Worth it to buy a Maxtor 10k3?

[e_dawg]

A Canadian online retailer is selling an 18 GB Atlas 10k3 for $160 CDN, which is just over $100 US. I know, not much of a deal in the US, but where I am, the cheapest I can find it for is about $220 CDN ($140 US).

I was thinking of getting a WD800JB to replace my aging 9 GB Atlas 10k boot drive for about $180 CDN ($115 US), but the 10k3 would outperform the WD and would be a bit cheaper (NB: I don't care about capacity).

My other option could be to continue waiting for the 15k.3. It seems like it will take forever for them to get the 15k.3 over here, and it is likely to cost $400 CDN ($250 US). I know the 15k.3 will be noticeably faster than the 10k3, but I am thinking the 10k3 will bridge the gap between my current 10k and the 15k.3 quite nicely, and for a bargain price.

What say you, forum faithful?

--------------------------

BTW, for those who don't remember the Atlas 10k too well, it was released in the fall of 1999 with the following specs:

5.2 ms seek (8.2 ms access) time
16-22 MB/s STR
4.2 MB/s ZDBench Business WinMark
2 MB cache
300 IO/s OfficeMark (estimated)

The Atlas 10k3:

4.9 ms seek (7.9 ms access) time
31-53 MB/s STR
8.5 MB/s ZDBench Business WinMark
8 MB cache
455 IO/s OfficeMark

The Cheetah 15k.3

3.6 ms seek (5.9 ms access) time
51-76 MB/s STR
14.4 MB/s ZDBench Business WinMark
8 MB cache
578 IO/s OfficeMark

 

[timwhit]

I'd say if you don't care about capacity then pick up the 10k3, it is a fine drive. It should be noticeable faster than your old drive too.

 

[Mercutio]

I'm strongly capacity-biased but IMO, someday you probably will want some of the 60GB worth of difference between the Maxtor and the WD. If performance is really the sole determining factor, I say hold off for the 15k.3. If you're going to to pay for "fast SCSI drive", then do yourself a favor and pay for "fastest SCSI drive".

 

[zx]

Yep, I saw it too. An Atlas 10KIII at a nice price. The only thing holding me back is a lack for a SCSI controller! If you already have the controller, I think it's a good deal...

 

[e_dawg]

Yes, see that's the thing Sherif. I already have the controller, and the 10k3 would be cheaper and faster than my first option, which was to buy the WD800JB. Come to think of it, I would have to buy a Promise ATA controller if I got the WD, as I already have 2 large capacity IDE drives for data storage and will be adding an IDE burner soon, thus making the WD a very expensive proposition.

Mercutio, the reason why I don't need capacity is as I mentioned above: I use 2 large IDE drives for data and bulk storage. If I ever need more space, I will purchase another IDE drive. My boot drive is only for the OS and my apps -- so far, I am at 5 GB of usage; I don't see myself exceeding the requirements of an 18 GB drive for the next 5 years at least.

I am leaning towards the 10k3 right now... I am thinking the $240 CDN savings over a 15k.3 could be put to better use.

 

[Clocker]

I recommend the Atlas 10K III as I had a 36Gigger for a while which I sold to James.

Hell, at that price, if you really want performance (even better than 15K.3) just get two of the damn drives and put them in a Win2K software stripe. That's what I did with my two Cheetah 36ESs.

C

 

[e_dawg]

Can't do it Clocker because (1) I hate RAID, (2) I am using it as my boot drive, so I can't software RAID it.

 

[Buck]

Can't do it Clocker because (1) I hate RAID, (2) I am using it as my boot drive, so I can't software RAID it.

e_dawg
Points considered:
(1) I hate RAID - I'll buy that, it's a personal decision
(2) I am using it as my boot drive, so I can't software RAID it - what OS are you running? This works just fine under Windows NT.

 

[e_dawg]

(2) - W2k forever So you can software RAID your boot drive? How can the OS load up unless it has a driver that loads up at the beginning that knows what to do with a stripe set?

You have seen one of the reasons for point (1) in action -- the complexities of RAID.

 

[timwhit]

Software RAID 0 cannot be used as a boot drive in Win2k. RAID 1 can be used as a boot disk, but it is only supported in Win2k Server and above.

 

[blakerwry]

E_dawg, hows the "shit box" coming along? you ever get a new HDD for it?


Looks like you've already decided on the 10kIII.. never had one myself, but looked like the drive i would get if I went SCSI 1) because of overall value 2)reliability 3)good speed.

The cheatah got my attention, but it is just too darn costly.


BTW, how do you manage 5 GB? My OS/App drive has been 2 x 15gb 75GXP's in RAID 0 for over 2 years... I was going to replace them shortly with an 800JB that I have in another computer though... I can't manage lower than ~8GB. Swap and bulk storage are on a 1200BB... oh wait.. now I remember why I have so much... Counter strike and "my documents" ... blah.. now that I'm off on a tangent... CS/TFC/DoD takes up ~2 GB and my Docs is almost 2Gb as well...

hmm.. if i didn't have so many IDE drives I'd go out and get a 400/600JB or something for a boot drive.


oh well gl to you and your new 10kIII!

 

[e_dawg]

blakrewry,

I manage 5 GB just fine because there are only so many programs I use:

If you note my drive setup, you will notice that my boot drive, Win2k (G, contains only my OS and applications -- no games or data files. My data and multimedia files are stored on the various Fireball and Cuda partitions:

-------

Which "shit box" are you referring to? You'll have to refresh my memory... I have dealt with quite a few shit boxes over the last few months

 

[e_dawg]

... I can't manage lower than ~8GB. Swap and bulk storage are on a 1200BB... oh wait.. now I remember why I have so much... Counter strike and "my documents" ... blah.. now that I'm off on a tangent... CS/TFC/DoD takes up ~2 GB and my Docs is almost 2Gb as well...

You can put "Your Documents" on another drive (if you didn't already know that). ... Games take up a lot of space... and time. Which is why I limit myself to old school UT on this computer. I put CNC Red Alert 2 on another computer, which occupied me for the better part of a month. Nothing productive got done when I was at home during this time

 

[blakerwry]

But it's just so easy to backup and restore in its default location... i usually do a clean install every 6 months to a year... plus I sometimes take out my bulk storage drive for various reasons... I wouldn't want to be without my "my docs" folder which includes downloads, school files, personal files, etc.

I was refering to your solaris box.. was it a sparc?

I've seen some sparcs on ebay and thought about buying one as a toy to setup my webserver on... i dunno... they come in nice slimline design... but probably dont have IDE and I would have to learn Solaris and i'm still rather a noob at linux.

 

[e_dawg]

Hmm... I find the opposite: it's easier to backup/restore/manage My Docs with clean installs, etc. if everything is on another drive. That way you can "format c:" without worrying about backing up your data.

I guess part of it is because my setup is conducive to that. I have two physical data/bulk storage drives -- one backs up the other.

Solaris box? You must have been thinking of someone else. I was looking at those WalMart PC's and eventually bought a couple refurb Compaq Deskpros, but no Solaris. I got a great deal on those Deskpros, though (well, relative to what I can usually find where I live):

P2-450, 256 MB SDRAM, 6.4 GB HD, 10/100 NIC, floppy, 8x CD, ATI Rage Pro graphics, keyboard, mouse, and 15" monitor for $145 US. Works like a charm. If I throw in a 7200 rpm drive for $70, I will actually have a very usable system... but since I am not the one who is using them, I'll leave them as is

 

[Handruin]

I have an atlas 10KII (9.1GB) as my boot drive and an atlas 10KIII (18GB) for misc files. Aside from the lack of space, I'm very please with both drives. If you don't care so much about the space (as you've mentioned), I'd get the drive.

 

[blakerwry]

Hmm... I find the opposite: it's easier to backup/restore/manage My Docs with clean installs, etc. if everything is on another drive. That way you can "format c:" without worrying about backing up your data.

True

Solaris box? You must have been thinking of someone else. I was looking at those WalMart PC's and eventually bought a couple refurb Compaq Deskpros, but no Solaris. I got a great deal on those Deskpros, though (well, relative to what I can usually find where I live):

P2-450, 256 MB SDRAM, 6.4 GB HD, 10/100 NIC, floppy, 8x CD, ATI Rage Pro graphics, keyboard, mouse, and 15" monitor for $145 US. Works like a charm. If I throw in a 7200 rpm drive for $70, I will actually have a very usable system... but since I am not the one who is using them, I'll leave them as is

Maybe I am mistaken... Your 1st name is Ewen, right? I thought it was you who had solaris running on an old computer... bad sectors on the HDD caused it to freeze... My ICQ history has long been sacraficed to the Format gods... so yeah....

Hey that is a good deal.. around here at Microcenter they usually have ~$100 compaq or IBM machines with pII's ~32MB RAM, VID, NIC, HDD, CD, floppy..Basically old junk from office buildings... but I dont think you get a monitor or any input devices at that price. but mice and keybaords are usually $1 each... The last few times I went in they had gobs of old SCSI barracuda's and IBM's.. i believe in the couple gig range.

 

[e_dawg]

Nope. I'm Shawn.

... ICQ? What is this 'instant messaging'?

 

[Mercutio]

You guys are thinking of alpha(some bunch of numbers), who is also a young, Toronto native (Torantan? Torontoer? Torontoan? Torantier? Torontiquois?) with many hundreds of posts on SR, including some about the "shitbox" his odd fixation on Solaris x86.

 

[zx]

e_dawg

Is the retailer NCIX?

I ask because they have an atlas 10k3 for 160$ :

KW018L2 MAXTOR ATLAS10K3 QM318400KW-LW-E 18GB 10K 4.5MS 68PIN U160 SCSI $162.72

However, on another line, i see this :

KW018L2 18.4GB SCSI U160 10K RPM ATLAS III 3.5LP 68PIN (US# 999802) $276.98

and this :

KW018L2 ATLAS10K3 QM318400KW-LW-E 18GB 10K 4.5MS 68PIN U16 $272.20

Why is there three 18GB maxtor Atlas 10k3 listed at three different prices? Maybe the one at 160$ is an OEM version with a 1 year warranty....I never say an Atlas 10K3 at 160$ anywhere else. They usually sell around 220$...

Anyway, it's worth investigation .

Here's the link where I found those :

http://www.ncix.com/canada/productsearch2.php?Manufacturer=MAXTOR&SearchSubmit=1

 

[timwhit]

You guys are thinking of alpha(some bunch of numbers), who is also a young, Toronto native (Torantan? Torontoer? Torontoan? Torantier? Torontiquois?) with many hundreds of posts on SR, including some about the "shitbox" his odd fixation on Solaris x86.

He disappeared after reaching 1000 posts.

 

[e_dawg]

You guys are thinking of alpha(some bunch of numbers), who is also a young, Toronto native (Torantan? Torontoer? Torontoan? Torantier? Torontiquois?) with many hundreds of posts on SR, including some about the "shitbox" his odd fixation on Solaris x86.

Merc, if you or anyone else cares, the way you're "supposed" to refer to someone from Toronto is to say he's from T.O. (verbally, you would say "tee-oh"). If you want to sound like you have some "street cred", you would say he's from the T-dot. Or you could say I live in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area).

 

[e_dawg]

e_dawg

Is the retailer NCIX?

You got the right one, baby!

Sherif, that is interesting information you found. Just like you said, $163 is exceptionally low for this drive. That is what caused me to consider this drive.

In fact, I have now ordered this drive, which, depending on the mood of the UPS employees, should be up and running in my computer in a week and a bit.

 

[blakerwry]

sorry for the mix up.

btw thx merc, I am terrible with names... I am a facial recognition person.. and without a face I have a hard time.