Well, if your processor is a 1.7... then you're still using EIDE drives. No biggie, they're cheaper anyhow.

Basically, drives come in two main types:

1. Big ones that hold a lot've data, but aren't terribly fast (comparitively speaking- they're still far faster than they used to be)

2. Small ones that hold very little data, but run like the wind.

Yes, there are technical specifications, like how much on-board cache memory is on the drive's board (more is better), seek times (less is better), and mean-time-before-failure (often abbreviated to MTBF in the sales crap- more/longer is better, even though almost all modern drives are rated for 20 YEARS or longer, which is utter crapola). But these tech specs are pretty unimportant, really, seeing that your computer as a whole must be over 2 years old to have processor specs that low. In short... buy something that fits your budget, and so long as it's EIDE (that's vital) then it'll work just fine

you are presuming he doesn't have SATA functions, just because he's got a 1.7ghz processor. His board migth well have SATA, my son only has a 1.7 celeron on his board but the board is SATA capable, I'm just too mean to buy him a better processor or hard0drive. and even if he hasnt got SATA, he could slam a SATA pci card in, you can get an MRi or Siig one for under a pony. in fact isn't there an Adaptec one for about £25?

makes? they're all pretty good now, even <gasp> IBMs, because Hitachi make them. WD, Seagate, Maxtor, all good makes, Samsung pretty good too. more importantly try to make sure they have some cache on, it does make a difference. if you have got SATA capability on your board, go for something like a WD Raptor with 8mb cache.

I use 2x SATA in a RAID-0 array and hdd access is very impressive.

From my first post

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I DO NOT KNOW FLIP ABOUT COMPUTERS!!!

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Okay, so it wasn't worded exactly like that, but you get my point. I'm sorry but I do not understand most of that jargon that Taw used.

Take the "on-board cache" for example. I have no idea what the hell that means.

If you've already answered my question the I'm sorry but I didn't understand the answer. I do not know 95% of computer jargon or what any of the stuff Taw just said means. I know RAM means Random Access Memory, but that's all I can think of ATM.

Now, what I am really needing to know here is what all do I need to know about MY COMPUTER to make sure the drive is compatible. I know a 1.7 is slow, but it's fast enough for me, Half-Life 2 only requires a 1.0.

But what all do I need to know about my computer to make sure the new drive will work with it?

does this mean that we're going to have to show you how to install it, connect it, detect in the BIOs, then partition and format it?

volunteers?

No I'm just asking WHAT INFORMATION DO I NEED TO GET ABOUT MY COMPUTER IN ORDER TO GET THE RIGHT HARD-DRIVE!?!?!?!? Is it really that hard to understand?

Bye bye Gordan, hello Sam.

first thing a Western Digital Hard Drive as an example is available in Both Sata and IDE (SATA little 1/4 inch wide cable usually red, IDE Wide 2 inch cable usually grey)

I like Western Dig cause three year Man. Warranty 100 Gig about $79 US

all u need to know is SATA or IDE ???

Whether you spectate or participate, Life Happens

Thank you Amedus, someone here finally gave me a good answer. Again, thank you, I am eternally in your debt.

**Begins sarcasm** Two people who will remain nameless (Taw and Argh) for some reason couldn't understand my question. Honistly, even George Bush could have done better. **Ends sarcasm.**

Edited by - Killa (The Revolution) on 9/15/2005 11:01:24 AM

shut up, GAWD - now i know who never to post advice to, you might call me stupid for answering your questions with more than monosyllables - practically _any_ harddrive you can afford will work in your computer, so go get one and quit pestering these helpful folks

Yeah, killa, I understand your frustration but lashing out at people who are only trying to help will not win you any friends.

So you don't understand all the techno-babble that is flying around, just say so calmly and people will be happy to explain to you.

Because I'm nice () I've included some information as well:
The 4 black sockets near the centre of this image are SATA sockets, check to see if your motherboard has them. If it does then you can buy a SATA hard drive. Just go to the website of any major hardware supplier which ships to your country, or one you normally use and do a search on SATA, you should get plenty of hits.

These here slots are IDE sockets. You should have these on your motherboard by default, and are always a good fall-back if you still are unsure. Check your motherboard all the same, remember that the sockets in both cases may be a different colour. Mine are blue

Hope this helps you. You could use the Western Digital option, like Amadeus suggested, but this may make choosing a bit more straightforward for you.

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RAID-0 array

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Taw, that's RAS! Shame on you!
A Redundant Array of Independent Disks Array?

<grumbles something unintelligable>

Well, I'm glad that you feel that you've been helped. Honestly, either my answer or Taw's was... a bit more complete. When you go look at HD's and realize that to buy one, you should know what all of the scary acronyms actually mean, otherwise you risk buying something that plain won't work, and at the very least, you may end up with something that's not really right for you. Simple answers don't necessarily help much, guy- computers are more complicated than most things you'll ever mess with, besides an automobile. And there are a lot of choices out there- and they're meaningful choices. I didn't really get into any depth at all... so if you felt like that was over your head... you should probably go read up on what HDs are, and how to hook one up before you try buying one... it's sometimes as simple as just unscrewing the old one from a case and putting the new one in... but at least half the time it's a little more complicated, because you'll have to set your jumpers correctly. Thank goodness with SATA that part is no longer necessary

If you buy a SATA drive and don't have SATA connectors on your motherboard/expansion card, then you cannot use it, period- SATA and EIDE are two very different technologies. It'd be like plugging your toaster into a light socket- it doesn't work, and it was made that way on purpose, to prevent idiots from screwing things up on accident.

So I have a feeling that later... you'll understand why our answers were a bit more... detailed. But hey, you feel empowered and un-confused right now, good luck Just don't ask for random advice if you're not prepared for real answers...

Download SiSoft Sandra, free version from the web.

Run SiSoft Sandra.

Find out what your computer spec's are from Sandra. It will identify what type of hard drive your system supports.

Go to store or online with type of hard drive identified by Sandra to buy the type hard drive you need. One type is alternatively known as either EIDE/ATA or PATA or Parallel ATA. The other, newer and faster type is SATA or Serial ATA.

The brand names still make both types of drives so you have to be the one to check and make sure that you're buying the right one.

Another thing you may want to consider is, if you are going to keep your original harddrive and hook up the second one as a slave to the original which will be the master, you'll want the same type of harddrive. Not in brand but as in the type of drive.
Most likely you have a IDE drive.
So IDE, EIDE or ATA will be compatible.

You can also use the new harddrive as the master and the old harddrive as the slave just make sure you follow the jumper diagram that will come with the new harddrive.
That is if you plan on using both the old and new harddrives.
If you don't know what the jumper settings are for your old harddrive you should be able to get that information from the manufactures website.

If you use the old harddrive as the slave make sure you set your bios to boot up off the old harddrive because that's where your operating system will be, at least until, if you decide to install windows on the new harddrive.

Hope you're not getting confused, if you are just post and some knowledgeable character will help.

Take out hard-drive, take to shop - splat on counter, say "I want a bigger and better version of this for less than X dollars" - see what they offer. This way you find out what type it is etc.

Thank them, go to another shop and use your new knowledge to browse and check prices and other drives. Ask about them at counter, see what they recommend.

Check name/type of thing - goto internet café, type the name into a search engine + review, and read up on it (also check online prices), see what they say (not the manufacturers website).

Make decision.

Doing some reading and investigation on your own can be fun ya know...

People say Western Digital hard drives are good...I personally hate them. I've never had a good experience with them yet...why last month my Windows partition conveniently disapeared, so i had to start from scratch yet again. Hmm, $100 you say? well if you find a good sale, you could get at least 160gb (at the current market scheme of 1000kb = 1mb) I could have gotten a good '480gb' for that price not long ago. (3 separate '160gb' drives)