Spinpoint F3 1TB v Sinpoint F4 2TB

Gregry254

Gregry254

Gregry254

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What is the difference between the 2 speed wise?

I know the 1TB spins faster but the seek times are the same?

I did a quick read/write test on my F4 2TB using HDtune (free) this morning and it seemed to get about 130mb/s write and 120mb/s reads. Which correct me if I am wrong is pretty nice for a non SSD?

I only ask because I have seen a few posts requesting a spec on a system with lots of storage and people usually chose to include the 1TB over the 2TB even though there is less than £10 of difference for double the memory.
 
With regards to seek times, they've not really improved in years (decades?), it's down to how fast you can move the heads, not the disk speed.
The only (hard) drives that have better seek times are the raptors, and they only achieve that because they have smaller platters, less distance to move the heads.
 
Weird dave

No disrespect meant... but the spin speed does have a bearing. As obviously the heads can reach a point on the disk faster. Another reason the raptors (10,000 RPM) have slightly faster seek times.
 
Im currently mulling over getting an F3 myself.

The hdd drives I have in my 2 pc's are slow!

My gaming pc has this: st3320620as

My media pc has this

I can afford an SSD but they are still expensive, and I only use my gaming machine strictly for gaming.

I was thinking of getting an F3 for my media pc as Im running out of space, and then see what the performance is like and then maybe pick one up for my gaming pc also.

I mean if the F3 is fast enough for only £45, is it still worth shelling out up to £200 for an SSD?

Any one own an F3 and say that they are fast enough for gaming PC's?
 
mikeo said:
Weird dave

No disrespect meant... but the spin speed does have a bearing. As obviously the heads can reach a point on the disk faster. Another reason the raptors (10,000 RPM) have slightly faster seek times.
Click to expand...

It will impact slightly, but the slow bit is moving the head across the disk and is therefore the major shareholder :)
 
opethdisciple said:
Any one own an F3 and say that they are fast enough for gaming PC's?
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Just about any drive will be fast enough for gaming. I have been using a Spinpoint F1 as my main drive for OS and programs for the last 3 years and have played games from mine sweeper to crysis.

If I am right the only difference the HDD will make is how fast each game/level loads.
 
I used to have a 30GB SSD + 1TB F3 for games and files. Now I've just got the F3 as it failed :( but apart from the responsiveness of the OS I've not noticed much difference. That said games weren't on the SSD! But I'd wait til theyre a bit more established and get cheaper, F3 is plenty fast enough and such a good price for the storage and performance!
 
For instance at the start of a map in BFBC2 I get about 5secs of just major lag where I cant move as it reads from the hdd.

So you mean its not worth getting an SSD yet, from purely a pc gaming frame per second perspective?

Is the F3 better than the seagate?
 
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opethdisciple said:
Is the F3 better than the seagate?
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Yes.

We're left with Samsung's Spinpoint F3, which is our clear favorite of the four. Not only does the F3 offer the best performance in all manner of sequential transfers, it's easily the quietest of the drives overall. I'm not thrilled by the fact that the F3's transaction rates drop off after 32 concurrent I/O requests, but that's not a condition many desktop users are likely to face. Besides, the Spinpoint certainly held its own in our disk-intensive multitasking tests, which are far more indicative of the sort of workloads produced by enthusiast desktops. Samsung doesn't give up much ground to the Caviar when it comes to random access times, either.
Click to expand...

7,200-RPM terabytes from Hitachi, Samsung, Seagate, and WD face off
 
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