SATA - 1.5Gbps
Moving on to the 1.5Gbps drives, here we can also see a large array of hard drive sizes available, all the way from 40GB drives to upwards of 500GBs. Although we did not mention this on the previous page, but just as with the 3.0Gbps drives, there are so many excellent choices that can be made here that it's nearly impossible for us to list all the good deals or even those from your favorite brand/model.
As you can see from our table below, there have been some moderate changes in pricing, with the majority decreasing somewhat which is what everyone likes to see. Also, you will see that the price difference between the two SATA specifications is generally negligible, though overall the advantage now appears to rest with the newer 3.0Gbps drives, with a few going at the low rate of about $0.32/GB. We want to emphasize that unless you can find a 1.5Gbps model at a lower price than the 3.0Gbps drives, you should probably go back a page and check out those deals.
Starting off our recommendations in this section, we have the Maxtor 1.5Gbps 250GB 7200RPM 16MB DiamondMax 10 [RTPE: 6L250S0] going for about $80 shipped ($0.32/GB). Coming in close behind is the Western Digital 1.5Gbps 320GB 7200RPM 8MB Caviar SE [RTPE: WD3200JD] which is on sale for approximately $115 shipped ($0.35/GB). You can also opt for the 250GB Western Digital [RTPE: WD2500JD], which is also priced at $0.35/GB or $87 shipped.
For users looking for a single large drive which would be ideal for a SFF setup, the Western Digital 1.5Gbps 400GB 7200RPM 16MB Caviar RE2 [RTPE: WD4000YR] would be a great choice, going for about $170 (($0.43/GB). You also have two other decent options for a 400GB drive: both the Western Digital 1.5Gbps 400GB 7200RPM 16MB Caviar SE16 [RTPE: WD4000KD] and the Hitachi 1.5Gbps 400GB 7200RPM 8MB Deskstar 7K250 [RTPE: HDS724040KLSA80] are available for about $180 each (~$0.45/GB).
You'll notice that the 400GB Hitachi drive we recommended has seen quite a significant price decrease over the course of the past month or so. You can see when the drive first launched; it started at over $270 and slowly but steadily decreased to where it is at today, roughly $180.
Of course, there's everyone's favorite (and only) 10000 RPM SATA drive series, the Western Digital Raptor. Performance is better in some tasks, but of course you sacrifice capacity for the higher spindle speed. The cheapest price/GB on the Raptor line on the 150GB is still about 4X as much as the most popular SATA offerings ($1.73/GB), so you'll really want to give careful thought to whether or not a Raptor (or two) is truly your best upgrade option. For the highest end PCs, it's a reasonable choice, but we'd recommend spending more money elsewhere if you're looking to keep prices in check.
Again, here's the complete list of SATA 1.5Gbps drives. You're much better off searching in the RTPE directly, however.
Moving on to the 1.5Gbps drives, here we can also see a large array of hard drive sizes available, all the way from 40GB drives to upwards of 500GBs. Although we did not mention this on the previous page, but just as with the 3.0Gbps drives, there are so many excellent choices that can be made here that it's nearly impossible for us to list all the good deals or even those from your favorite brand/model.
As you can see from our table below, there have been some moderate changes in pricing, with the majority decreasing somewhat which is what everyone likes to see. Also, you will see that the price difference between the two SATA specifications is generally negligible, though overall the advantage now appears to rest with the newer 3.0Gbps drives, with a few going at the low rate of about $0.32/GB. We want to emphasize that unless you can find a 1.5Gbps model at a lower price than the 3.0Gbps drives, you should probably go back a page and check out those deals.
You'll notice that the 400GB Hitachi drive we recommended has seen quite a significant price decrease over the course of the past month or so. You can see when the drive first launched; it started at over $270 and slowly but steadily decreased to where it is at today, roughly $180.
Again, here's the complete list of SATA 1.5Gbps drives. You're much better off searching in the RTPE directly, however.
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PrinceGaz - Tuesday, June 13, 2006 - link
I know not many of them are available yet, but I trust you will be adding them to future month's storage price articles.It might be worth including HD-DVD and BD readers as well until the burners come down to a reasonable price.
SignalPST - Monday, June 12, 2006 - link
Can SAS hard drives be used on onboard SATA2.0 ports such as the nForce4 motherboards?Or do SAS drives require a SAS PCI-E cards?
King Mongo - Monday, June 12, 2006 - link
I think the real deal for all large-size PATA and SATA drives is to be found at Outpost.com. They have consistently offered 500GB PATA & SATA drives for less than $200, with free shipping, for the past two weeks. NO REBATES. I believe the new standard for 500GB is $189For Seagate retail, Outpost.com *cannot* be beat.
For Maxtor & Western Digital, however, I would stay with the OEM resellers (like ZZF, eWiz, etc) because Maxtor & WD OEM drives come with a more robust warranty than the retail (for some reason).
SnoMunke - Monday, June 12, 2006 - link
First, you are missing the WD 5000YS (500GB) RE2 drive...Second, "While previously only Maxtor and Seagate were producing SAS drives, Hitachi has recently joined them with three offerings." is simply a B.S. statement. Hitachi SAS drives have been out for over 6 months!!! (I know because I bought one back in January and I b!tched at you before when you left the Hitachi SAS drives off Storage Price Guide!)
Third, you really need to clean up the presentation of your Storage Price Guide...it is simply not easy to read. How about dividing it up first by interface (which you have done) and then by HDD size (large, medium, small)? As others pointed out, SATA 1.5/3.0 HDDs should be lumped together.
Fourth, not to leave you too chastised from my harsh comments, I read Anandtech/DailyTech on a HOURLY basis. You all are doing a great job!
dhei - Sunday, June 11, 2006 - link
Like I have a mobo that supports 1.5sata, can i buy a 3.0 to "future proof" when i upgrade? Its the little things like that i always forget..hehJarredWalton - Sunday, June 11, 2006 - link
Yes, that's what we tried to explain on pages 2 and 3. There may be some exceptions out there on mobos, but if so I have yet to encounter them. (Note that I haven't tested any VIA/SiS chipset offerings in a long time, so I can't say for sure that they work. The spec is *supposed* to be backwards compatible, however.)regpfj - Sunday, June 11, 2006 - link
I gave up reading after the second page.
arswihart - Sunday, June 11, 2006 - link
Anandtech, what are you talking about in this whole article, its an outdated, and not-useful pile of rubbish if you ask me.JarredWalton - Sunday, June 11, 2006 - link
We're talking about hard drives. Outdated in what way? Not useful in what way? Specifics are helpful, and I find it hard to believe that two minor typos would turn this into rubbish. Do you simply not want us to do storage guides, or can you try to help by offering some suggestions for improvement? Simply posting flames on the internet does no one any good.If you're complaining about price differences (i.e. text doesn't coincide with the real-time charts), these prices change on a daily basis. If the text does not exactly reflect current prices 24 hours after being written, there's not much we can do to fix that.
Dfere - Monday, June 12, 2006 - link
Get Em, Jarred.Speaking for myself, I do not take this type of post seriously, and most of us do not... but fight the good fight, boy.!