What 1TB HDD Would You Go With For Your HTPC?

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1gkar

722 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 30368 5-Feb-2009 17:32

As I have recently started going Blu-ray, I am transcoding the movies to Matroska for space considerations but I am looking to increase my HDD space by another 1TB. I will retain my two 500GB Seagate HDDs.

Question: should I go with a Seagate or another brand like Samsung? And if anyone has had any compatibility issues with HDDs recently?

On a side note, it seems Pricespy's server is down. Are they still in business? What other NZ sites are good for PC parts' comparisons? Cheers.

Silverstone LC14 HTPC Case/Intel E4600 CPU/GA-EP35-DS3 MOBO/Asus EN9500GT graphics/2GB RAM/total 2TB HDD space/HVR-2200 & 2X 150MCE tuner cards/LG GGC-H20L BD Drive/MCE2005/Mediaportal/TVServer 1.1.0Final/LG 55"3D LED-TV/Denon AVR-1803 receiver/X1 projector

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2118 posts

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# 194327 5-Feb-2009 17:57

Price spy might be affected by the Telstra Clear fibre issue.

disk wise I like the WD Green Power drivers as they are very cool, very quiet, and ideal for HTPC.

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC a Technology Evangelist and Product Manager. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

nofam

1027 posts

Uber Geek

# 194337 5-Feb-2009 19:09

Normally I would've said Seagate all the way, but given their recent issues, I'm not so sure; as openmedia says, the WD green series of drives are a good option, as are Samsung Spinpoint units; in my experience they're very quiet.

Try this:

http://www.nzoczone.com/product_info.php?products_id=5202

Don't rely too much in Pricespy; I've been told by a few resellers that the pricing isn't always that great.

Quidam

291 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 194339 5-Feb-2009 19:19

I have a WD 1TB green. Have had no problems with it at all, and it definately runs cool and quiet.

But you might also want to consider a SG 1.5TB Barracuda. I have 1 of these as well. Seems to run hotter, but is very quiet; is a great performer.

If lots of storage matters, then bigger is better.

On that note WD have just released a 2TB to their green range, should be hitting the shelves very soon.

That's what I plan on getting next

"There is no way to Peace -Peace is the Way" (A. J. Muste)

euanandrews

1528 posts

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# 194341 5-Feb-2009 19:37

I too recommend WD Green Power HDD's, I currently have two 750GB drives, cool and quiet, highly recommended for HTPC's.

As pointed out, they have just released 2TB drives using the same cool and quiet technology/formula...I plan to buy 2 myself, that will bring my HTPC HDD space upto 5.5TB, but I plan to use Raid, so will only have 2.75TB total...but I will then finally have a backup/mirror image of all my movie collection for safety.

Have a read of this page, it lists the quietest and coolest HDD's...excellent resource:
SPCR (Silent PC Review) the second page has the table of top ranking HDD's

martyyn

1287 posts

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Subscriber

# 194346 5-Feb-2009 20:21

Here's another vote for WD 1TB green. I have two in my HTPC and I cant fault them.

AmooMan

307 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 194369 5-Feb-2009 21:42

Yup go Green..

My last WD is running very well !!

1gkar

722 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 194381 5-Feb-2009 22:20

Thanks all. Looks like the greens have it

What's the difference between the green & the black series? I know; don't be so bloo&y lazy. But, hey, I can't help it

1gkar

722 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 194382 5-Feb-2009 22:25

TheBartender: I too recommend WD Green Power HDD's, I currently have two 750GB drives, cool and quiet, highly recommended for HTPC's.

As pointed out, they have just released 2TB drives using the same cool and quiet technology/formula...I plan to buy 2 myself, that will bring my HTPC HDD space upto 5.5TB, but I plan to use Raid, so will only have 2.75TB total...but I will then finally have a backup/mirror image of all my movie collection for safety.

Have a read of this page, it lists the quietest and coolest HDD's...excellent resource:
SPCR (Silent PC Review) the second page has the table of top ranking HDD's

The only Raid I like comes in a can. I DVD-backup everything. Call me paranoid, but it's what I know. Except when you're DVD drive cr*ps out & the next model refuses to recognise the DVDs you already have

So I don't firmware-upgrade anymore, & buy good quality media.

eXDee

4025 posts

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# 194404 6-Feb-2009 00:35

I wouldn't touch seagate with a barge pole now. Too many problems they have had with the 1TB drives especially, and i probably won't buy a hard drive from them for a while. Used to be a market leader a while ago but my opinion of them has fell a fair bit over the recent year or so.
Western Digital and Samsung are both excellent and reliable performers.

Satch

1985 posts

Uber Geek

# 194435 6-Feb-2009 10:26

After extensive research last year when building my HTPC, I settled on Samsung Spinpoint drives. Very quiet and reliable. No issues with them to date.

rhysb

431 posts

Ultimate Geek

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# 194471 6-Feb-2009 14:46

I've got 9 of the WD Greens and not had a single problem with any of them. For a HTPC they run very quiet and cool.

SilentPCReview has some excellent reviews on most of the latest drives from a noise perspective. http://www.silentpcreview.com/

hads

391 posts

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# 194501 6-Feb-2009 17:51

We run both Seagate and Western Digital GP drives here. I would put the WD drives quieter and cooler. The Seagate 1.5TB drives also have a firmware issue to be aware of.

Also, for those talking about it, RAID is not equal to backup. RAID will give you protection against hardware failure, that's it[1]. You need backups for data security.

[1] It's also useful in some configurations for expanding volume sizes.

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