Which hardrive do i buy??

M

mknight

New member
Guys, I know lots has likely been posted on this topic already, but I need some quick advice here.....I want to run two harddrives here, one strictly for audio...should it be configured as primary or slave....and I am using two cd-roms (one is a memorex writer) What should be slaved to what master in this scene? I have been told that one cd rom and hardrive should run off one ide ....rather than two hdd together....Also, will a 5400 rpm Maxtor perform sufficiently for one or two track at a time recording?....I have been using the WD that came with my computer and it hasnt stuttered yet....Im not sure it runs at even 5400..so what do you recommend for a not so professional little project studio ?? Trying to be practical here, but dont want problems....thanks....Mike
 
Well, one or 2 tracks at a time recording, no problem with a 5400 RPM drive. But, how many do you plan on playing back at once. In either case, get a 7200RPM drive, they are not much more $$$.

Instead of Maxtor, consider Quantum or IBM in the 7200 RPM drive market.

With 2 CD's and 2 drives, I would configure as follows.

Primary Master IDE Channel - the drive that has your OS
Primary Slave IDE Channel - your burner
Secondary Master IDE Channel - Your new Quantum LM 20GB
Secondary Slave - Your CD-ROM
 
Thanks for the quick reply Emeric, tell me more about why you recommend Quantum ...I can get a 20.4 gig for 103.00...just looked it up, UDMA 7200....on Priceline...
Ive seen Maxtor mentioned a lot on here, I think Maxtor has a 2 meg buffer..what abt Quantem? any info greatly appreciated.I am already sold on 7200 rpm..thanks!
 
I recommend Quantum because I've replaced way to many Maxtors and Western Digitals due to bad sectors. But, Maxtor's quality is apparently getting better - but the minor price difference between the two companies doesn't sway me. I rather have the peace of mind. I do use a Maxtor for my main OS Drive, but only because I got it for free. The performance difference between the Quantum's and Maxtors is not significant though, although the Quantum usually comes out on top.

The LM series have a 2MB Buffer.

http://www.quantum.com/products/hdd/fireball_pluslm/fireball_pluslm_overview.htm

Here's an interesting review:

http://www.storagereview.com/articles/200004/20000413QM330000LM-A_1.html
 
One other thing - If your machine does not have an ATA/66 controller you may want to download the utility from quantum to set the drive to ATA/33. I had to do this in order to enable DMA. To enable DMA: Right Click My Computer, select properties, select device manager, double click Disk Drives, double click on the drive (will say Generic Disk Type XX) Select settings, check mark DMA. Run the utility first though before doing this.

Actually, before running the utility, just install the drive, boot up and check the settings - sometimes it will magically default to DMA.
 
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