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Will a SATA drive with 16MB buffer noticeably outperform one with 8MB

V

vulcanman

Senior member
I just bought a 320GB WD SATA II drive for my Core 2 Duo machine.

Turns out the model I received has 8MB buffer. But the 16MB buffer version is only $3 more. Darn ! Wish my research was more thorough.

Should I exchange ... I will have to RMA and ship mine and wait for the replacement etc. etc. etc. Should I ?

TIA
 
Originally posted by: vulcanman
I just bought a 320GB WD SATA II drive for my Core 2 Duo machine.

Turns out the model I received has 8MB buffer. But the 16MB buffer version is only $3 more. Darn ! Wish my research was more thorough.

Should I exchange ... I will have to RMA and ship mine and wait for the replacement etc. etc. etc. Should I ?

TIA
Click to expand...

You likely will never notice the difference
 
For a difference of only three dollars, I would get the SE16MB 320GB. I have that one and it is pretty fast for such a big drive. I think you will notice a difference....Get it.
 
Noticable difference? No. But would it be worth an extra $3? Hell yes. Would it be worth it now you've got it? Not really.
 
I still think it's worth you getting for a price difference of three dollars....just my two cents.
 
Not worth the hassle just tell everyone you have the 16mb version cchances are 95% of the people you would tell wouldn't have a clue in what your're talking about 😉


Ausm
 
Originally posted by: Ausm
Not worth the hassle just tell everyone you have the 16mb version cchances are 95% of the people you would tell wouldn't have a clue in what your're talking about 😉


Ausm
Click to expand...

LMAO.......
 
I just upgraded from a Samsung SP1614c (8 MB cache, 80 GB platter density) to a Western Digital 3200KS (16 MB cache, ~107 GB platter density), and while the difference in speed and snappiness is noticeable, it's not night and day.

So, if you're happy with your current drive, I probably wouldn't bother doing the RMA swap (are you responsible for inbound shipping costs and are they guaranteeing that the RMA replacement will be brand new vs. refurbished?)

Also, I am currently using my dad's Dell e1705 laptop to write this and even though it's only got 2 x 256 MB memory and a (I think) 5400 rpm notebook hard drive, the system seems very snappy.

Biggest difference between the three drives seems to be in sustained transfer rates (e.g. load time for Windows or other large programs or files), with obviously the highest platter density and rpm making a very noticeable difference.
 
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