Buying a new hard drive, but got some questions

[qwertman]

OK I'm in need to buy a new hard drive.
I'm stuck between the Maxtor 120GB and Western Digital 120Gb

Now this isn't a thread about which one is better, its a compatibility issue. This hard drive is for an older machine Athlon 1000 with a 40GB hard drive.
Now the Maxtor is ATA133 and the WD is 100. Not really sure what those mean, but it looks like one of those things where the machine has to be compatable, or am I wrong?
How could I find out if it would work on mine?
Normally I would just order it and try and see, but we're talking about eBuyer here, delivery would take a week at best and a return would take a couple more weeks and I really want to get it right first time.

[nightheart]

OK I'm in need to buy a new hard drive.
I'm stuck between the Maxtor 120GB and Western Digital 120Gb

Now this isn't a thread about which one is better, its a compatibility issue. This hard drive is for an older machine Athlon 1000 with a 40GB hard drive.
Now the Maxtor is ATA133 and the WD is 100. Not really sure what those mean, but it looks like one of those things where the machine has to be compatable, or am I wrong?
How could I find out if it would work on mine?
Normally I would just order it and try and see, but we're talking about eBuyer here, delivery would take a week at best and a return would take a couple more weeks and I really want to get it right first time. Either drive should work. If your machine is only rated for ata 100, then the maxtor should be backwards compatible and still work. I'd buy which ever one is cheaper.

to be sure, u'd have to check and see what transfer rate your mobo is rated at, and then check the drive specs to make sure its backswards compatible, i.e. it'll run at ata 66, 100, 133.

[Virgin San]

You don't need to worry about the compatibility - they will both work. The 133 and 100 relate to the data transfer speed in Mb/s, if you put a ATA133 drive into a mobo that only runs at 100 Mb/s, then that will be the transfer speed that the drive works at. So it will still work, I'd go for the Maxtor unless there is a substantial price diff, in which case it might be worth finding out more about your board.

Word of warning, you may find that you'll need to upgrade your BIOS in order for it to recognise a hard drive of that size - just bear it in mind if you have problems.

[smokafatty]

I've had both drives just thought I'd let you know the WD makes a low whirring noise, I decided to quit putting them in xboxes because my customers would complain about the noise. I would go with the maxtor IMO.

[qwertman]

I was going to go for the Maxtor anyway since they're the same price. No point in getting a lower spec one. Was just worried about the compatability. Thanks

[scarecrowdr]

When You get the Maxtor, Go to Maxtors Site n Download "Maxblast"...It makes Formating Easy Peasy.....

[Neo]

The WD's drive that I have were all quiet, while my Maxtors emit noise.

It's hard to say which HD is quiet or loud these days since there are lots of variables involved like, cases, fan noise, manufactored date, bactch number, origin, and etc...

[noyfb™]

My maxtor 160gb hdd is the noisiest i have had :(

also have a 160gb WD hdd and that is quiet :)

[mobilehustla]

ive got a Western Digital 120Gb SE (8mb Cache) and its very quiet although if the maxtor ones cheaper than i'd go for that because they both do the job

[Littlejack]

I've used both, and while the maxtors are definatley noiseier, i'd say they are more reliable. not had a bad one yet. (littlejack goes off to touch some wood)

[BlackDiamondJr]

Most motherboards only support ATA 100 speeds as most drive manufacturers, except for Maxtor, only make ATA 100 drives. These boards will support either an ATA 133 or ATA 100 drive at the ATA100 speed. A few motherboars will actually have controllers that support the ATA 133 speed. A seperate PCI ATA133 IDE Controller can also be purchased for ATA 133 support. The difference between ATA 100 and ATA 133 is neglible as we are nowhere close to exploiting the full capabilities of that bandwidth.
So either drive would be compatible with your system and both Maxtor and Western Digital are known good manufacturers.