Quick bit of advice

Sandmaster500 · 20 Jan 2006 at 15:49

Hi, i'm looking around for a new hard drive to replace my 120gb maxtor which died

I already have a 200gb Spinny which i am very pleased with. So i'm thinking of getting:
Samsung SpinPoint P SP2504C 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-018-SA)
Or
Western Digital Caviar Special Edition 250GB 2500KS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-046-WD)

In the specs of the drives the spinny is slightly better, but then again the WD has the 16mb cache...

Which drive would give the best overall performace? Any other options welcome.

thanks

Sandmaster500 · 20 Jan 2006 at 16:12

http://www.samsung.com/Products/Har...HardDiskDrive_SpinPointPSeries_SP2504C_sp.htm
http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=133&Language=en

The spinny has less platters so less heat produced and higher data density (better performance)

What exactly is the cache for?
Anyone have/compared both the drives?

ty for the input

Sandmaster500 · 20 Jan 2006 at 16:22

Well it will be mainly used as a data drive, ie games, music, videos, etc.
Would probably prefer a faster access time that write time most of the time.

novid - why have you got your Spinny in a Silentmaxx? Never heard mine at all and i have ambers @ reduced volts.

Sandmaster500 · 24 Jan 2006 at 18:08

Koolio, would like to have a really quiet PC but wont be happeneing to me anytime soon, could be a fun project though.

Western Digital Caviar Special Edition 250GB 2500KS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-046-WD)
Looking through its spec i can't see anything that says it has NCQ which is one of the major benifits of SATA II i believe?

ta

Sandmaster500 · 26 Jan 2006 at 20:25

oki doki. Am really torn between the two. Probably going to go for the sammy as it is slightly faster and has the advantage of being nice a quiet