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2mb buffer to 8mb buffer, ATA100 to SATA, this even a good upgrade?

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CordialSpam

Member
Joined
May 29, 2004
Location
Alpharetta, Georgia
Well I am using a IBM 7200 rpm with 2mb buffer ATA100 cables HD. Sold for $35 , I can add another $35 from myself and get a HD with same rpm, same size, but it has 8mb buffer and SATA, is it gonna make a any difference b/t thsese two HDs?
 
Only the 8mb buffer will. It may not be a noticeable one (I didn't notice the difference) but the 8mb cache drives made a lot of press when they first came out.

Going from PATA-100 to SATA-150 offers no appreciable speed increase because even cutting edge drive technology cannot saturate the ATA-100 bus. The mechanical speed limits of drives are so far behind the electrical limits of interfaces that ATA-100 is still hardly ever stressed. The only time an interface is fully utilized is during the burst transfers from the drive's onboard cache, which don't usually amount to much.

The biggest benefit of SATA is the size and length of the cabling. The cables are small and very flexible, and the maximum electrical length limit is 36 inches rather than just 18, so you can put the drives anywhere you want inside your case.

In other words, this isn't an upgrade to strive for, but to make somewhere along the way, maybe as you upgrade your hard drive capacity to something bigger. I wouldn't do it for a drive of the same size and RPM.
 
Yes, the 8MB cache will make a difference, and as mentioned, SATA wont make much of a difference. However, SATA uses narrower cables which makes case airflow better, and avoids having loads of big ribbon cables everywhere :)
 
David said:
Yes, the 8MB cache will make a difference, and as mentioned, SATA wont make much of a difference. However, SATA uses narrower cables which makes case airflow better, and avoids having loads of big ribbon cables everywhere :)

Yeah the SATA cables are a dream come true.
 
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