Hard Drive NCQ: Performance increase?

[Rike]

I'm waiting for the nForce4 Ultras to release (why, see below) before I buy and while I was working on the specs, I started wondering about Native Command Queuing (NCQ).

I understand it is supposed to improve hard drive performance, but by how much? 2%? 5%? 20% like I've seen in some ads? Anyone know the real story?

(Why wait for nForce4 when I don't want SLI? I'm working on a build for a non-gamer client who upgrades infrequently (4 years!), but when he does upgrade he spends big and expects it to last and perform for the next 4 years. I'm trying to give him every option I can for the future.)

So do a NCQ hard drive/mobo combo have a performance advantage over a combo that lacks it? If so, how much?

Your knowledgeable input is high valued!

 

[Acanthus]

NCQ doesnt increase performance for home users. Its more of a file server targeted feature that improves performance when thousands of requests are being made every minute.

 

[Rike]

So I would be better off looking at other more conventional features like cache size or spindle speed for increased desktop performance?

 

[slash196]

It also decreases performance hits from badly fragmented drives. And don't forget the SATAII support of the nForce 4.

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: Rike
So I would be better off looking at other more conventional features like cache size or spindle speed for increased desktop performance?

Well i believe the raptor is the only NCQ drive anyway, so it has the highest spindle speed. The 16MB drives dont have the seek times of the raptor.

 

[formulav8]

I believe Seagates latest hd's support ncq. Also I think MAxtors Maxline supports it also. I could be wrong though, of course.


Jason

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: formulav8
I believe Seagates latest hd's support ncq. Also I think MAxtors Maxline supports it also. I could be wrong though, of course.


Jason

I havent visited storagereview in a while, this very well may be true.

 

[masshass81]

Seagate 120GB Barracuda 7200RPM SATA II with NCQ Hard Drive

 

[DaFinn]

See here!

while it helps server performance, SATA TCQ is detrimental to non-server use...

Hope that helps...

 

[edelbrock]

Originally posted by: Acanthus

Originally posted by: Rike
So I would be better off looking at other more conventional features like cache size or spindle speed for increased desktop performance?

Well i believe the raptor is the only NCQ drive anyway, so it has the highest spindle speed. The 16MB drives dont have the seek times of the raptor.

Actually the Raptor uses TCQ. There are not many TCQ enabled controllers that I am aware of. It is more of a server thing.

 

[Rike]

Originally posted by: DaFinn
See here!

while it helps server performance, SATA TCQ is detrimental to non-server use...

Hope that helps...

Solid link, DaFinn. Thanks! It looks like NCQ is not for my client (or for me for that matter )

My thanks to everyone for the info. AT rocks!