In most computers, the hard drive is one of the most ignored components in the box. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the most important. Older hard drives run at slower speeds and have less cache memory inside them causing the entire system to appear slower as it takes longer to load applications, read data, and basically perform any of the processes that every computer user does every day. Knowing this, hard drive companies are constantly releasing newer technologies that allow hard drives to run faster and more efficiently, and, in most cases, with greater reliability.

The Western Digital Raptor Series hard drives are two of the best and fastest IDE/SATA drives on the market today. Unlike most hard drives, the Raptors run at 10,000 RPM (most desktop hard drives run at 7,200 RPM) which give them the data accessing speed needed for high-end applications and video games. To add even more boost to their superfast drives, Western Digital gave them 8MB of cache (most desktop hard drives have 2MB of cache) to make data accessing even faster. To boot, Western Digital has pushed the envelope by giving a standard 5-year warranty on all of their Raptor lineup.

The downfall to the Raptor series (currently offered in two sizes: 36.7GB and 74GB) is obvious – they’re small. With hard drive sizes rapidly entering into 300GB territory, you might wonder why anyone would buy a 36.7GB hard drive. The answer is simple – pure speed.

At Computer Mechanix, we recommend that every system has dual hard drives for optimal reliability and security – one hard drive for your operating system and applications and another larger hard drive to hold your data. Using this kind of dual hard drive setup ensures that your data drive (the more important of the two as personal data cannot be replaced) experiences less overall usage as your system will more often access the application drive instead (data accessing isn't as taxing on a hard drive as the constant accessing required for operating system and application operation). This kind of setup also allows you to install faster hard drives for your applications and operating systems, and, because applications often tend to take up less space than personal data collected over time, you can install smaller hard drives for the operating system/application drive. Here’s where the Raptor series really shines.

The key element to the Raptor series is that it runs using Serial-ATA (or SATA). Serial-ATA is the new format that will be replacing standard IDE drives in all of the PC systems in the future. It offers much larger data throughput and also uses thin cables which allow for better airflow throughout your system (better airflow = cooler system = more reliability). The downfall is that older systems don't support Serial-ATA natively. No problem for you, though, as Computer Mechanix can install a Promise SATA controller (or you can buy one to install yourself) on any system supporting a PCI-bus (starting with Pentium II's).

On my Athlon 64 3500+ system, my PC Mark 2002 hard drive score leapt from 746 to 1615 when I installed the Raptor 74GB hard drive -- a performance increase of 216% over standard EIDE hard drives! My computer booted into Windows XP Professional noticeably faster, runs applications like Word and Excel faster and even runs the video games I play with less load time between levels and starting games.

The Western Digital Raptor series is not for everyone, though. If you use only one hard drive in your system and have no interest in entering the dual hard drive setup (I have a 160GB Western Digital SATA drive for my data) you may not like the space limitations that the Raptor series force on you. In addition, the 74GB version is slightly faster than the 36.7GB because of additional modifications and adjustments Western Digital has performed on it which means spending a bit more money. To make matters worse, if you don't have a newer system that supports Serial-ATA on the motherboard, you'll have to purchase a controller card as well. Also, with 250GB Western Digital drives available for the same price, spending the same amount of money for 30% of the space might seem a little strange to some people.

However, if you’re interested in jumping on board with one of the most noticeable upgrades you can do, the Raptor series is all about speed. In addition, Computer Mechanix can install the hard drive and controller card, format your system correctly, and make sure you’re well on your way. There’s never been a better time for a faster system and this is one of the quickest ways to get there.

Manufacturer's Link: Western Digital Raptor Series

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