PATA
The PATA drive interface is one of the oldest still around, so please note that many of these drives have only 2MB of cache. We would like to recommend you go with a drive that has at least 8MB of cache, if not 16MB. There isn't usually a significant price increase when going from a 2MB to 8MB to 16MB cached drive, so pay attention before purchasing and take advantage of the greater cache available.
Just as with the last two pages, the best deals we're able to find are within the 250GB to 320GB range, and this time the 300GB solutions make an appearance. We'll start with some 250GB drives to consider for your build.
The Western Digital ATA100 250GB 7200RPM 8MB Caviar SE [RTPE: WD2500JB] is currently priced at about $77 ($0.31/GB). You can also go with the Maxtor ATA100 250GB 7200RPM 16MB DiamondMax 10 [RTPE: 6L250R0] which is on sale for $83 ($0.33/GB) shipped. Although there are quite a few people who are opposed to Maxtor drives for various reasons, overall performance is usually better with the Maxtor rather than the Western Digital above. We feel the small increase in price is worth the additional 8MB of cache, although if you are interested in silent hard drives you will be better served by getting something else like a Samsung drive. Unfortunately, the Samsung PATA drives aren't very competitive in terms of Price/GB or capacity; we would rank Seagate as being second overall for noise levels, trailing slightly behind Samsung models, and they are the best overall option for quiet PATA models.
Within the 300GB drives, we have a few solutions that may be appropriate for some of our readers (all of which feature 16MB of cache): firstly, you have the Maxtor ATA100 300GB 7200RPM 16MB DiamondMax 10 [RTPE: 6L300R0] which is on sale for about $100 ($0.33/GB) shipped. Second up is the Seagate ATA100 300GB 7200RPM 16MB Barracuda 7200.9 [RTPE: ST3300622A] that is currently priced at $103 ($0.34/GB) shipped. Last but not least, we have the Maxtor ATA100 300GB 7200RPM 16MB DiamondMax 10 [RTPE: 6B300R0] going for $112 ($0.37/GB) shipped.
Let's take a quick look over and see what kind of deals we can find within the 320GB drives. First off is the Western Digital ATA100 320GB 7200RPM 8MB Caviar SE [RTPE: WD3200JB] that is priced at approximately $103 ($0.32/GB) shipped. Another option is the Seagate ATA100 320GB 7200RPM 16MB Barracuda 7200.10 [RTPE: ST3320620A] that is currently going for an even $110 ($0.34/GB) shipped.
Finally, here are the 400GB and 500GB drives. If all you're after is raw capacity, the 400GB and larger models are definitely worth considering. However, with the limited number of PATA connections supported on many modern motherboards, not to mention the fact that prices on these PATA drives are at best equal to the SATA equivalents, we would be hesitant to spend this much money for the older interface.
We've generated a complete list of PATA drives for your viewing pleasure (or confusion). Going directly to the RTPE will once again allow for easier sorting and by Price/GB as well as lowest price.
The PATA drive interface is one of the oldest still around, so please note that many of these drives have only 2MB of cache. We would like to recommend you go with a drive that has at least 8MB of cache, if not 16MB. There isn't usually a significant price increase when going from a 2MB to 8MB to 16MB cached drive, so pay attention before purchasing and take advantage of the greater cache available.
Just as with the last two pages, the best deals we're able to find are within the 250GB to 320GB range, and this time the 300GB solutions make an appearance. We'll start with some 250GB drives to consider for your build.
We've generated a complete list of PATA drives for your viewing pleasure (or confusion). Going directly to the RTPE will once again allow for easier sorting and by Price/GB as well as lowest price.
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Calin - Tuesday, July 18, 2006 - link
I don't remember seeing small form factor (the laptop type) DVD-RW units - and I don't know if there really is a market for those.I wanted to buy a dual layer DVD once - but it was about 20 times more expensive than the cheap single layer DVDR. Since then, the price decreased - but not enough to make them worth buying
JarredWalton - Tuesday, July 18, 2006 - link
Slim DVDR drives top out at 8X I think, but you can get them for around $70 or so last I checked (which was months ago - might be under $50 if you're lucky).segagenesis - Monday, July 17, 2006 - link
Samsung has a sata-ii capable drive in the 400 gig range cheaper than the others...http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82...">http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82...