in retail drives. The only difference is packaging and mounting hardware. Warrantees are the same for the same drive model. OWC, being a Mac house, may provide better Mac tech support than other vendors and what they sell you should work in a Mac.

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Answer 14

The hatter

Level 9

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Feb 1, 2008 9:27 AM in response to Yositimy

I'll go with StorageReview and MacGurus on the wisdom of OEM.

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Answer 15

Feb 1, 2008 9:18 PM in response to The hatter

There is nothing wrong with using OEM SATA drives in the mac pro. Some work better than others. I CAN say that a 500gb 7200.11 seagate is MUCH faster booting than a 7200.10 320 gb from personal experience. and its quieter.
If a drive does not work out as an internal, i am prepared to use it in an external case.

I can recommend 7200.11 drives in 2006-7 mac pros from personal experience

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