Standard Horizon CP150 GPS Receiver
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- Map capabilities: Internal, Map cartridges / Data cards, Download maps
- Receiver Type: 12 Channels
- Enhanced accuracy: WAAS enabled
- GPS Type: Marine
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Cheap for fast... But how noisy is it?
Pros
Very Fast, Cheap for the Speed
Cons
Expensive per GB
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
I would recommend this drive to anyone looking for speed and tell them not to worry about the noise, but buy a good case...
Anyone that wants to build a decently fast computer should have a high priority on a drive that is going to deliver good performance. I have heard it many different places and after I got this drive I could tell - The hard drive is more than likely the slowest component in your PC.
I want to start out by explaining a little bit about hard drives. There are a lot of specs and most people may not know what a lot of them mean. I am just going to give a brief overview of some of the main things to consider.
Explanation of Serial ATA:
First of all there is the interface that each drive uses to connect to the computer. The most popular ones these days are Serial ATAs. There are two different speeds for SATA and they are 150 and 300. I am not going to go over all the mumbo gumbo but the 300 is twice as fast as the 150. So now your saying why would I want the 150 like the Raptor when I could get the 300. Well there is one more thing to consider before getting the 300.
Explanation of RPMs:
There is also the speed that the can read and write data onto itself physically. You could have the fastest connection ever but if the drive can not keep up with it, it will not matter. This speed is measured in RPMs. Most drives are 5200 or 7200 RPMs. So if you get a drive like the Raptor that is 10000 RPMs it can physically read and write data faster than the others. It can also find that data faster.
Things to Research:
There are a few more things you might want to look at but I am not going to go over them here but if you want you can research them. The main other one is the size of the cached memory. Anotherone I found interesting was Native Command Queuing. If you are going to use multiple drives you should look up Rotary Acceleration Feed Forward.
Speed Conclusion:
With that said the Raptor at SATA 150 and 10000 RPMs reads and writes data a lot faster as most other drives in this price range. There are some drives that come close to the performance with a lot more capacity that are out now for around the same price but some of those are also louder.
Sound Concerns:
The main thing a lot of home users are worried about is how loud it will be with it spinning almost 50% faster than their previous drive. Well I read probably 100 different reviews before I bought mine and I got mixed reviews on the noise but I decided to go for it anyway. I couldn't be happier. It does make a whirling noise when it is working really hard but nothing to write home about. Another thing I saw in some reviews was that they could not sleep because it is so loud. Now I am not a light sleeper but I am no where near a heavy one and it has never bothered me a bit. One thing to think about is what kind of case you buy for your computer though, but I bought a Coolermaster that is mostly mesh so it has good air flow. Nothing to help with the noise, it probably even lets more noise come through.
I looked it up on the site and it says it is 29 dBA when idle and 36 dBA when it is seeking (searching for data). I found through the internet that 40 dBA is about half as loud as a normal conversation and 30 dBA is half as loud as 40 dBA. I would have to agree with that for the sound rating on this drive.
Other Issues:
One of its down falls is the drive capacity (well for some people) A lot of the other drives out there can have a much larger capacity because they do not have the speed. It is up to you to make the decision but what I would recommend would be to install all of you application on this drive so they can run quickly and get another larger drive for storage. This way you can have the speed and the storage. You can find a drive with a lot of storage for a fraction of the
Another thing to consider is this drive does take more power than most other drives so you will have to make sure you power supply puts out enough voltage for it. BUT power supplies have a lot more to look at than just their overall wattage. You need to make sure it has enough power on the rail (the group of wires) you will be using it on. The best thing to do would be to Google it and do some research.
Warranty:
It also has a 5 year limited warranty that can not be extended through the manufacture. Also, be careful buying the recertified products (ones that have been sent back and fixed to be resold) because they only have a 6 month warranty. Another thing to keep in mind is not to remove any labels; you really should just keep the box and all the packing materials too.
Conclusion:
I am very happy with the drive and it has made a big difference with the speed of my machine. I can notice it and I have as bench marked it (had a program run speed tests).
In Addition:
I just want to add that the only difference with the Raptor X that is a little more money is that they put a window on it so if you want to you can see the drive working, it doesn't really matter in the slightest unless you have an open case and want people to see it.
I want to start out by explaining a little bit about hard drives. There are a lot of specs and most people may not know what a lot of them mean. I am just going to give a brief overview of some of the main things to consider.
Explanation of Serial ATA:
First of all there is the interface that each drive uses to connect to the computer. The most popular ones these days are Serial ATAs. There are two different speeds for SATA and they are 150 and 300. I am not going to go over all the mumbo gumbo but the 300 is twice as fast as the 150. So now your saying why would I want the 150 like the Raptor when I could get the 300. Well there is one more thing to consider before getting the 300.
Explanation of RPMs:
There is also the speed that the can read and write data onto itself physically. You could have the fastest connection ever but if the drive can not keep up with it, it will not matter. This speed is measured in RPMs. Most drives are 5200 or 7200 RPMs. So if you get a drive like the Raptor that is 10000 RPMs it can physically read and write data faster than the others. It can also find that data faster.
Things to Research:
There are a few more things you might want to look at but I am not going to go over them here but if you want you can research them. The main other one is the size of the cached memory. Anotherone I found interesting was Native Command Queuing. If you are going to use multiple drives you should look up Rotary Acceleration Feed Forward.
Speed Conclusion:
With that said the Raptor at SATA 150 and 10000 RPMs reads and writes data a lot faster as most other drives in this price range. There are some drives that come close to the performance with a lot more capacity that are out now for around the same price but some of those are also louder.
Sound Concerns:
The main thing a lot of home users are worried about is how loud it will be with it spinning almost 50% faster than their previous drive. Well I read probably 100 different reviews before I bought mine and I got mixed reviews on the noise but I decided to go for it anyway. I couldn't be happier. It does make a whirling noise when it is working really hard but nothing to write home about. Another thing I saw in some reviews was that they could not sleep because it is so loud. Now I am not a light sleeper but I am no where near a heavy one and it has never bothered me a bit. One thing to think about is what kind of case you buy for your computer though, but I bought a Coolermaster that is mostly mesh so it has good air flow. Nothing to help with the noise, it probably even lets more noise come through.
I looked it up on the site and it says it is 29 dBA when idle and 36 dBA when it is seeking (searching for data). I found through the internet that 40 dBA is about half as loud as a normal conversation and 30 dBA is half as loud as 40 dBA. I would have to agree with that for the sound rating on this drive.
Other Issues:
One of its down falls is the drive capacity (well for some people) A lot of the other drives out there can have a much larger capacity because they do not have the speed. It is up to you to make the decision but what I would recommend would be to install all of you application on this drive so they can run quickly and get another larger drive for storage. This way you can have the speed and the storage. You can find a drive with a lot of storage for a fraction of the
Another thing to consider is this drive does take more power than most other drives so you will have to make sure you power supply puts out enough voltage for it. BUT power supplies have a lot more to look at than just their overall wattage. You need to make sure it has enough power on the rail (the group of wires) you will be using it on. The best thing to do would be to Google it and do some research.
Warranty:
It also has a 5 year limited warranty that can not be extended through the manufacture. Also, be careful buying the recertified products (ones that have been sent back and fixed to be resold) because they only have a 6 month warranty. Another thing to keep in mind is not to remove any labels; you really should just keep the box and all the packing materials too.
Conclusion:
I am very happy with the drive and it has made a big difference with the speed of my machine. I can notice it and I have as bench marked it (had a program run speed tests).
In Addition:
I just want to add that the only difference with the Raptor X that is a little more money is that they put a window on it so if you want to you can see the drive working, it doesn't really matter in the slightest unless you have an open case and want people to see it.
