- Local time
- 5:16 PM
- Posts
- 3,460
- OS
- WIN 11, WIN 10, WIN 8.1, WIN 7 U, WIN 7 PRO, WIN 7 HOME (32 Bit), LINUX MINT
Faster isn't better when the drive craters and you can't retrieve your data. Admittedly, a large cache is very handy but it isn't everything. Is storage a matter of user preference? A: Of course. A budget drive can work in a pinch until it fails. When the manufacturer says, "Okay, but just this once" it's time to find a different manufacturer — especially when the drive fails in the first month while under warranty. Such was my experience with Western Digital. Then they added insult to injury after sending me a refurb that likewise failed.
When I purchase mechanical hard drives the first thing I consider is the life expectancy of the drive. I have one ancient WD Green drive that I keep in an enclosure and it stays air-gapped until I need it. I pulled it from one of my failed My Books as it still worked minus the bridge. It's 5400 Rpm and 3TB. I use it as a utility "scratch" drive. It has proven to be the exception to my rule regarding Western Digital mechanical hard drives but bear in mind that the exception only proves the rule. The drive is slow but it least it hasn't died on me yet.
It is likely that the WD6003FZBX is a reliable hard drive mostly for this one reason: It's CMR.
WD6003FZBX
It's also not a cheap, budget drive. Not likely anyone will find it on sale for $97. Myself, I'd never buy it simply because it is a Western Digital mechanical hard drive. Some folks like Fords, some like GM, others prefer Dodges. And then there are the imports.
TOSHIBA N300
I have a good feeling about these. I own a couple and never had an issue with them. Of course, they're CMR and have a 256MB cache size and they're built for networking. They're also reasonably priced for what they are. All mechanical drives eventually wear out in time. That's a given. Myself, I aim to stay away from Western Digitals as much as possible.
When I purchase mechanical hard drives the first thing I consider is the life expectancy of the drive. I have one ancient WD Green drive that I keep in an enclosure and it stays air-gapped until I need it. I pulled it from one of my failed My Books as it still worked minus the bridge. It's 5400 Rpm and 3TB. I use it as a utility "scratch" drive. It has proven to be the exception to my rule regarding Western Digital mechanical hard drives but bear in mind that the exception only proves the rule. The drive is slow but it least it hasn't died on me yet.
It is likely that the WD6003FZBX is a reliable hard drive mostly for this one reason: It's CMR.
WD6003FZBX
It's also not a cheap, budget drive. Not likely anyone will find it on sale for $97. Myself, I'd never buy it simply because it is a Western Digital mechanical hard drive. Some folks like Fords, some like GM, others prefer Dodges. And then there are the imports.
TOSHIBA N300
I have a good feeling about these. I own a couple and never had an issue with them. Of course, they're CMR and have a 256MB cache size and they're built for networking. They're also reasonably priced for what they are. All mechanical drives eventually wear out in time. That's a given. Myself, I aim to stay away from Western Digitals as much as possible.
My Computer
At a glance
WIN 11, WIN 10, WIN 8.1, WIN 7 U, WIN 7 PRO, ...Intel i7 6900K and i9-7960X / AMD 3800X (8 core)128 GB CORSAIR DOMINATOR PLATINUM (B DIE)NVIDIA 1070 and RTX 3070
- OS
- WIN 11, WIN 10, WIN 8.1, WIN 7 U, WIN 7 PRO, WIN 7 HOME (32 Bit), LINUX MINT
- Computer type
- PC/Desktop
- Manufacturer/Model
- DIY, ASUS, and DELL
- CPU
- Intel i7 6900K and i9-7960X / AMD 3800X (8 core)
- Motherboard
- ASUS X99E-WS USB 3.1 and ASUS X299 SAGE
- Memory
- 128 GB CORSAIR DOMINATOR PLATINUM (B DIE)
- Graphics Card(s)
- NVIDIA 1070 and RTX 3070
- Sound Card
- Crystal Sound (onboard)
- Monitor(s) Displays
- single Samsung 30" 4K and 8" aux monitor
- Screen Resolution
- 4K and something equally attrocious. I'll be working on this.
- Hard Drives
- A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W
Ports X, Y, and Z are reserved for USB access and removable drives.
Drive types consist of the following: Various mechanical hard drives bearing the brand names, Seagate, Toshiba, and Western Digital. Various NVMe drives bearing the brand names Kingston, Intel, Silicon Power, Crucial, Western Digital, and Team Group. Various SATA SSDs bearing various different brand names.
RAID arrays included:
LSI RAID 10 (WD Velociraptors) 1115.72 GB
LSI RAID 10 (WD SSDS) 463.80 GB
INTEL RAID 0 (KINGSTON HYPER X) System 447.14 GB
INTEL RAID 1 TOSHIBA ENTERPRIZE class Data 2794.52 GB
INTEL RAID 1 SEAGATE HYBRID 931.51 GB
- PSU
- SEVERAL. I prefer my Corsair Platinum HX1000i but I also like EVGA power supplies
- Case
- ThermalTake Level 10 GT (among others)
- Cooling
- Noctua is my favorite and I use it in my main. I also own various other coolers.
- Keyboard
- all kinds.
- Mouse
- all kinds
- Internet Speed
- 360 mbps - 1 gbps (depending)
- Browser
- FIREFOX
- Antivirus
- KASPERSKY (no apologies)
- Other Info
- Gave Dell touch screen with Windows 11 to daughter and got me an OTVOC. Being a PC builder I own many desktop PCs as well. I am a father of five providing PCs, laptops, and tablets for all my family, most of which I have modified, rebuilt, or simply built from scratch. I do not own a cell phone, never have, never will.
DIY Photoshop/Audio/Game/tinker
96GB (2x48) G.skill Ripjaws 6800 MT/s
Bowers & Wilkins 606 S3 speakers; Audiolabs 7000a integrated amp; RSL 10S Mk2 sub; Creative Pebble Pro Minimilist
WDC SN850X 4TB nvme, SN850 1TB nvme, SK-Hynix 2 TB P41 nvme,. Sabrent USB-C DS-SC5B 5-bay docking station: 6TB WDC Black, 6TB Ironwolf Pro; 2x 2TB WDC Black HDD
️ 850W Seasonic Vertex PX-850 ATX 3.0/PCI-E 5.0
EK Nucleus black 360 AIO w/Phanteks T30-120 fans, 2 Noctua NF-A14 Chromax case fan, 1 T30-120 fan cooling memory
Keychron Q3 Max TKL with custom GMK Redsuns Red Samuri keycaps, TX Stabs
Logitech G305 wireless gaming
500 Mb/s 
12 Mb/s
Firefox
Defender, Macrium Reflect X 
Apple 13" Macbook Pro 2020 (m1)
