Need a new/quicker hard drive... any suggestions?

punch the serial number into the western digital site, they may RMA it for you.

When I worked at the ebay place I would buy all the broken western digital hard drives from the owner, and RMA them to western digital for new ones.

I probably sold at least 50 drives this way.

As for my preference, I would go samsung. They are dead silent drives, and I have had great luck with them.

When you get a new drive steve, put a 80mm fan blowing across it. You really need to keep drive temps under 100 degrees F to keep them alive.