Hard Drive Spec Question

[bigdawgfoxx]

Hey. Ok on harddrives I know 7200 RPM means repatitions per min and stuff...but what exactly does that mean? I mean what is the performance diff in 7200 and 10000. Worth that much more? I mean what does that increase performance wise that a person would see? Also the 2MB and 8MB of Cache...what does that do?

[harrycary]

In theory, the faster a hard-drive can spin, the fewer revolutions it needs to access data on it.
Also important is access speeds, shown in milliseconds(ms). It's desired to be as little as possible.
The cache is where data goes before it is processed onto your motherboard. No moving parts here, so, movement of data is much quicker. The concept is similar to increasing your systems' memory. The larger the better.

Basically it comes down to moving data. You want any mechanical moving parts to move as fast as possible.

In the near future, you will see solid-state hardrives(no moving parts) and speed will become a non-issue.

edit: Your software, PC configuration, etc will affect the speed at which data moves throughout your system. It's hard to tell you what real-world performance you will get. Especially since PC performance has almost plateaued. I mean, until 64 bit processing and other technologies become more common, most new PCs perform plenty fast for the average user.

In my opinion, configuring your PC to run as lean as possible will give you the best performance.

I'm sure others may contribute more. But, that's the basics of it.

[bigdawgfoxx]

Solid State harddrives?? Wont something always have to move? Also...I have a 7200 and I duno the cache size..2MB at most prob. Newayz...when you say access...WHAT do you access? Is it when you click your C: drive under My Computer? Cuz mines instant.

[clocker]

Originally posted by bigdawgfoxx@2 December 2003 - 19:39
when you say access...WHAT do you access? Is it when you click your C: drive under My Computer? Cuz mines instant.

Data, Dawg, data.

Any time you ask you machine to do anything it has to hunt up the appropriate data to execute your wish. The faster the HDD spins the faster that data is found.
That is why a heavily fragmented disk is slower... the bits of data are spread all over hell and gone and it takes a while to round them up and read 'em.

[_John_Lennon_]

Originally posted by clocker+2 December 2003 - 23:01--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (clocker @ 2 December 2003 - 23:01)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-bigdawgfoxx@2 December 2003 - 19:39
when you say access...WHAT do you access? Is it when you click your C: drive under My Computer?&nbsp; Cuz mines instant.

Data, Dawg, data.

[/b][/quote]
Indeed, it is more noticable thus on say, moving bigger applications, or something of that sort, pulling up big files etc etc etc,

Thats why they put the cheaper drives, 5400 RPM, 2MB cache in the budget computers, because the performance would be less noticable if you are using the comp for its best suited apps (simple stuff, word processing, surfing net, casual stuff.)

[Twist3r]

Originally posted by harrycary@3 December 2003 - 03:33
In theory, the faster a hard-drive can spin, the fewer revolutions it needs to access data on it.
Also important is access speeds, shown in milliseconds(ms). It&#39;s desired to be as little as possible.
The cache is where data goes before it is processed onto your motherboard. No moving parts here, so, movement of data is much quicker. The concept is similar to increasing your systems&#39; memory. The larger the better.

Basically it comes down to moving data. You want any mechanical moving parts to move as fast as possible.

In the near future, you will see solid-state hardrives(no moving parts) and speed will become a non-issue.

edit: Your software, PC configuration, etc will affect the speed at which data moves throughout your system. It&#39;s hard to tell you what real-world performance you will get. Especially since PC performance has almost plateaued. I mean, until 64 bit processing and other technologies become more common, most new PCs perform plenty fast for the average user.

In my opinion, configuring your PC to run as lean as possible will give you the best performance.

I&#39;m sure others may contribute more. But, that&#39;s the basics of it.

daaamn thats one sexy avatar

[bigdawgfoxx]

Oh ok. So computer performance such as opening programs and stuff heavily realise on the HD speed?

[clocker]

No one part of your system determines it&#39;s performance.
Everything has to work together.
But, the faster the better is generally true.

[harrycary]

Oh ok. So computer performance such as opening programs and stuff heavily realize on the HD speed?

Yep. The fewer programs you&#39;ve got running, the more the hardrive will work at running what programs/operations that are active. That&#39;s why I mentioned running a "lean" machine. Like driving a car without running the A/C, you&#39;ll get better performance. (but these days new PCs will perform quite well when multitasking)

If you&#39;ve got Win2000/NT/Xp/XpPro, then defragging isn&#39;t as necessary. The New Type File System(NTFS) is better at organizing and manipulating data. As opposed to other Windows&#39; versions using File Allocation Tables(FAT) in which data fragments more easily and requires defragging much more regularly.

Btw, a solid state harddrive is just like a flash/jump/USB drive or your PCs memory. They can store and access data much the same way a harddrive can. They are available but still quite expensive and not large enough. But, no moving parts, no wear and tear&#33; And, speed far beyond what a mechanical harddrive can ever deliver. What a beautiful thing that would be.

peace

[quiksilver_aus]

rpm = revolutions per minute, not repetitions.

i just have a question
is the cache made of flash memory or is it something else?

whatever computer you&#39;re using, no matter how big the hd, you should defrag at least once every 2 weeks. when its been as long as 2 months, you can actually see your computer getting slower and a 40 gig HD can take up to an hour to completely defrag.


btw,
i have a 256mb (flash memory) mp3 player which i can store any type of file on it. maybe its just the USB cable that takes so long, but its really slow. to transfer a full 256 mb takes up to 6 min.