How to choose a Hard Drive?

[bluemando]

I've decided to get a 60 GB hard drive so I went to PriceWatcher to see what was available at a good price.. I'm too inexperienced to know what to order for my system.

1. How do I know what one works best w/ my system (EIDE, SCUSI, UlTA IDE,
ULTRA DMA, AT/110, OEM etc.

2. How do I know if I'm comparing "apples to apples" when considering the
price?

3. Do I have to consider my BIOS for a 60GB Hard Drive. (American Megatrends. DMI version - 2.0 Aug 24 1995.)

4. What companies are reliable and offer a good product at a good price?

My system uses a Duron AMD processor (500 MHz.)and has 256MB or RAM.

Help in this matter is very much appreciated. Thanks.

gcc

[wiltrot]

Maxtor would be my choice. Your motherboard BIOS will determine the interface. Most likely IDE or EIDE, your PC manual will have this info. You can get the 5400rpm or the 7200rpm, which cost more and is obviously faster. But take into consideration the data transfer rate of you IDE. If it's only 33mb don't bother with the 7200rpm. I'm sure your BIOS will support the large drive.

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http://trotter.infopages.net/

[BigBlue66]

Hey,

First off, your BIOS is too old. It will definitely have problems with a 60Gb harddrive and even much less than that.

There are two things you can do:

1) Check for a newer BIOS update that you can flash to your existing BIOS. But, make sure before you do that, that it will give you the benefits you seek, ie. support for large harddrives.

2) Or, you could just get an ATA100 controller card. It fits in a PCI slot and then you can hook your big fancy harddrive up to it. It kind of bypasses your old BIOS so you don't have to worry about flashing it.

Are you sure you need such a large drive? Most drives out nowadays come in either ATA66 or ATA100. There is also an ATA133 out now. ATA is the same as UDMA. I'd have to say that even the ATA66 standard is going the way of the dodo.

So, you should probably get an ATA100 (UDMA100) harddrive, and the easiest thing to do is buy the controller card to go with it. Promise Technologies makes a nice one.

Cheers,

Big Blue 66


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"So much in love with us are we, you could kiss you and I could kiss me"

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---- Tommy Smothers

[bluemando]

Originally posted by wiltrot:
Maxtor would be my choice. Your motherboard BIOS will determine the interface. Most likely IDE or EIDE, your PC manual will have this info. You can get the 5400rpm or the 7200rpm, which cost more and is obviously faster. But take into consideration the data transfer rate of you IDE. If it's only 33mb don't bother with the 7200rpm. I'm sure your BIOS will support the large drive.




Thanks for your input Wiltrot. I have been considering Maxtor and at the 5400 rpm #. As you may have noticed, BigBlue66 thinks my BIOS may be outdated and I suspect that he may be correct... 1995 seems to be fairly old when it comes to computer tech. Anyway, before I consider a ATA100 controller card (recommend by BB) I'd like to take a crack at updating the BIOS but I have no idea how to do it. Is it something that I can acquire via a download? Sorry I'm so ignorant in these matters. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/rolleyes.gif

[bluemando]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by BigBlue66:
Hey,

Thanks BB 66. I was thinking that my BIOS might be a factor in selecting a hard drive. It's likely I could do with less than 60 GB's. Originally, I had thought to get 40 but as 60 GB's was not that much more I figure I'd go for it. I plan to record and work with WAV files, as well as do some work with a digital camera so space is something I need. I have no idea how to go about updating BIOS.... not the first thing about it. The controller card sounds good but I suppose that would cost more right? I haven't had a chance to look at Promise Technologies webpage yet but hopefully I will get a chance sometime today. Thanks for helping.

gcc

[Jumby]

If you don't know how to update your bios, I wouldn't. Go to a reputable local computer dealer and get them to do it. Another suggestion is to get a new motherboard. But first you need to find out if you have an ATX case, will your current memory work in the board, and will the processor work in it too. You may spend $85. or $200. Figure out what you really have (or want) to spend.

[BigBlue66]

Hey Bluemando,

As Jumby pointed out, flashing one's BIOS is not for the faint of heart.

It can be a very tricky thing to do, and if you download the wrong BIOS, you will have a doorstop that looks like a computer. Motherboards sometimes have different revisions and that's confusing.

I say if you can admit that you know nothing about flashing a BIOS, then you're better off not doing it and either go for the controller card, or a different motherboard altogether. Maybe you could meet halfway and get a smaller harddrive along with a newer motherboard. You can get a Gigabyte over at www.accessmicro.com (http://www.accessmicro.com) for $59 plus shipping. Can't remember the model no. offhand, but I think it's something like GA-71EXH. Don't quote me. It might be worth your while to mosy on over there for a look see. I'm sure it will do you well, but check the specs closely.

Cheers, and Have Fun. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

BB 66


------------------
This space reserved for highly intelligent observations and witty remarks.

"So much in love with us are we, you could kiss you and I could kiss me"

"Well,it was hard pulling that one wheel wagon around"
---- Tommy Smothers

[bluemando]

Originally posted by Jumby:
If you don't know how to update your bios, I wouldn't. Go to a reputable local computer dealer and get them to do it. Another suggestion is to get a new motherboard. But first you need to find out if you have an ATX case, will your current memory work in the board, and will the processor work in it too. You may spend $85. or $200. Figure out what you really have (or want) to spend.
----
Thanks Jumpy. Okay, I'm learning. I didn't realize the BIOS was a chip that was located on the motherboard. The reason I thought the chip was not part of the MB was because a few weeks ago I printed out a a resource report from the Device Manager and it said that my BIOS name: was American Megatrends; that the date was 7/15/95 and that the version was DMI - 2.0. My reasoning was that the BIOS couldn't be part of the motherboard because I had a NEW motherboard installed a few months ago and the device manager listed BIOS from 1995 (hense, BIOS must not be part of the MB) Anyway now I know better but I don't know why the Device Manger reports the _old _ BIOS. Also, when I upgraded my motherboard I upgraded to an ATX case so I covered there. I guess what I still need to know is . How do I know what to order(EIDE, SCUSI, UlTA IDE, ULTRA DMA, AT/110, OEM etc ??? Thanks Jumpy.

gcc

[bluemando]

Originally posted by BigBlue66:
Hey Bluemando,

As Jumby pointed out, flashing one's BIOS is not for the faint of heart. It can be a very tricky thing to do, and if you download the wrong BIOS, you will have a doorstop that looks like a computer. Motherboards sometimes have different revisions and that's confusing. <snip>



Hi BB66. If you read my recent reply to Jumpy you will see that I goofed by not realizing that BIOS was a chip on my motherboard. Yeah I'm that "new." Fact is, I have a new motherboard so there should be no problem supporting a 60MB HD. Thanks for the URL... www.accessmicro.com (http://www.accessmicro.com) I checked it out and the prices look pretty good to me.

gcc

[bassman]

Hey Blue,
Since you just had a new mobo installed, you should have gotten some paperwork with it. At leased a receipt that states make and model, but hopefuly a book and driver disk as well.

Please post that info and we can help you much easier.

Right now, it sounds like you could go with a 60G, EIDE, 7200 rpm hard drive, if your mobo is truely only a couple of months old.
Hopefuly its not New/Old stock,(5 years old on the shelf)



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Waiting patiently for the future to arrive Frank's Place (http://www.members.aol.com/frankscompsrvice)

[BigBlue66]

Hey Bluemando,

Yes, your BIOS is a chip, or an Eprom. This eprom can be "flashed" with new information.

The best way to get your correct BIOS date is from the Post boot up screen, not Device Manager in Windows.

As your computer is booting up, on just about the first screen, you will see the system counting up the memory. Hit the Pause key to freeze that screen in place. Up towards the top of the screen, you should see reference made to AMI and there should be a date there. That's the real date of your BIOS. Alternatively, you can sometimes tell by the BIOS ID string on the bottom of that same screen. The date will be embedded in those numbers. Press the spacebar to continue booting.

If your motherboard is only a few months old, then you can most likely go for an ATA100 7200rpm harddrive. Check your motherboard manual. It should tell you which interfaces it supports.

I have had good luck with just about every manufacturer out there, such as Western Digital, Seagate and Maxtor.

Cheers,

BB 66

------------------
This space reserved for highly intelligent observations and witty remarks.

"From up on the roof top there came such a clamor, I ran to the window and threw up"
-- Tommy Smothers

[bluemando]

Originally posted by bassman:
Hey Blue,
Since you just had a new mobo installed, you should have gotten some paperwork with it. At leased a receipt that states make and model, but hopefuly a book and driver disk as well.

Please post that info and we can help you much easier.

Right now, it sounds like you could go with a 60G, EIDE, 7200 rpm hard drive, if your mobo is truely only a couple of months old.
Hopefuly its not New/Old stock,(5 years old on the shelf)



Okay bassman. Here is my mobo info:
SiS735, 266/200 MHZ
Socket A for AMD
Athlon/Duron (K7)
2 SDRAM, 2DDR DIMM
UltraDMA 100/66/33
5 PCI /1 AGP/ 1 AMR
AGP slot (4X)
LAN 10/100
AMI BIOS date: 07/24/2001
Processor Clock 500MH
Base memory 640 KB
Extended memory 255 MB
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Regarding my HD : I would like a couple recommendations (40-60 GB.)

Regarding memory: My mobo supports both DDR DIMM and SDRAM DDR. Without knowing the difference, I had upgrade w/ 256MB 184-PIN DIMM 32x64 DDR. Like I said, I am getting occasionaly "hangups" when I click on text files, so perhaps I was wrong to choose to get DDR.. If I get more memory, should I get SDRAM this time around? Is SDRAM newer/better than DDR? Can I mix and match (i.e. keep the DDR and add SDRAM? Thanks for your help.

gcc

[bluemando]

Originally posted by BigBlue66:
Hey Bluemando,

Yes, your BIOS is a chip, or an Eprom. This eprom can be "flashed" with new information.

The best way to get your correct BIOS date is from the Post boot up screen, not Device Manager in Windows.

As your computer is booting up, on just about the first screen, you will see the system counting up the memory. Hit the Pause key to freeze that screen in place. Up towards the top of the screen, you should see reference made to AMI and there should be a date there. That's the real date of your BIOS. Alternatively, you can sometimes tell by the BIOS ID string on the bottom of that same screen. The date will be embedded in those numbers. Press the spacebar to continue booting. snip>



Thanks for that helpful piece of info. BB66. Every time I tried to read that stuff it went by to fast I couldn't read it. I did as you suggested and it turns out the AMI BIOS date is 07/24/2001... so I'm in good shape. So thre is no BIOS problem to deal with - YYYAAYY!