Which one should I use?

[DenisS]

I have two hard drives, both 500gb. One is WD Caviar Black (2 platters), the other one is Seagate 7200.12 (single platter). Which one should I use for dual boot systems, and which one for storage/games. I included the crystal mark tests; disk E is WesternDigital, G is Seagate.

Also, which program should I use to clone hard drives including partitions?

[ayah]

I would say boot off that sexy ass single platter 7200.11.
Use the black for storage.

Damn, that's sexy areal density.

[bwm]

Faster of the two for boot and O/S files, drivers, primary aPPS. Other one for everything else, misc storage etc.

[DenisS]

it lloks like the seagate drive is faster, but i read somewhere that for a boot drive 4k writes are more important, that is where the WD black is faster.

[AkG]

Small read and write speeds are what will make or break how "fast" your system feels (BUT the other results DO matter and you cant just focus in on it and only it).

The other important area for "system speed" is random access time.
If one has a lower random access, use THAT drive as your OS drive (IIRC Seagate usually is slightly worse than WD in this area....but it has been awhile since I looked at 'em).

If it is the same for both I'd go for the Black....but I truly doubt you will notice much dif. Its not like one is doing 10+mb/s 4k writes and the other 1mb/s. BUT higher sequential speed is more important for a "data" drive and this is where the Seagate appears to shine.

DL the seagate migration tool or WD version. BOTH are hobbled versions of Acronis.

[bwm]

Originally Posted by AkG

Small read and write speeds are what will make or break how "fast" your system feels (BUT the other results DO matter and you cant just focus in on it and only it).

The other important area for "system speed" is random access time.
If one has a lower random access, use THAT drive as your OS drive (IIRC Seagate usually is slightly worse than WD in this area....but it has been awhile since I looked at 'em).

If it is the same for both I'd go for the Black....but I truly doubt you will notice much dif. Its not like one is doing 10+mb/s 4k writes and the other 1mb/s. BUT higher sequential speed is more important for a "data" drive and this is where the Seagate appears to shine.

DL the seagate migration tool or WD version. BOTH are hobbled versions of Acronis.

I absolutely love it when someone brings access time into the discussion, expecialy for a boot drive, because it is absolutly TRUE that access time IS more important than STR. O/S files are generally smaller, much larger in number, and a boatload of them must be read just to boot up. Even more must be read and/or written to when an application is used. Yet, after all these years, people continue to concentrate on STR as the most important characteristic. NOTHING could be further from the truth. The blacks would be my choice as well, if I were looking for a 7200 rpm drive. But, owning Velociraptors and SCSI drives now, I wouldn't touch anyone's 7200 rpm drive with a stolen 10 meter pole. Today's top of the line 7200 rpm drives can nearly match STR with SATA and SCSI, but nowhere near in access time. If you want access time without the SCSI pricetag, you have ONLY ONE choice and that is VelociRaptors. Expensive, yes, worth it, for most folks who buy them and get a feel for them YES. They won't let go of them either. But for more casual uses of home PC's top of the line 7200 rpm drives are find, and I'd have to chose the WD Black.

[kendallcschm]

single platter all the way... BTW i was wondering what screen capture software you use

[DenisS]

looks like Ill be using WD Black for systems, the access time is 12.3 on the black, vs 14.3 on the 7200.12, plus faster small writes speed.
What about the software that will clone the partitions. Can i use Win7's DiscManager?
As for the screen capure I use "Alt + PrintScreen"( screenshot of the selected window) plus Paint.

[gingerbee]

go with the faster single platter. @ above i think he just using the print screen key no?

[ayah]

I still get the feeling that the single platter 7200.12 would be a better drive to have programs and OS on. Minimum transfer rate confirms my guess. The much better burst too.