160gb hard drive: thoughts / experience?

I'm looking into pulling the trigger on a loaded e1705 as a desktop replacement gaming rig. With current EPP I can get it to ~$1750 (T7200, 2gb667, 7900gs, trulife ,4yr warranty) The only thing I cannot decide on is the HD. Its between,

a) 120gb 5400 rpm - standard configuration
b) 100gb 7200 rpm - $88 more than then a)
c) 160gb ???? rpm - $56 more than a)
(5400 rpm Seagate for the 160gb is my guess, but its not specified)

I'm leaning towards the 160gb, as it should still be quick due to its large size. I am concerned slightly with the the new perpendicular technology (is it stable, is faster than non-perpendicular 5400 drives?). Anybody picked one of these up on a dell, or put a 160gb in something else? Thanks in advance.

-Harry

 

if you are planning on gaming the 100gig with 7200 rpm would be your logical choice. if you need more space go for an external hard drive.

 

Get the RAM aftermarket, much cheaper!

 

There is a 95% chance that the 160Gb HDD is the seagate mommentus. Having said that, I own one myself, and its very stable, silent, and speedy. There have been many, such as reviewers on newegg, that have stated the drive being almost as fast as a 7200 rpm drive. If you need space and speed, it should fit the bill quite nicely.

 

Has Seagate even released any 2.5" 5400.3 SATA drives yet? I can't find any info on them. I can only find PATA.

So my guess is that the Dell 160GB drive in the 1505's is a Hitachi.

VVarwick

 

No, Seagate was the first to release the 5400.3 perpendicular drive, its all over the net. Im actually having trouble find a Hitachi 5400.3 160 GB drive...never heard of them.

 

This is Hitachi's perpendicular 2.5" 5400RPM 160GB SATA drive.

Can the 1505 take both PATA and SATA drives? The 160 drive listed when you build out a 1505 does not say SATA in the description?


Vvarwick

 

you can find it at newegg

 

The 100GB 7200rpm drive isn't going to make all that much difference for gaming. There will be a couple seconds difference in load times probably but once the game is loaded into memory it's not accessing the hard drive all the time, especially if you have over a gig of RAM. The 120GB and especially the newer perpendicular 160GB drives keep up farely well with the 100GB 7200rpm drives and they offer more storage.

Actually it's unlikely that he would get the Seagate 5400.3 160GB drive because Dell is using SATA drives now and Seagate hasn't released a SATA version. If he gets the 160GB drive it will be the new Hitachi.

5400.3 is the model for Seagate just like they had the 5400.1 and 5400.2. Hitachi's models are 5k100, 5k120, 5k160, ect. Hitachi's new perpendicular drive is the 160GB 5k160.

 

Sorry, I thought Dell still used PATA, thats whats used in my little brothers older e1505. Guess it is the Hitatchi SATA.

 

Thanks so much for the insight everyone. I guess it comes down to slightly better speed/ more proven long term stability (7200) vs. better size/price (5400). I think i'll go with the 7200 and pick up an external at newegg.

I noticed that the topic of buying aftermarket RAM was brought up as well. If I upgrade to 2x1gb 667 from 2x512mb 533 through dell, I am paying 40% of $280 -> $168. This does not seem outrageous to me, as quality newegg ram (corsair,kingston,ocz,mushkin, etc) will run me $200-250. Granted I would still have 2 512 secondhand sticks to sell (no idea what people are paying for these). More importantly though, is Dell branded RAM known to be of unreliable/lesser quality? Also any idea as to who is actually making the Dell RAM? Thanks again!

-Harry

 

Can you get the Dell with just one 512 stick? that is what I did last Thursday with my 1505. I then got 2GB of G.SKILL memory from newegg.

The 512 stick I pulled from my brand new 1505 on Tuesday is:

Hynix
512MB 2Rx16 PC2-4200S-444-12
HYMP564S64BP6-C4 AB 0636


Vvarwick

 

Thanks for the info. Sadly I haven't found any configuration for the 1705 that allows you to get anything less than 2x512. I wish there was, because it'd make my decision easier. I'd take it in a heartbeat and buy aftermarket for certain.

-Harry

 

Anyone else been testing out a new 160GB drive in their Dell laptop?