IsaacKuo wrote:The RAM costs about $260 (4x2gig), but that includes the system RAM as well as the software ramdisk.

Actually, it's even less expensive than that if you don't require the absolute fastest memory. Two of these sets of 2x2GB DDR2 800 ram can be found at Newegg for just over $150 shipped.

As far as speed goes, a 640GB drive should maintain its transfer rates further into the disk than a 320 GB one. There's twice as much space, so if you're just comparing the first 320 gigabytes, the smaller drive's speed will be considerably slower toward the end of the disk, while the larger one wil...

13ms?! My bloody WD6400AAKS has a ~16ms access time! :x While my access times average around 13ms, the speed of my 6400AAKS is slightly limited by my motherboard's early SATA 1.5 controller. The controller only handles a burst rate of around 120MB/s, and the drive's overall performance is a little ...

I'm thinking a VelociRaptor might be overkill, seeing as he made no mention of any performance requirements. When removed from its cooler, it might be one of the quietest desktop drives currently available, but I'd question whether it's any quieter than a Green Power. Since he mentions that accousti...

One possibility is that the people reporting this are using Vista's Aero Glass interface. Since the GUI is rendered by 3D Hardware, the card might not be getting a chance to enter idle mode, and is therefore using much more than 10 watts of power. That's just speculation, of course.

I'm not so sure I'd buy it. As mentioned in the preceding paragraph, he's trying to sell their new anti-vibration features, which won't really provide much benefit to those who soft-mount their drives. I suppose it's possible that suspending a drive could cause problems, but it also seems likely tha...

I like how their diagram has the WD drive bursting out of the graph with a big logo on top to make it difficult to tell where the top of the bar actually is. : P Also, the chart begins at 5000 to exaggerate the differences between the drives, and they've disabled NCQ to give their drive more of an e...

It was just a case of the Samsung drive being crap and the Pioneer drive being everything I ever wanted, hence buying the (truly) silent drive makes acute sense. Again, why suffer from something you can avoid at no extra cost? :) Of course, one might also point out the that the Pioneer offers a low...

I think that displaying something interesting is important, but it doesn't have to be on the level of 3DMark, and that would probably be losing sight of your intended purpose while greatly increasing complexity. 3DMark can be considered more of a benchmark than a stress test, and while it certainly ...

Seriously man, I have an MX-518 right now. I wouldn't have bought it if I had known of it's constant screeching. Same goes for my monitor. These are constant pains. Loud DVD burners, for most people (me included), are rare and highly temporary pains. I don't really have much problem with the clicki...

I'm thinking it won't cool as well as an Accelero S1. The heatsink is more compact, being both narrower and thinner. The fins appear to be spaced closer together, and face perpendicular to the path of airflow, so it probably won't perform anywhere near as well when used passively. On the plus side, ...

So it sounds like an infernal chorus of wailing cacodaemons? : >

I do think the varying opinions of drive accoustics have a lot do with how a drive's being mounted, and what kind of case it's put in. I'm sure there's some degree of variance across different factories and revisions though.

I'm testing mine right now, and AAM is off by default, with my random access times averaging just under 13ms. Even so, the drive idles a bit quieter than my 160GB Samsung, and seeks are quieter as well, even with AAM enabled on the older drive. I haven't tried AAM with the WD yet, and I'll likely le...

SE16 640GB has the same parking mechanism as Caviar GP: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=394 Actually, according to that page, it uses a different parking mechanism. The SE16's is called SecurePark while the GP's is called IntelliPark. SecureParkâ„¢ - Parks the recording heads of...

Ouch, the negative reviews for this drive outnumber the positives at Newegg. That's not exactly a good sign. : )

There are also recent reviews at Newegg where people have received the dual-platter version, so chances are they still have both in stock. Additionally, the drive's access times are fairly poor, which counteracts much of the performance benefits from moving to the higher platter density. The inconsi...

Watkins is an idiot. 10c per GB before they consider making SSD's for the consumer? Thats absurdly cheep. I think he was exaggerating a bit, though I imagine disk-based drives will be well under 10 cents per gigabyte before comparably fast SSDs hit $1.00 per gigabyte. Of course, he's going to downp...

I believe the 'turn off hard disks' power option applies the same setting to all drives. The time at which they turn off is based on the activity of the individual drive though, so if you have them set to 15 minutes, a drive will turn off after it has been inactive for 15 minutes, even if another ha...

Samsung announced today that they'll have 256GB SSDs available by the end of the year. The drives will use MLC memory to reduce cost, but should perform well, with 200MB/s read and 160MB/s write speeds, and reliability supposedly on par with SLC drives. I imagine they'll be priced in the thousands o...

It's 89.95 in Canada http://www.anitec.ca/sale/qmra38qn2h/11836/ Since they didn't have any shipping rates listed, I tested their checkout with an Ontario address, and the least expensive shipping option was over $15. Add in tax, and it works out to almost $111 CAD ($112 USD). I don't live in Canad...

Back on topic, Newegg is having a hard drive sale today through the 28th, and the 6400AAKS is going to be $99.99 with free shipping. I'm tempted to get one, despite not needing 640GB of storage right now. You can't beat the price for the capacity at just over 15.6 cents per gigabyte. I was hoping to...

Have you tried limiting the read speed of your drive with Nero DriveSpeed when not using it to install large files? With DriveSpeed enabled, my Samsung 202N is rather quiet. Any optical drive will make a fair amount of noise when running at high speeds.

So if you limit the fps to 30-40 something you'd never notice it? My X1600 Pro emits a slight buzz at framerates well in excess of 100 fps. Limiting your framerate should help to reduce that sound. The best way to limit your framerate is to simply enable vertical sync in those games that experience...

You could just bump your other thread on this topic, or the F1 thread , rather than starting a new topic every couple weeks. I've been holding out for them to release the drive too, but I don't think repeatedly asking where it is will get it released any sooner. I like to think the CEO of Samsung is...

For Photoshop and video editing, the faster processor and extra ram might be worthwhile upgrades. If you had to choose between the two, the processor would probably be the better choice, since additional memory could always be added relatively easily later on. The modular PSU might not be worth the ...

If a 9600GT is in the cards, I can recommend this one wholeheartedly: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814134040 It kills my old 8600GT in games and runs 15C cooler at idle and full load, and is completely silent. There is currently a $25 rebate on it. That looks like a really ...

Current optical drive is a Samsung 203B, not recommended. Noisy, and Nero Drivespeed can't properly control it. It's nice to install due to compact size, but frustrating to use at times - I was also decidedly unimpressed by Samsung's bullshit "MagicSpeed" function that doesn't actually do a thing. ...

The speed at which an optical drive spins is the largest factor effecting how loud it is. Some drives slow down when they detect a video disc, while others don't. That's something you won't typically find listed in the product description, either. I've tested my Samsung DVD burner a bit more, and it...

I just got a Samsung. : ) It's only a DVD burner though, and doesn't handle BluRay. I don't have any pressing need for BluRay yet, so I'll probably wait a while for the drives to improve and come down in price. I've only had this drive installed for a couple days, so I haven't really experimented mu...

If I were buying a drive in that range right now, I'd probably go with the 6400AAKS. It might cost a little more, but the price per gigabyte is about the same. They're likely both good drives, but the 6400 should be a fair amount faster than the 5000GP. While the GreenPower might be a little quieter...