TSGL: Hard Drive cache

[Alan Mitchell]

IMHO, the larger the cache, the better. The slowest part of most systems is
the interface to the disc. Many of the major disc vendors utilize cache for
two purposes. First, in retrieval, they use "look ahead" technology to
transfer likely sectors to the cache for retrieval from by the cpu. They
also use the cache to store disc updates until there is time to physically
transfer the data to the disc platter. Both of these activities take place
much faster than waiting for the electro-mechanical heads to move over the
track and wait for the disc to spin into position. If you have the
opportunity, I would recommend one of the new 10,000 rpm discs and SATA, if
your system supports the technology. I recently replaced a friend's C: 5400
rpm 32K cache hard drive with a 160GB, 32MB, 7200 rpm drive and he thinks he
has a new system.

Spring for the cache!

Alan 

-----Original Message-----
From: list-bounces at tsgserver.com [mailto:list-bounces at tsgserver.com] On
Behalf Of Don Penlington
Sent: Saturday, June 14, 2008 9:09 AM
To: Tech Support Guy Mailing List
Subject: TSGL: Hard Drive cache

I'm looking to buy a 2nd hard drive about 250-320 Gb, probably Samsung, WD
or Seagate.

I will probably use it as my primary drive, or may slave it for storage
only.

I notice that some have 16Mb cache, others 32Mb. The difference in price is
less than $10, other things being equal.

Is it worth paying an extra $6-10 for the larger cache?  Would I notice any
real difference?

What does the HD cache actually do?

Don Penlington
 From the Beach at Surfers Paradise in sunny Queensland.
Computer tutorials, local scenery,  and other things at my website:
http://users.tpg.com.au/deepend/index1.html


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