how can I check if my notebook supports SATAII?

OK, so I'm thinking about changing my HDD, since it's a 4200rpm 200GB.

I was thinking about getting a Samsung SATAII 7200rpm( storage doesn't matter that much, I already own an external device, as long as it's not less than my current HDD ).

But I was told that my Vaio model, VGN FZ140E, doesn't support SATAII. So I'd have to choose a SATA 5400rpm HDD.

I'd like to ask you how can I check it this is true. If so, would changing my HDD be a noticeable upgrade?

Also, among these brands, which one would you choose( for better performance, low noise, low energy comsumption etc. ): Samsung, WD or Seagate?

Thanks again.

Cheers,

-dadozen-

 

If you have an Intel 965 chipset, it`s supposed to be SATA 3gb/s

But sometime manufactures do not implement all features.

http://www.intel.com/products/desktop/chipsets/p965/p965-overview.htm

 

Yes my chipset is a 965. I think I'll try to get a SATA2 then...

Thanks a lot, especially for the link!

If anyone can comment on this as well, please, feel free to do so!

And sorry for my newbieness...

Cheers,

-dadozen-

 

There is no reason to apologize! Everyone has to start somewhere.

 

It's just that I feel so dumb asking this type of questions

So, I'm looking for some SATA2 HDDs, and I found a Samsung 500GB 5400rpm and a WD 320GB 7200rpm.

Which one is better? I was told that Samsung is a better brand than WD, but that's just one person.

 

Any SATA disk can work with either SATA I or SATA II, so don't worry about hardware compatibility.

SATA 1 has a 150MB/sec transfer limit (that's megabytes, not bits). SATA II has a 300MB/sec transfer limit. Both limits are theoretical and with computing overhead and so forth the actual limits are somewhat less.

Which SATA you have doesn't make any practical difference because there is no mechanical (i.e. traditional spinning) notebook hard drive in existence that can exceed 150MB/second in real-life use, nor is one likely to appear in the next few years are the current rate of development. The fastest mechanical HDD for notebooks hits a maximum of 100MB these days in sequential transfers.

It's important to know the difference between sequential transfers and random transfers. If a drive can pull data off the disc in sequence, such as a song or movie, then the speed is faster because the hard disk heads don't have to jump all over the drive. In a sequential read the computer simply goes to a particular address and reads it and all the ones following in sequence. Random reads happen when you open a program and the OS finds all the program files, the configuration files, the *.dll files, etc. Aside from the HDD heads having to jump around all over the disk, random reads take computing power (and thus time) to look up the address of each little block of data that is read. If you have a thousand random reads these little bits of time add up. In practical use, sequential read/write speed is unimportant. The only thing that really counts is random speed.

For a traditional spinning hard disk, the tests show that even the fastest drives can't achieve 1MB/sec in small block reads/writes. So the SATA I limitation is irrelevant.

If you are planning to buy a solid-state disk (and I highly recommend it) then the story is somewhat different. The fastest SSDs can exceed 150MB/sec in sequential read/write, but are somewhere between 30MB and 60MB on random read/write. What this means for you is that if your daily computer use involves moving really large files (over 1GB) all day, then the SATA I limit will have a small effect. If you are like the other 99.5% of users then the SATA I limit won't make any difference.

The bottom line for you is: yes, upgrade. Moving from 4200rpm drive to anything else can only improve your computer's performance.