The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    hard drive question, cache size

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by TazDevilz, Oct 14, 2006.

  1. TazDevilz

    TazDevilz Newbie

    Reputations:
    -1
    Messages:
    7
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    hi guys, might be looking to put together an affordable lightweight notebook

    how much of a performance hit is it, assuming its a 100gb or 120gb 5400rpm ide drive, for 2mb cache vs 8mb cache -- will it become a bottleneck?

    i can get a decent deal on an wd scorpio 2.5 100gb 5400ide, but its only 2mb cache, so im wondering if its worth the extra money to get 8mb since thats pretty much the standard now

    im lookin at assembling a z35f with a t2400

    appreciate any input thx
     
    TazDevilz, Oct 14, 2006
    #1
  2. ZaZ

    ZaZ Super Model Super Moderator

    Reputations:
    4,982
    Messages:
    34,001
    Likes Received:
    1,415
    Trophy Points:
    581
    I'd go for the 8MB. Even better would be the 7200RPM which offers better system performance.
     
    ZaZ, Oct 15, 2006
    #2
  3. TazDevilz

    TazDevilz Newbie

    Reputations:
    -1
    Messages:
    7
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    so safe to assume regardless of what hd i choose, it will still be the slowest component of the laptop right?
     
    TazDevilz, Oct 15, 2006
    #3
  4. ZaZ

    ZaZ Super Model Super Moderator

    Reputations:
    4,982
    Messages:
    34,001
    Likes Received:
    1,415
    Trophy Points:
    581
    Really depends on what you are doing.
     
    ZaZ, Oct 16, 2006
    #4
  5. ajfink

    ajfink Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    58
    Messages:
    970
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    In most cases, the hard drive is one of the primary bottlenecks of any system. In the case of a modern laptop with a Core Duo, C2D, or Turion X2 and enough RAM, it will almost definitely be the most significant bottleneck in loading programs and starting your computer, and certain other things.
     
    ajfink, Oct 16, 2006
    #5