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16mb and 8mb cache what's the difference

L

lurchbourke

Member
using IDE/133 just wondering what's the difference between 16mb and 8mb cache in a harddrive is the extra cache only usful on a faster computer i'm putting together an old pc for my mother, heres the spec

athlon XP 1.3Ghz
Asus A7V8X-MX-EAYZ
TwinMos pc2700 512mb FSB333 one stick
using onboard video and sound

thanks for reading this
 
Well, based on the specs, the computer is not going to be able to run difficult to run games and applications. And, the 16mb cache is usually only advantagous when used in those types of applications. But, if you want to know, the main differences between 16mb and 8mb are better transfer rates, less cpu usage and shorter access time.

Adam
 
16MB cache won't improve sustained transfer rate, cpu usage or random access. What it does is put more data in a RAM buffer on the hard drive, so the hard drive doesn't have to physically access data on the disk as often. The SDRAM chip on the underside of the hard drive used for the buffer should be able to max out any hard drive interface. It usually means a measurable, but pretty small boost in performance.

It is doubtful the extra cache will be noticable, especially on a machine that old. If there is an 8mb version and a 16mb version of the same drive with a small difference in price, you could go with the 16mb. Performance differences are much larger between drive families than between different cached models. That 800JB suggested for instance is an old drive, and pretty slow compared to newer 7200RPM drives, but that's more to do with its age than cache or interface or anything else.

 
sorry i forgot to say that i'm in ireland so newegg is not a option, i hear there's uk portal for newegg opening but it ain't there yet so anyone got any other good places to buy pc components?
 
Hi, Any cache is filled while the processor is busy with other jobs. The cache is many many time faster than the drive and will supply the processor from the cache whenever possible. A larger cache will give more of a speedup of data from and to the drive. There is more to it than this, but maybe this will help.
Good Luck, Jim
 
Originally posted by: JimPhelpsMI
Hi, Any cache is filled while the processor is busy with other jobs. The cache is many many time faster than the drive and will supply the processor from the cache whenever possible. A larger cache will give more of a speedup of data from and to the drive. There is more to it than this, but maybe this will help.
Good Luck, Jim
Click to expand...


with small chunks of data which is bigger than 8mg sure it will speed up, but as soon as u need large ammount of data continuesly it does not help, cause really u will be still waiing on the drive and cache sizes of 16, 8 or 2 wont make any diff what so ever in that scenario.

In the end unless u can pre-fetch data effectively cache on HDDs serves no purpose what so ever.
 
Cache makes a decent difference in some situations, but does almost nothin in others. In the system you have there, 16MB cache wont really do anything more than the 8MB cache (but it will cost more).

RoD
 
Originally posted by: lurchbourke
sorry i forgot to say that i'm in ireland so newegg is not a option, i hear there's uk portal for newegg opening but it ain't there yet so anyone got any other good places to buy pc components?
Click to expand...
I think TigerDirect.com may be an option for you. See their Help Center info on International Orders. Here's a terrific deal from them on a 160MB Seagate drive: Seagate / 160GB / 7200 / 8MB / Ultra ATA-100 / EIDE / OEM / Hard Drive and eTrust Internet Security Suite 2006. However, I'm not suggesting your mother needs a drive this large; she does not. The 80GB Western Digital drive suggested in a previous message would be a good choice; you might search for it on TigerDirect.com.
 
It's amazing how much bad advice and random speculation you're getting here. I'd say these are the two people who know what they're talking about.


Originally posted by: obeseotron
16MB cache won't improve sustained transfer rate, cpu usage or random access. What it does is put more data in a RAM buffer on the hard drive, so the hard drive doesn't have to physically access data on the disk as often. The SDRAM chip on the underside of the hard drive used for the buffer should be able to max out any hard drive interface. It usually means a measurable, but pretty small boost in performance.


It is doubtful the extra cache will be noticable, especially on a machine that old. If there is an 8mb version and a 16mb version of the same drive with a small difference in price, you could go with the 16mb. Performance differences are much larger between drive families than between different cached models. That 800JB suggested for instance is an old drive, and pretty slow compared to newer 7200RPM drives, but that's more to do with its age than cache or interface or anything else.
Click to expand...


Originally posted by: rod
Cache makes a decent difference in some situations, but does almost nothin in others. In the system you have there, 16MB cache wont really do anything more than the 8MB cache (but it will cost more).

RoD
Click to expand...


So, all other things being equal, it's very unlikely that the cache difference will make any difference whatsoever on that system, but if you want some really specific info you're going to need to say exactly what the computer's going to be used for ... although, unless it's going to be some kind of server, the answer is still going to be just get the fastest drive in your budget and don't worry about cache.
 
16mb cache could definitely help when video editing over 8mb. Any improvements with a larger cache is a good feature. Since I use 7200rpm hdds for my rig and with price drops and better caches, wow, I'm happy. Having the 10,000 RPM drives are nice for some folk, but I'm country folk, we like to stretch our assets.
 
Originally posted by: pkme2
16mb cache could definitely help when video editing over 8mb. Any improvements with a larger cache is a good feature. Since I use 7200rpm hdds for my rig and with price drops and better caches, wow, I'm happy. Having the 10,000 RPM drives are nice for some folk, but I'm country folk, we like to stretch our assets.
Click to expand...
Has anyone actually read the OP, or just the title?!?!?

The PC this will be going in is an "athlon XP 1.3Ghz" with "TwinMos pc2700 512mb FSB333 one stick". If he is video editing on this, the amount of cache on his HDD isn't going to make a difference.

lurchbourke:, just get an 8mb cache drive, with whatever capacity you need. 16MB will give you little to no performance increase.

RoD
 
why cant it run difficult applications? MY work machine is only an athlon 900 and I can run every application under the sun on it?
 
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