Modding A Barracuda 7200.11 Into A VelociRaptor

[Chai]

Originally Posted by ZuePhok

haha. then might as well just get two black 640, and RAID0 them right? better performance, possibly cheaper (sorry cant verify this Im too lazy to check the price right now).

But seriously, no point getting a raptor. our high performance PC has been chocking for 10 years.

SSD is the real deal. move on! move everything to silicon!

RAIDing them do not give better seek time. That's why RAID is basically useless except for sequential transfer rate.

Before SSD came (or specifically Intel SSD), Raptor is still the superior drive to get if you need good seek time.

Now, Intel SSD or the new Sandforce based SSD should be the first consideration for most consumers. Personally, I think SSD won't drop that much in the future, because larger capacity will always phase out the older models, keeping the price high.

[ZuePhok]

Originally Posted by Chai

RAIDing them do not give better seek time. That's why RAID is basically useless except for sequential transfer rate.

Before SSD came (or specifically Intel SSD), Raptor is still the superior drive to get if you need good seek time.

Now, Intel SSD or the new Sandforce based SSD should be the first consideration for most consumers. Personally, I think SSD won't drop that much in the future, because larger capacity will always phase out the older models, keeping the price high.

RAID 0 setup was meant to compare with the 1.5TB mod, not ssd or raptor. since the mod improves only sequential, a RAID 0 black will get you 200MB/s sequential, even better.
I've been running RAID 0 for so many years, using raptor, black, 16SE, deskstar, I can't tell the differences in day to day operation really. But once silicon storage stuff gets into picture, things just change!

adrian: true. So instead of getting an intel SSD, you will be better off with a decent SSD, and spend the rest on a large drive to store data that you don't access every minute.

[Chai]

Originally Posted by ZuePhok

RAID 0 setup was meant to compare with the 1.5TB mod, not ssd or raptor. since the mod improves only sequential, a RAID 0 black will get you 200MB/s sequential, even better.
I've been running RAID 0 for so many years, using raptor, black, 16SE, deskstar, I can't tell the differences in day to day operation really. But once silicon storage stuff gets into picture, things just change!

adrian: true. So instead of getting an intel SSD, you will be better off with a decent SSD, and spend the rest on a large drive to store data that you don't access every minute.

I don't know about in SG, but in MY, Intel SSD is one of the most value for money SSD, especially among the better SSDs (Intel or Indilinx based). RAID 0 only improve sequential transfer rate, but short stroker will improve the random seek time slightly.

Jmicron is cheap, but there are many issues with it.

I definitely agree with you about matching the SSD with a large capacity drive, but Adrian is looking at the POV of a notebook user (only 1 HDD).

[Adrian Wong]

One issue with SSD (other than the comparatively limited write cycles) is performance degradation due to internal fragmentation. But I guess you can solve it by regularly "defragging" it using special utilities.

Yeah, no doubt that fast SSDs do offer a very noticeable boost in performance. SSDs just have a tremendous advantage in random accesses.

Coming back to topic, it is this random access performance that defines the VelociRaptor, not its transfer rate (as high as it is). So modding the Barracuda won't really give you that kind of performance that the VelociRaptor can.

It would be quite something else if they actually modded the Barracuda to spin at a higher speed, but as it is, the effect is just an illusion. We can get the same thing by partitioning the drive, something which all of us have been doing for years.

[ZuePhok]

Originally Posted by Adrian Wong

One issue with SSD (other than the comparatively limited write cycles) is performance degradation due to internal fragmentation. But I guess you can solve it by regularly "defragging" it using special utilities.

Yeah, no doubt that fast SSDs do offer a very noticeable boost in performance. SSDs just have a tremendous advantage in random accesses.

Coming back to topic, it is this random access performance that defines the VelociRaptor, not its transfer rate (as high as it is). So modding the Barracuda won't really give you that kind of performance that the VelociRaptor can.

It would be quite something else if they actually modded the Barracuda to spin at a higher speed, but as it is, the effect is just an illusion. We can get the same thing by partitioning the drive, something which all of us have been doing for years.

HAHA! i want that! I dun mind if the drive could last only for a year after modding it!

[Adrian Wong]

Originally Posted by ZuePhok

HAHA! i want that! I dun mind if the drive could last only for a year after modding it!

That would be a really neat mod, eh?

I thought that's what they did...