Seagate NCQ HDs?

[teutonicknight]

Seagate 80GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model ST380013AS, OEM

Seagate 80 GB Barracuda 7200RPM SATA II with NCQ Hard Drive, Model ST380817AS, OEM

(The latter is SATAII w/ NCQing)

The price is about the same, show I go for the SATA2 version with NCQ? Are their any compatabilities issues or downsides to the SATA2 version?

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

You'd obviously need a SATA II capable mobo first, only present on nForce4 Ultra/SLI for A64. Not familiar with Intel's SATA II boards though.

Unless you're running a multithreaded app or doing serious multitasking, the benefits of NCQ are very small. Hyperthreading on an Intel system will make better use of NCQ than an A64.

If you're not doing a lot of multithreading, you'll see much more of a performance increase by moving to higher platter densities. Many HD makers are still using 80GB platters, while Seagate's new drives are using 133GB platters. 133/80 = +66%. 133/100 = +33%. Real world performance increases should be fairly close to the theoretical in this case.

 

[batmanuel]

I just picked up a 120GB version of the BCQ capable drive for my wife's new PC that I built around a P4 550 and 915PBL board (which doesn't have SATA-II, but the new ICH6R southbridge has support for NCQ). I've got to say that the new drive is quite smooth and responsive, even when I'm degfragging or virus scanning in the backgound. HT and NCQ go great together.

 

[Viper96720]

Lower desktop performance NCQ/TCQ is more for server type enviroments.

http://www.storagereview.com/a...406/20040625TCQ_1.html