Hard Drive Cache...

[PureEvil]

I'm gonna get an 80 gig HD, but I'm not sure whether to get a 2MB cache or an 8MB cache.

The price is nearly the same, but I'm just wondering if the 8MB adds an extra stress to the power supply or anything like that. Are there any negative aspects to having an 8MB cache compared to a 2MB?

[GiMpY-wAnNaBe]

not that i can think of. Go for the 8!!!!

go for 8 megs thats all im going to tell you

[Yoda9864]

I see absolutely no reason not to get an 8mb cache. It really does make a big difference with your harddrive.

[Jason1]

Now I notice I can get an 8MB Cache buffer on my new hard drive for only 17 extra bucks, so now im curious, what are the advantages of an 8MB Cache?

[Null]

large cache, can cache more :P lol

[Seven7]

I was abit curious about the 8mb cache myself so I went looking at TomsHardware.

8 MB Cache - A Winning Tool

Some of you may wonder how this cache memory is used. Generally, it works like the cache memory of a CPU: it is a fast buffer, faster than the actual device (this is the drive logic, in case the processor or the memory interface becomes the bottleneck). The practical use of these caches is determined by complex algorithms.

The cache algorithm usually knows the requests that it has to process. If some access wants specific data, the drive logic may anticipate that more accesses will ask for this product. In order to avoid reading from the hard drive several times, the logic will put this data into the cache memory, so that the drive will be able to handle future requests immediately. Another smart move of cache algorithms would be to read some additional data that is usually requested afterwards.

Reading data from the cache memory is much faster than going the troublesome way through the physical hard drive. Here, the burst transfer rate is the limiting factor.

As you can imagine, the efficiency of such a cache memory highly depends on the algorithm that is used, as well as the cache size. The more data is cached, the better the chance for cache-hits, and performance will increase.

I think that helped abit.

[manasecret]

Thanks, Seven. That probably explains why when I load a game multiple times because I die or screw up something, it goes much much faster after the first time.

[Jason1]

Yes, that did clear quite a few things up. It sounds like its worth the extra 17 bucks that I will have to pay to get it.