New hard drive

[dcpianoman]

I've been doing a bunch of research but I just don't feel like I know/understand enough to make an informed decision. I have an older Dell computer (P4 1.7GHz/1Gb) using a 7200rpm generic HDD. I also have a LaCie 120Gb 7200rpm FW400/USB2.0 external drive.

Using Samplitude 8.3 Pro, I can barely get to 16 tracks (44.1/24, not too many edits) + 2 auxes + 4 busses without maxing 100% hard disk usage. This goes for both running everything off of the internal AND running OS/Samp off internal and audio off external. So...pretty bad I think. If I max out the buffer options, I get better performance but the lag is so bad it's almost impossible to mix.

I'm willing to spend up to $200 although cheaper is always much better (home recorder). I've thought primarily about
- A better external FW400 drive
- An internal SATA drive + case (for external) + PCI SATA card
- An internal SATA drive + case (for external) that uses FW400

But that's about as much as I understand. My Dell's motherboard is 5+ years old, I haven't looked but I'd be shocked if it supported SATA.

Sometime in the next year I'll be building a new desktop, I'd prefer something that will be immediately compatible (I think most everything would...but not knowledgable enough to assume that)

Any suggestions?
Dave

[scruffydog]

Hi
I too am no 'expert'.
My main room has an old G4 and with this I have a few drives.
In my office I have put a bit of time into my machine as it is much faster and I use it for music more and more...just cos I can.
But actually installing new stuff to improve the performance with Melodyne/Logic/Live has been a slow job. And even then all these programs seem to respond differently to the changes I make!
But for my Audio drive I went with the old faithful:
-seagate barracuda 80GB 720rpm 2mb.
It cost under £30 new and was here then very next day.

So I open the box and drag my CPU from it's hideing place and tried to get the two to work together.

My computer had 1 slot in the drive bay free...good start.
But I was lacking the cable and only then noticed the type of cables used on the main drive. Very different.
There were also connection points on the board for more...had I known my stuff I would have bought a different drive....but all was not lost!
So I dug around my studio and found the ( is it a 64 pin thing? the big old grey 2 inch thick ones) very short one that came from my G4, I took the long one from my G4 and put the short one in its place.
In my office cpu I put the seagate in the drive chain that originally only contained the cd/dvd drive and installed it.
This needed the very long lead and seems to work just fine so far.
Now I need more memory really....but that is another story!
So if I was doing this again I might now think ''what cable connection is the correct one for this machine'' first and then choose a drive.
Actually open it up and have a real good look at how the drives will best configure cable wise.
(and whilst there take it apart and clean the grunge from the fans and stuff too...always a good thing to do)
I was not really aware of this...but I was lucky this time as I had all the bits around.
I don't think you need to spend anywhere near $200 but if you must install it out the box you will spend more than I did I would imagine.
But the Seagate barracuda is one I have always had...I guess this is my third now and I felt safe with the brand.
For firewire on my studio mac I seem to use the Lacie brand...
Scruffy

[dj_who]

my vote would be

- An internal SATA drive + case (for external) + PCI SATA card

[mwd]

Under your current config the best thing is to forget the external drive as an audio source. Your FW/USB bottleneck will never approach the performance of your ATA/IDE bus. Use your external for a transfer or backup media.

You mention 7200 rpm but is that 2mb cache or 8? 8 will give you a small edge.

Your biggest increase (under $200) would come from another internal drive (or 2) and split your OS/Apps on one and your Audio on the other.

I converted a system about as old as yours (except 2.2ghz) to a total SATA system and it rocks. It was substantially more than the budget you mention however it would migrate to a newer system and prices are dropping.

1. Got a SATA PCI card and 4 cables. (cheap)
2. Got 3 WD Raptor 10K rpm drives. (not cheap)
3. Got a full retail version of XP Pro. (not cheap)
4. Got a 5 1/4 to 3 1/2 drive bay adapter and canned the read only CD Rom. (cheap)
5. Got a NEC 3520A DVD/CD burner and converted to SATA via adapter. (cheap)

Got rid of all the IDE cables (except floppy) and loaded OS on C, Apps on D, Audio on E and split the swap file between D/E. Then put your old internal drive in an external enclosure for additional backup and transfer. If you convert your tower to internal SATA it's important that you get rid of any internal IDE drives otherwise it will always try to boot to IDE first on an older system. My system came with 1 internal drive and now has 3 with no power supply issues.

[dcpianoman]

Thanks for the thoughts. The reason I need external is that I have a slightly slower laptop that I use for remote recording...it's internal HD sucks (although I can usually get away with it) so I'd like a faster drive to work with that as well.

I think I'm going to get:
- WD Raptor 10k
- PCI card
- PCMCIA card (for laptop)
- External case

Going to be more than $200 but it should last a long time.

Dave

[mwd]

Dave consider a laptop drive upgrade if and when you can. Laptop drives and memory are dropping in price. The difference is even more noticeable on a L/T because many of those drives are 4200 rpm which you can bump to 7200.

Your first areas of consideration should always be the drive your OS sits on. Your core engine. To concentrate "outside" the box is kinda' like putting high speed tires on a 73 VW.

That said I do understand budgets.... it's real easy to spend someone elses money....lol.

[dcpianoman]

Yeah, I wish I could afford a new laptop. Actually, the one I have (1.2/512) is new (to me), I got it used cause I'm too poor. It serves what I need well - it can get 16 tracks 44.1/24 without a problem. The reason why I'd like to use the external drive is more driven by convenience - I don't have the transfer time.

[scruffydog]

I think your choice is a good one...happy recording fellow gearslutz

Western Digital Raptor 10k 16mg question
I see there are a few Slutz posting doubts about the drives though...for particular set-ups at least.
Worth a look I guess.
Especially the aspect of portability and reliability.