Performance difference between 8mb cache HDD and 32mb cache HDD

karhoe · 28th May 2008, 01:38 AM

As topic, I have few questions for you guys

Would there be a big difference in terms of performance between this 2 HDD?

Will the lesser HDD cache be a bottleneck factor when gaming with E8400, 2GB, 9600GT ?

Why is it that bigger HDD have more cache?

Thanks in advance

slugbug · 28th May 2008, 09:27 AM

A larger cache will be more noticeable when copying or transferring large files etc. I doubt an 8mb cache drive would bottleneck your PC components.

Adrian Wong · 28th May 2008, 09:40 AM

A larger cache is nice to have but not a deal breaker.

If you check the HDD Performance Comparison Guide, you will see that cache size has very little bearing on whether one hard drive is faster than another. In fact, we even have one notebook hard drive with 8MB cache beat a desktop hard drive with 16MB cache.

Adrian Wong · 28th May 2008, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slugbug

A larger cache will be more noticeable when copying or transferring large files etc. I doubt an 8mb cache drive would bottleneck your PC components.

Actually, if I'm not mistaken, the cache has minimal effect on large file transfers because even the largest cache (32MB) runs out in less than a second of buffer-to-host transfer. After all, the cache can only store anything from 8MB to 32MB of data.

After that runs out, the transfer is bottlenecked by the platter-to-buffer transfer speed. That's why the hard drive's DRAM buffer has far less effect on performance than say... spindle speed or areal density.

Chai · 29th May 2008, 07:46 AM

HDD will always be the bottleneck, it's the slowest and it's one of the only mechanical parts in your system, other than optical drive.

28th May 2008, 01:38 AM	#1 (permalink)
karhoe I'm a regular Join Date: 29 Nov 2006 Posts: 314 Reputation: 11 Rep Power: 3	Performance difference between 8mb cache HDD and 32mb cache HDD As topic, I have few questions for you guys Would there be a big difference in terms of performance between this 2 HDD? Will the lesser HDD cache be a bottleneck factor when gaming with E8400, 2GB, 9600GT ? Why is it that bigger HDD have more cache? Thanks in advance __________________ My Blog

28th May 2008, 09:40 AM	#3 (permalink)
Adrian Wong Da Boss Join Date: 10 Oct 2002 Location: In front of my ASUS F8V notebook! Posts: 30,146 Reputation: 3081 Rep Power: 67	A larger cache is nice to have but not a deal breaker. If you check the HDD Performance Comparison Guide, you will see that cache size has very little bearing on whether one hard drive is faster than another. In fact, we even have one notebook hard drive with 8MB cache beat a desktop hard drive with 16MB cache. __________________ Dr. Adrian Wong Tech ARP \| Blog @ Tech ARP \| The Free Trade Zone DYKT : The only offshore account I have is at the sand bank? Keep Tech ARP free! Visit our sponsors! We need PROGRAMMERS and TECHNICAL WRITERS! Contact us if you are a hot shot programmer or technical writer! My items for sale : 50x SD Card \| Memory Stick PRO \| Cyclone Energy Saver \| Seiko SS watch \| Tiger/Carlsberg beer jugs \| Travel Speakers \| Motorola V600 \| Nokia N90 SOLD! \| New Lowepro Mini Trekker AW Other items for sale @ the FTZ : Zalman CNPS9500 LED @ $20 \| Zalman CNPS7700 Cu @ $20 \| Zalman CNPS7000 Cu @ $20 \| Swarovski bracelet watches \| Dell 17" LCD \| Hi-Fi speakers \| English DIVX movies \| HP LaserJet toners! \| Office chairs

29th May 2008, 07:46 AM	#5 (permalink)
Chai Administrator Join Date: 6 Oct 2002 Location: Maranello Posts: 26,760 Reputation: 3984 Rep Power: 72	HDD will always be the bottleneck, it's the slowest and it's one of the only mechanical parts in your system, other than optical drive. __________________ Chai (Contributor & Forum Admin) http://www.techarp.com/

28th May 2008, 09:27 AM	#2 (permalink)
slugbug Warming up Join Date: 25 Apr 2006 Posts: 99 Reputation: 106 Rep Power: 0	A larger cache will be more noticeable when copying or transferring large files etc. I doubt an 8mb cache drive would bottleneck your PC components.