Hardrives! 5400RPM ok?

[Slackmaster2K]

Yep, I agree with Emeric 100%.... don't sweat the controller, but a 7200RPM drive would certainly help. The difference can be quite substantial. I'd recommend both Maxtor and Quantum, stay away from Western Digital.

Slackmaster 2000

[gcounselman]

Just, wondering, why stay away from Western Dig? I have always thought they were excellent drives.
-gman

[gcounselman]

I am setting up my PC to do recording. I have purchased a Delta44. I currently have a SB AWE32 (old) hehe. I am wondering, I got n-track off the net and started fooling around with my AWE32 and recorded a song off of a cd. When playing back it plays fine until I start clicking certain effects on and off in real time. Is this a limitation of my cheap soundcard? or is it my HD. I gueass what I want to know is can this recording be done with a ATA UDMA/33 5400RPM Western Digital HD? I have a PII333/128RAM / 20.5 GB 5400 RPM Drive.

[El Barto]

You might be better off with the 7200RPM hard drive...I work at CompUSA, and I'm really good with computers, so what we recommend the 7200RPM drives for is mainly video and sound editing, because of the fast spin and access times...you MIGHT get some studdering with a 5400RPM drive but not to much...oh, and not to mention that hard drives in general have gone down in price a LOT. You should be able to get a 7200RPM 20GB drive for probably around $150 or so.

[gcounselman]

Yeah,

I build computers. The only problem with that is the fact that the Asus P2b MB does not have an ATA66 controller on board. It is only ATA33. From what I have seen, the PCI controllers leave a lot to be desired from. MEaning the transfer limitation through the PCIbus bottlenecks the ability for the HD to actually operate at ATA66 (7200RPM) Any other ideas? Is anyone using a 5400 hd and getting away with it?
thanks for the information
-gman

[Emeric]

It doesn't matter much that your mainboard doesn't have an ATA/66 controller on it. The real spec is in the higher RPM's of the 7200's. ATA/66 versus ATA/33 is not that much of an issue, and the performance diff is not significant at this point in time. I use a Quantum LM 15GB on a udma/33 board, and noticed a big jump in performance over 5400 RPM.

Anyway, if your applying a lot of directx, real-time effects, you may be seeing the limitations of your CPU horsepower as well. But, with your system spec's I would think you should be able to get a stable 8 tracks with few fx on each. You may also want to check that you are using the most recent drivers for your soundcard and other cards.

[Slackmaster2K]

Well, I've just seen a disproportionate number of Western Digital drives fail before their time (6 of them if I'm remembering right). One just recently in fact.

I have theories as to why they fail so often, but they're just theories

Slackmaster 2000

[ola]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Slackmaster2K:
I have theories as to why they fail so often, but they're just theories <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Stop it Scully, let us know what your theories are...

/Ola

[tutton]

Cause Western Digital suks
once upon a time they used to be in the top 5 with seagate....longtime ago
now I'll never sell anyone a WD..even my Quantum F/ball isnt livin up to its reputation

Yeah gcounselman I agree with Slack and Em
More Horsepower...Udma66 and at least 128 mg Sdram

Tony

[gcounselman]

Thanks for all of the info guys. I have ordered a Maxtor 20gb 7200RPM. I just got my Delta44 card in also.

-gman

[El Barto]

I always heard WD was better than Maxtor...but now I see more Maxtor drives than WD drives these days...I have one of each...a WD 4GB (paid like...$400 maybe for it 3 years or so ago...that is INSANE! For $400 I get like, 80GB now a days), and a Maxtor 20GB 7200RPM.