Acoustics and 16mb cache: seatgate and maxtor

[Benchern1f]

Hey there -
Long story short: going from a 2x 80GB 8mb seagate RAID system to a single 200mb maxtor 16mb cache drive - I just can't deal with RAID for this moment in my life...

Anyway, will I really notice much difference from 8mb to 16mb cache
and
how much difference in acoustics will I hear - remember going from seagate to maxtor.

I LOVE my seagates so much, but am thinking the extra 8mb in the cache to equal 16mb will make up for a little noice loss. Or am I wrong? Will a Seagate w/ 8mb still blow a maxtor out? I really have been out of the loop for 2 years, so please work with me!

Ben

 

[hclarkjr]

you will notice a difference, i went from a western digital 8 meg cache to a 16 meg cach maxtor and did see improvement. as for noise i have 2 maxtors in system right now and they are very quiet for me. i am sure some maxtor bashers will be along shortly to try and talk you out of going with maxtor but do not let them disuade you from buying it. i would suggest getting a 250gb drive though, COMPUSA is having a real good deal on them right now for $59 or so after rebate.

 

[orangat]

Originally posted by: Benchern1f
Hey there -
Long story short: going from a 2x 80GB 8mb seagate RAID system to a single 200mb maxtor 16mb cache drive - I just can't deal with RAID for this moment in my life...
Anyway, will I really notice much difference from 8mb to 16mb cache
and how much difference in acoustics will I hear - remember going from seagate to maxtor.
I LOVE my seagates so much, but am thinking the extra 8mb in the cache to equal 16mb will make up for a little noice loss. Or am I wrong? Will a Seagate w/ 8mb still blow a maxtor out? I really have been out of the loop for 2 years, so please work with me!

Ben

The improvements isn't necessarily just the cache size. After 2 yrs, newer drives have higher platter densities, better drive electronics, etc.

 

[Magnulus]

cache size beyond 2 MB shouldn't matter that much. OS's typically have their own cache for drives anyways. Extra cache on the drive is just due to the fact that "bigger is better", and RAM is ridiculously cheap now days.

 

[GTaudiophile]

I am in a similar bind: Deciding between a Seagate 7200.9 SATA 160GB (one platter) versus a Maxtor MaxLine III 250GB with 16MB Cache.

The Seagate will run cooler, may be a tad quieter, but the Maxtor should win in performance. Both are the same price with the same warranty.

 

[orangat]

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
I am in a similar bind: Deciding between a Seagate 7200.9 SATA 160GB (one platter) versus a Maxtor MaxLine III 250GB with 16MB Cache.

The Seagate will run cooler, may be a tad quieter, but the Maxtor should win in performance. Both are the same price with the same warranty.

The one platter 160Gb seagate slower. Where did you get this info from?? Quote your source.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Originally posted by: orangat

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
I am in a similar bind: Deciding between a Seagate 7200.9 SATA 160GB (one platter) versus a Maxtor MaxLine III 250GB with 16MB Cache.

The Seagate will run cooler, may be a tad quieter, but the Maxtor should win in performance. Both are the same price with the same warranty.

The one platter 160Gb seagate slower. Where did you get this info from?? Quote your source.

There have been no reviews of the 160GB drive, so I can't quote you a source. The Seagate does lack the 16MB cache, only has 8MB.

 

[furballi]

You're not going to notice any improvement with two identical drives where the ONLY difference is 8 vs 16MB cache.