IBM or Maxtor

[PowerHungry]

Does anyone know which drive is faster in real world applications - the IBM 75GXP or the Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 60? I want to set them up in a RAID configuration for a faster system and little video editing.

I can get a pair of 30 GB Maxtors for 100 bucks each, or the same with IBM for 130 each. I just want the faster of the two.

Any feedback would be helpful.

[Fat Tone]

If I remember correctly, PC Pro did a comparison a few months ago. IBM came out higher for speed, Maxtor for value. I believe Maxtors use IBM mechanics with their own i/f and firmware.

Tony.

[Helevitia]

I have both in my system right now. The IBM drive is definitely faster but as you pointed out, more expensive. Also, the Maxtor drivers can be unreliable and fail a lot sooner than the IBM drives. I'd spend the extra money and go with IBM.

Dave

[ayoub_ibrahim]

actually, if you're going to use IBM hdds then get a 60 GXP model which is newer (? more reliable) than the 75GXP & which has a slightly higher transfer rate at it's outer edge than the 75 model!

[Jammrock]

I f you go to yee olde Storage Review Leaderboard you will find that the IBM 60GXP drives are king for the 7200 RPM IDE drives. And has been for quite some time. If you look in my sig, you will notice that my PC is packing 2 IBM 60GXP's, one @ 40 GB and one @ 60 GB. As a personal testimonial...they are FAST!!!!

I am impressed with their performance in all OS's and all file formats. I have had my 60 GB for a while now and have never had any troubles with it. If you want to get the fastest beast, grab an IBM 60GXP.

As for Maxtor...I am not a Maxtor fan. IMHO, I think you get what you pay for, and you don't pay much for Maxtor's.

Jammrock

[Wombat]

I'll have to vote for the IBM too. I have a 75GXP, and you should look into the 60GXP, especially if you're buying two. The 60GXP is a revamp of the 75GXP: quieter, lower power, and I hear it's a little faster.
I can tell you that even with only one 75GXP, my system is hot, it really does throw a good bit of heat, more than the TWO hard drives it replaced.

[PowerHungry]

Thanks for the feedback. Anyway, I just found 20Gb IBM 60GXP's at buy.com for 99.95 US, which makes the price differencial much less an issue, and I just bought them before posting this.

Thanks again.

[Greebe]

For another $25 USD you could have bought a 40 gig 60GXP

[cbman]

But that would have been another 50 USD that he might not have had to spend on drives?

Seeing as he needs two to raid and all

[PowerHungry]

Yes, as a soon to be student at an expensive college, I only have so much to spend. I also need to get a set of speakers for my system to replace my giant stereo I have currently, and I only had 300 to spend.

The speakers are 70, which left 230 for the 2 drives, which I want in a RAID setup, so a max of 115 per drive. Cost and performance over capacity.

Just my reasoning if anyone cares. Thanks.

[Greebe]

I understand now... just though with a cap of $115 for the drives was abit off the mark. Especially when for another 20 you could have doubled raid storage capacity from 40gigs to 80!

Just a thought.

[Gurm]

Maxtor? AAARGH!

Ok, some thoughts.

1. Maxtor does NOT use IBM mechanics - WD does.
2. Maxtors SUCK. Their quality control is nonexistant.
3. You always get what you pay for in this world. ALWAYS. There's a reason the IBM's cost more.

- Gurm

[MetalCartman]

I totally agree with Gurm, Maxtor is the worst choice for a harddrive! You see 'em crashing so often, it's in-f***in'-credible and they're very slow too!

Here's my top-three of bad harddrives:

1.Maxtor
2.Seagate
3.Quantum

I 've seen a lot of them in my whole IT-life, and my conclusion is: IBM RULEZ!

Greetz,
Cartman

[ayoub_ibrahim]

MetalCartman, I assume that you're solely referring to IDE hdds!

[KvHagedorn]

Seagate does pretty well in the SCSI drive area, and their Barracuda IDEs have done pretty well so far.. wouldn't touch their low end stuff though. I think that's the ex-Conner division there. Their Cheetahs and Barracudas take all sorts of abuse. Couldn't recommend them highly enough. Their people are really excellent as well. The support people call you back and are very helpful and knowlegeable, the sales people email you back immediately and give you straight answers.. all around I have never had a problem with them (the support issue was fixing an fdisk brainfart that was my fault.)

Quantum was supposedly good when they WERE Quantum, at least in the SCSI drive area. Maxtor has sucked for several years though. Would never buy one, EVER. I have only Seagate and IBM drives presently, and no problems with either. They got a workout when I was doing SETI 24/7 for awhile too.