WD10EADS or WD10EACS

[CroSsFiRE2.0]

Well, theres quite a few topics on this already so I apologize for starting a new thread but I was wondering which drive I should get. The WD10EADS is $110CAD but the WD10EAVS is $90CAD(The 8mb cache one). I only have this question because of the load/unload problem with the EAVS that may or may not shorten its lifespan. Is the $20 more worth it for peace of mind or should I go with the better price of the EAVS?

I'm also considering the WD 1TB Black sine its $120 and I might even enable AAM on it (is it even possible?) to make it more quiet. Since I'll be using this as the system drive on my computer and I game quite a bit, I'm not sure if the Greenpower drives will be good enough. (I'm assuming slower times will only increase load times and not impact game performance?)

[Vicotnik]

The load/unload "problem" is the same on every WD GP as far as I know. WD10EADS has 32MB cache, WD10EACS has 16MB and WD10EAVS has 8MB. What drive to get depends on the application. I would not use any 5400RPM HDD as a system drive.

WD Black is considered overkill by many, perhaps a WD Blue would do?

Best imho a SSD for a system drive and the cheapest WD GP you can find for a storage drive.

[CroSsFiRE2.0]

Hmm..I thought the 'problem was resolved on the EADS?

A SSD and a WD GP would be way outside of my budget atm. I'm also not sure what to do with my Seagate 7200.11 320GB that's currently in my system.

Also, theres no 1TB WD Blue currently. And for the Black, how would it be overkill? While I do play a lot of games, I value silence just as much. Not to derail this topic but is the Black with AAM quiet or as quite as the WD GP?

[QuietOC]

And for the Black, how would it be overkill? While I do play a lot of games, I value silence just as much. Not to derail this topic but is the Black with AAM quiet or as quite as the WD GP?

I have the WD10EADS and the WD6400AAKS. The latter is quieter and much faster. The EADS is horrible as a system drive and horrible for game loading--I won't be buying another 5400rpm and/or 3 platter drive. The 2-platter drives always seem the best, and the 1TB 2 platters aren't out yet, AFAIK. The 30GB OCZ Vertex SSD is tempting as system drive and big enough for a game or two.

[whiic]

My experience with 54000rpm drives is exactly opposite to QuietOC's. I've lately bought mostly low-rpm drives and they've all been about as quiet or quieter than a single platter P80.

4-platter GP (two of them), 3-platter GP, 2-platter Samsung F2. All 1TB in capacity. GPs are all roughly similar. (My sample of) 3-platter variant ain't noisewise better (or worse) than old 4-platter GPs, probably due to reduced weight of the base case and lacking of top screw to support spindle from both ends. 2-platter F2 Samsung on the other hand is quieter than any of my GPs. Laptoplike. I should do some side-by-side comparisons. My guess (before doing any side-by-side): probably quieter than 320GB WD Scorpios, but louder than my 1-platter 80GB Toshiba or 1-platter 120GB Samsung.

And as for performance... Well of course when all other is identical 7200rpm will have 33% extra in STR and 25% lower latency. Absolute access time difference is same as latency difference if actuator movement speeds are identical but percentual difference is much lower, around 10%. I couldn't even notice such a difference. And nicely optimized caching will reduce amount of seeks anyway.

But even with the caching, 7200rpm does have edge over 5400rpm due to faster access and higher STR, the edge just isn't quite big and a single generation can take that gap away. This generation 5400rpm is about as fast as last generation 7200rpm. This generation 7200rpm is about as fast as WD Raptor (which does NOT have current generation at all). Only in highly random I/O environment (i.e servers, not workstations / gaming / media playback) will 7200rpm (or 10000rpm or 15000rpm or 22000rpm) retain it's advantage for more than a single generation.

HDD generation will change, and by next year, the high-performance 7200rpm drive will be equal to what you consider a poorly performing 5400rpm suckasuckasuck. But one thing will remain: while your old 7200rpm is no better than new 5400rpm, it is still as noisy as it was once it was new! Sucking performance and sucking noise.

Also, I disagree with you conclusion that "The 2-platter drives always seem the best". There's no basis for making such a claim.

While drive with multiple platters do have more moving mass (potential for creating vibration) and more moving surface area (more wind noise inside the HDD) they are usually constructed in a way to battle these noise sources: they have a robust, heavy casing. Some manufacturers use dual-end spindle bearings. Examples: 4-platter WD GPs, 4- and 5-platter Hitachis.

Let's take Hitachi 80GB-platter generation as an example.
5 platters (Kurofune): heavy casing, dual bearings, 3-layer steel plates (glued to PCB side).
2 to 3 platters (Vancouver): heavy casing, 1-layer steel plate.
1 platter (Pathfinder): ultra-low profile casing on normal height HDD (there's a bulge on top cover) to cut cost on base cast material, no steel plates.

Since then, Vancouvers have lost their steel plates. T7K500 and 7K1000.B lack it where as 7K1000 (Kurofune) has it. We'll see if Kurofune loses the 3-layer plate in 7K2000. Also, I'm curious whether there'd be 5K**** Deskstars. Hitachi did make a press release ages ago that they would not resort to easy tricks such as reducing rpm to reduce drive noise but back then, the WD GPs success was only starting. Everyone else has made investments in developing 5400rpm products. Even Seagate joined...

[prodeous]

here is a nice review of a few 1tb drives.

Performance of the WD10EADS is quite impressive for a 5900rpm drive.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/storag ... undup.html