# Gaming: Raptor v Velociraptor; Noticeable difference?



## Franklinwallbrown (Aug 23, 2008)

As some of you know I'm seriously looking into building a new computer and I was wondering if there is any noticeable difference between game/OS load times on the 36GB, 74GB, 150GB & 300GB Raptors? I'm going to be doing mostly gaming, school work, some movie watching, DVD/CD burning, Web surfing...all I can think of for now, but I really don't think there is any more...


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## Mussels (Aug 23, 2008)

i notice zero difference between my regular hard drives and my raptor. having a decent amount of ram is going to matter more. (4GB+)


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## Franklinwallbrown (Aug 23, 2008)

Then why do gamers tout the Raptors? I wonder if I could get away with the WD GP?


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## Mussels (Aug 23, 2008)

people rant about the raptors, but the thing is they just arent that special. raptors ONLY affect load times, and situations where you run out of ram - they're better for video encoders than gamers.

Grab 8GB of ram and a regular 500-750GB hard drive and you'll have a far better system overall.


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## Franklinwallbrown (Aug 23, 2008)

Eight gigs? That's a lot of RAM. I'm going with 2x2GBs of GSkill Pi. You really think I need 8 gigs?

Is the GP a regular HDD to you?

Unless Raptors make games load instantly, I don't believe they would be worth they price/load time ratio and even then...


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## Mussels (Aug 23, 2008)

i dont like WD, i just had two brand new 640GB drives die within 3 days.

SSD's are the ones with instant loads - in vista the ram does that for you (superfetch) and thats why i suggested more ram. Even with 4GB, keep in mind 32 bit OS cant use it.


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## CStylen (Aug 23, 2008)

The Velociraptor is definately faster than a Raptor...lower access times and faster minimum, maximim data transfers. 

If it's noticed by the user is another story (my girlfriend would not notice).  If you want the fastest disk, get the V-Raptor.


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## deathbyburk (Aug 23, 2008)

Load times are way better including boot times and in a raid situation u want a drive with a high MTBF.  I think you may be askin if there is a performance difference between the sizes and the answer is no all size raptors perform the same maybe a micro difference you could not possible notice.  I only buy raptors but thats me to each their own


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## Mussels (Aug 23, 2008)

well i have a raptor X 150 as i said (i'm on the rig with it now) and its not that fast - my 750GB samsungs are faster in every way that matters.

As i said, more ram is a better purchase - having lots of ram in vista means superfetch caching makes load times faster than a raptor, and more ram is going to be faster overall anyway - the HDD is only used when its NOT in ram.


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## das müffin mann (Aug 23, 2008)

my advice get  2 500gb hd and throw them in raid, it would be better than buying the raptors (they are over rated in my opinion, i agree with mussels on this one)


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## Franklinwallbrown (Aug 23, 2008)

Well, then I believe the GPs would be the way to go...


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## HeavyH20 (Aug 23, 2008)

The main trick with Vista is to get two drives. One for the OS and one for the data and swap file. I found that things hum along nicely with two of anything small in RAID 0 for the OS and a decent sized data drive.


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## Franklinwallbrown (Aug 23, 2008)

Well, that is funny, because I just so happen to have 2x36GB Raptors...


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## HeavyH20 (Aug 23, 2008)

Well, then, perfect scenario 

A couple of Raptors for the OS in RAID 0 and a decent 500 GB plus sized drive for the data. Nice combo.

I really like the newer Seagte 7200.11 drives. The 32 MB cache seems to help a little.


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## Mussels (Aug 23, 2008)

agreed. those two raptors would make a nice OS/games drive, with a 500GB/750GB for backup/storage.


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## deathbyburk (Aug 23, 2008)

Agree I have a similar setup as well


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## Franklinwallbrown (Aug 23, 2008)

I like the GPs because I'm a green fellow...(*whispering*but I'm a gamer first*end whisper*)LOLz


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## Mussels (Aug 23, 2008)

hard drives wont save you crap when it comes to power. if you want to save power, get a laptop or a smaller netbox/download rig and have the gaming rig off more of the time.


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## Chewy (Aug 23, 2008)

the raptor X and previous ones are now slower than some of theses drives coming out, the Velociraptor is very fast a bit faster than some of the top drives out there today such as the WD 640gb and the Samsung f1 1tb version. but it also costs alot more. if you want some results of the latest HD tests check out this thread it has some results from some of the latest drives. http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=68546&highlight=tach

 your best bet for your usage if you ask me is to get a Samsung f1 1tb and partition it with Partition Magic or some program like that and have 3 partitions. 1. OS aboout 40gb 2. Games 80-120GB 3. Storage, that way if you need to reinstall windows you can do so without losing all your data.

 If your on a budget the new WD 640GB harddrive is mighty tasty, I wish I had picked that one up.


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## Franklinwallbrown (Aug 23, 2008)

I'll probably just put my OS/Games on one if not both of the Raptors (I'm thinking about making a gaming rig for my friends brother later w/ one Raptor and my 3850)...if I change later, though, I'll see...


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