Right HD?

[JohnBoyII]

I'd like to replace the internal hard drive in my desktop. The current drive is a Hitachi Deskstar P7k500 (ID HDP725050GLA360), (is it a 3.5 inch SATA drive?). I've like to replace it with the Seagate ST3500413AS 3.5 inch Barracuda 500 GB 7200rpm SATA Drive OR the Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1 TB Hard Drive, SATA, 7200 RPM, 32 MB Cache.

Can somebody tell me if they're the same size and whether I can use the Seagate drives?

 

[Monkeh]

They're all 3.5" SATA HDDs, so yes, you can just replace it with those. I wouldn't buy a 7200.12 if I were you, though.

 

[JohnBoyII]

Whats a 7200.12?, (excuse my ignorance!)

 

[Monkeh]

Whats a 7200.12?, (excuse my ignorance!)

The two Seagate drives you mentioned. They are both Barracuda 7200.12 series drives.

 

[LooPrEvil]

They are up to 1TB capacity and revolve at 7200 rpm

 

[JohnBoyII]

I looked at a some reviews in Google and they seem to come out well. Have there been problems with the drives?

I've previously used western digital but I thought these were better.

 

[Monkeh]

I looked at a some reviews in Google and they seem to come out well. Have there been problems with the drives?

I've previously used western digital but I thought these were better.

Many problems. I refuse to purchase Seagate drives, they had to reduce their warranty period due to reliability issues.

Western Digital drives are probably the best choice right now.

 

[JohnBoyII]

Sold!

Can I use the Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATAIII 6Gb/s 16MB Cache 3.5 inch Internal Hard Drive. The reason I ask is because it says the interface can be SATA and PATA (?). Do I have to get the right one or does it automatically support both interface simultaneously.

 

[Monkeh]

The drive is one or the other. That drive should work just fine.

 

[Igorian]

They are up to 1TB capacity and revolve at 7200 rpm

Hmm, not so sure about the "up to" bit. The .11 refers to the firmware and 11 was extremely bad for Seagate. Perfectly good drives would lock up because one of the threshold parameters took on an invalid value. Seagate did respond, but too slowly to appease the retail market. Unfortunately, 12 has also had some issues.

I've encountered a few of these drives and they did take them back, upgrade the firmware and return them with the data intact, so I guess that could be considered a reasonable response to the fault. It's just a pity they took so long to come clean.

At present, I too would favour WD over the Seagate, but it's a fickle market.

 

[Monkeh]

Actually it's drive series, not firmware. You'll find a world of mechanical difference between a 7200.1 and a 7200.12!

Both 7200.11 and 7200.12 have had pretty serious firmware and mechanical issues. I, unfortunately, have a number of such drives. Only one has not been faulty thus far.

 

[Igorian]

Yes, I stand corrected, it's a generation number rather than just firmware as there are differences in the hardware. I guess they just relate their initial firmware to the appropriate generation, although user firmware upgrades are possible, assuming the drive hasn't already encountered the issue as in the instances I have had.

 

[JohnBoyII]

WD make two versions of the Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB hard drive, a SATAII (300) and a SATAIII (600). The current drive is a SATAII, not sure if my motherboard supports SATAIII (probably not), am I better off getting another SATAII drive, even though it is an older product?

 

[krisdorey]

Yes, as mentioned, avoid the 7200.1x like the plague.

Ive still got a stack of drives that I need to reflash the firmware (which isn't an easy process even for an IT guy). Im currently using the following solution , although Ive also used the nokia lead solution

http://sites.google.com/site/seagatefix/

easy :/

 

[JohnBoyII]

Sorry, "Yes.."?, which did you mean, stick with SATA II or go for a SATA III drive.

I was searching in Google and came across one post which said that to use a SATA III drive you have to replace the cable. Is that true or are the connectors and cables exactly the same?