The following chart takes a slightly different angle on Parallel ATA hard drive prices, and attempts to discern overall value using a price per GB figure, and then sorting by it. This chart pushes the lowest $/GB rating to the top, and uses a tried-and-true method of illustrating where the best overall values may exist, Of course, no method is foolproof, and other factors like performance or features certainly come into play, but it does give us a different view on what brands, speeds and capacities offer the best bang for the buck.
The Parallel ATA market continues to evolve, mirroring the SATA drives somewhat, and the 250GB to 320GB range now has a firm hold on overall PATA hard drive value. These hard drives hold the top five places on the chart, up from only the top three last month. The Western Digital SE 250GB is the best value this month, but the Maxtor DiamondMax 10 (with its 16MB cache) is a real price-performance demon. The Maxtor DiamondMax Plus9 80GB is now officially the worst PATA value, although this is followed closely by the Western Digital RAID Edition 120GB, both of which cost over 80-cents per GB.