Is there a difference between the IBM 60GB 180GXP and the "D180GXP"...

[spartacuskzm]

Purchased on for $75 at Fry's today. My receipt says Ultra DMA/100 Hard DR 8.5MS seek time; 7200 RPM, 2MB Buffer (cache I'm assuming). Most of the reviews I've read say the 180GXP has a 8MB cache.

Just curious.

Thanks.

 

[spartacuskzm]

Ahh...I think the D stands for Deskstar...but that doesn't answer the question about the 2MB buffer vs. 8MB cache. Is cache and buffer the same?

Thanks

 

[reicherb]

Cache and buffer are the same. Those drivers must not be the same.

 

[Dug]

So far only the 180GB version has the 8MB cache.

 

[FishTankX]

I'd assume that all 180GB drives have 8 meg cache, and anything else from the 180GXP series does not.
It seems that they find it necescescary to limit the performance enhancing 8 meg cache to their top end model, to keep the lower end models (which would give equal performance if armed with the same cache) from canabolizing sales of the higher end models.

 

[Bovinicus]

Fishtank's explanation makes sense. That's too bad though. I might have considered an IBM drive if it had the 8MB buffer. That suppsedly helps quite a bit for general usage, booting up, and loading games. The WD drives look like the only way to go now.