…what the heck happened to it? I’ve opened a couple hard drives before, but I’ve never seen one look like that.
Are those etch marks in the platter? Is that grime in the upper right hand corner there dust from where the platters were gouged out?
HDDs are probably the last “steampunk” PC part left now that the CRT is extinct and even they’re going the way of the dodo c/o the almighty SSD. All of these vacuum HDDs/helium-filled HDD tech, and the various newish tech to increase the amount of data per platter are likely too little, too late to save 'em.
This is what happens when you forget to park your harddrive. The term would be a harddrive crash. Just seems the motor was strong enough to bypass the crash and kept going.
Wow… I think we don’t even have to call in the coroner to pronounce that HDD as a dead one. 
[quote=“celestial_being, post:3355, topic:5786”]
HDDs are probably the last “steampunk” PC part left now that the CRT is extinct and even they’re going the way of the dodo c/o the almighty SSD. All of these vacuum HDDs/helium-filled HDD tech, and the various newish tech to increase the amount of data per platter are likely too little, too late to save 'em.[/quote]
The two primary things that are keeping the HDD alive is that they can be written to more than a SSD and the higher costs of SSDs compared to HDDs. With doing extensive research on the latest tech while looking to get a new system built, SSDs are getting up there in storage capacity. But, good luck touching a 1TB SDD without it eating a nice size hole in your wallet. Considering a 1TB 7200rpm HDD is around 50+ bucks.
There are those 10,000rpm Velociraptor HDDs which have faster read/write times, yes, but you might as well buy a larger bellied SSD for the price. I heard they are noisy too. Makes sense with the higher speeds.
The new Hybrid SSHDs are interesting with the new cache design and smart data handling that allows them to function closer to a SSD. And, the price isn’t too bad. Alternatives are always nice if you need them.
In all honesty though, I am going to stick with a 256GB SSD for a boot drive, plus whatever else I need it for, and a standard 2TB 7200rpm HDD for a data drive. This will be the first SSD that I have had in a system. I am so looking forward to actually having a computer that boots within a reasonable amount of time. 
Well I stumbled into a situation where I ended up with a surplus HP Elitebook 2560p laptop. I had to wipe it’s HDD so I installed the Windows 10 Preview.
So far so good, I’ve been able to tame all the Tiles foolishness and gotten the appearance to be more acceptable. It’s more work than I would like for it to be to fix the OS and to be honest it should not need fixing. 
Seems stable and it is fast on the hardware. Will report back on my adventures. 
Mark Gosdin
It was a 10K RPM drive after all. Got three other drives I going to take apart. If they’re all like that, we might want to consider replacing the remaining drives on those servers soon (They be old anyway, and we’re trying to slowly replace them anyway)
well while taking the magnets out dont forget to save any plattes if you can. they can be washed off failry well and used for coasters. Might not fully prevent leakage onto a surface but they do good to keep a wood surface from warping due to the heat of a coffee cup or other hot beverage sat onto it. any you can play death frisbee with them if you are brave anough.
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I already have three on my desk at work (actually 5, but two are still on the motor for some reason, and the drive was old enough for me to remove the motor as well) and two at home.
I’m tempted, but the keylogger in the Win 10 preview has scared me off.
That, and the only machines that I can spare for Win 10 are based on now-ancient tech, like dual-core processors with DDR2 RAM. I’m still fairly sure that I’m going to be on Win 7 for a long, long while though 
I can’t wait for SSDs to improve. The PCIe SSDs that don’t use AHCI seem to be the way. I do like that, now that SSDs have become somewhat affordable, the hard drive market has gotten affordable again as well. For far too long after that Thailand flood, prices were astronomical for HDDs. Kinda like how RAM prices are still exorbitant well after the Hynix fire.
There is one thing that amuses me with computer parts. It’s funny how Intel processors, depending on the compared processor version, are more expensive than AMD. And, it also seems like Nvidia GPUs are higher than their AMD counterparts too. I still am going to stick with the FX AMD processors for my system. But, I would like to have went with a Nvidia GPU since their size is much smaller. If you want more than one later on, they fit nicely together when in SLI. But, I am not going to fork out the money for them.
The GPU I most likely will go with is the AMD R9 290 4GB. However, I am not getting the reference version at all. Hell no! Those things can run up to 92C° while under load. Sure that is when benchmarking was being done, but compared to its non-reference counterparts, that is just sad. Good luck with that GPU lasting. 
When it comes to temps, the cooler… the better. I will be getting the Sapphire Vapor-X R9 290 4GB. I was impressed with how cool and quite this card ran. Plus, it’s a step-up even from Sapphire’s normal line of Tri-X GPUs. The problem though… it is friggin’ huge! If I ever want a second one, it will be a tight fit.
http://www.sapphiretech.com/presentation/product/?cid=1&gid=3&sgid=1227&pid=2168&psn=&lid=1&leg=0
I upgraded to that card a while back and I am impressed with it. It is rather monstrous, but it does fit in my mid-tower case.
My only complaint with the card is that the temperature lighting is near the “front” of the card and as such isn’t as visible as I’d like through my case window that is above the opposite side of the case.
I just wish that AMD would update their FX processor line. It is a generation behind where they’re at currently with CPU tech. I like my Piledriver CPU but I’d like to have the improvements brought with Steamroller.
Hey Lumis, that’s the truth! On my old desktop I ended up going with a graphics card cooler from this company → http://www.arctic.ac/us_en/products/cooling/vga.html .
It worked like a champ and my machine didn’t sound like a jet turbine anymore under heavy load haha.
The only thing was dismantling the graphics card assembly to install this closed loop liquid cooler was quite nerve wracking.
-Mo-
Hey Lumis and Celestial,
Here is another cooling option ( http://www.pugetsystems.com/nav/aquarium/mATX/customize.php) if you are adventurous and really want to make sure that warranty is voided.
I always wanted to make one of these mineral oil cooled rigs. Would be one heck of a mess though haha.
-Mo-
[quote=celestial_being]
I upgraded to that card a while back and I am impressed with it. It is rather monstrous, but it does fit in my mid-tower case.[/quote]
Ha… small world. 
That temp light is a nice bonus. I would like to get the 290X rather than the 290, though it is a little harder to find. And, I can get the 290 for 300 bucks off of Newegg. There is not really a super difference in terms of the downgrade that warrants me paying that much more for the upgraded version.
The case I’m going for is a full-tower case, but with the hard drive cages in… I only would have 5mm space from the back of the card. However, the hard drive cages are fully modular, and I can take out sections if need be. Here’s the simple yet nice case I will be going with… (Smaller full tower case none the less…)
[quote=moisme]
Hey Lumis, that’s the truth! On my old desktop I ended up going with a graphics card cooler from this company -> http://www.arctic.ac/us_en/products/cooling/vga.html.
It worked like a champ and my machine didn’t sound like a jet turbine anymore under heavy load haha. The only thing was dismantling the graphics card assembly to install this closed loop liquid cooler was quite nerve wracking.[/quote]
That is a nice cooler. Thanks for the link! You would need that with some cards out there. But, I do hear you with having to dismantle your GPU to mount it on. I took apart my broken GPU for research purposes and it was tricky to get back together. With several 100 dollars in your hand… I would sweat too.
[quote=moisme]
Here is another cooling option ( http://www.pugetsystems.com/nav/aquarium/mATX/customize.php ) if you are adventurous and really want to make sure that warranty is voided.[/quote]
I remember seeing these before… LOL! If I had the money, that would be something cool to mess with. But as I am sure you are thinking too, I wouldn’t want it to be my main system. My head still finds this so odd.
My thoughts exactly.
If I wanted to run 2 of these in a system then I would have to jump into aftermarket liquid cooling. Luckily, the GPU runs all games that I’ve tried at 2560*1440 at pretty much a minimum of 60 FPS (only dips are from the CPU holding things back). This should hold me until I can get a 4 or 5K monitor. 
I’m somewhat impressed with AMD’s Mantle technology. Currently there are only a few games that use it and I don’t believe that any of those that do are fully optimized for it, but despite that I see large FPS gains in Thief and minor FPS and quality upgrades in Sniper Elite 3 (both games that came for free with the GPU). I do hope Mantle gains traction as I’m fearful that DirectX 12 will be Win8.1+ only and I’m not ready to move past 7 yet.
When it comes to this crazy computer parts industry, just a few numbers more are always a good thing… but depending on the part, the dang price can double if not triple. Of course you shouldn’t look at the specs too much with anything, and many fall prey to that alone. I should be fine with this card as well.
I would like to upgrade my monitor to what you have, but I am still satisfied with my 1920x1080 24inch. And, we’ll see how long it takes for the “K” resolutions to catch on… LOL! Hell, considering some stuff out there is still not offered in full HD. I won’t even get into the 720 argument with some offerings out there. Oh wellz.
Summed up… there still is a lot of catch-up to be done. And truly, upgrading all my TVs either is something that would be a pricey annoyance. Even if you have the money, which many don’t, keeping up with it is enough of a headache even if you have some extra cash to blow… ˙bangs head.˙
Just curious… how long would you say until you see the new 4K fad take off, Celestial… or anyone?
IMO, 4k won’t take off until we get blurays that can hold it and TV stations that broadcast in it; I don’t predict people buying a monitor that is 4 to 9 times the resolution of much of the content that they can put on it.
I believe we need to think long and hard about 4k before taking the plunge. I watched some of the recently restored Jurassic Park up close on a 4k screen and was impressed with the clarity, I could see that some of the actors were wearing “pancaked” makeup.
But it ruined the CGI dinosaurs, they just screamed fake.
4k really really shows flaws, well beyond what true HD was able to do.
Mark Gosdin
Sadly I haven’t actually seen 4K content live on a 4K display. I’ve seen The Hobbit on a 4K display, but I saw that it was hooked up to a bluray player so I was just seeing an upscale 
That’s a big part of why I’m against CG being used to create entire effects in live-action footage. FWIW lol.
TBH, I find it discomforting that a 5K display has a higher resolution than most films are being shot at. It’s already uncanny when I realize that my 1440 display is higher resolution than most all TV shows as they’re made in 2K. I’ve seen somewhere that the average approximate resolution for actual film is 5K, meaning movies made before the late 90s could look better than all of the movies that have been made since then.
So, going on that, when we get 5K displays and 5K blurays then I can finally watch 70s movies at the quality that theatre goers 40-some years ago could have gotten. I have the 1080 bluray of Patton and at 2K it blows the DVD version away in quality and 5K is, what, over 7 times as detailed as 2K?
[quote=“mgosdin, post:3371, topic:5786”]
But it ruined the CGI dinosaurs, they just screamed fake.[/quote]
That is kind of sad. But, I echo Celestial with the fact that not all should be done in CG. I wonder how Avatar would look after the 4K upscale? 
I’m a little happy today. I got my GPU from Newegg in one piece. Didn’t take long at all. I feel like a dumbass though since I didn’t remember to get a longer 8 pin power supply chord. That may be a problem. I’ll end up having to make another Newegg order then. But, hopefully I don’t have any problems with it.
And as a bonus, I received some of my recent Amazon orders too which include these little nifty gems. I’m sure you recognize these ones, Slow. They are great quality… 
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