does the hard drive matter?

wilfredo · 06-07-2009, 11:32 PM

suppose i have a hard drive with 160GB, would that affect my gaming capabilities. what advantages and dis advantages does a hard drive with 160 GB have.

GeorgeKS · 06-08-2009, 01:06 AM

Hi
What matters (as far as HDD performance is concerned) is Rotation Speed, Interface/throughput and to a lesser degree cache.

Is your HDD IDE/SATA/SATA II/SCSI?
What is the rotation speed? Search time is of great importance.

**koala** · 06-08-2009, 06:46 AM

Another thing that affects a hard drive's performance is the amount of free space on the drive. For a 160GB drive, there should be at least 25GB free space (15%). Also, defrag regularly.

Ideally, your 160GB drive should have a rotation speed of 7200rpm, use a SATA2 interface and have a 32mb cache, but small hard drives tend to be not as good so you might only have a speed of 5000rpm, IDE interface and 8mb cache which could make games feel slow and jerky.

wilfredo · 06-08-2009, 03:07 PM

the rotation speed of this hard drive is 7200 RPM and it is a SATA

**koala** · 06-08-2009, 03:12 PM

As long as you keep 15% free space and run defrag every few weeks, the hard drive won't slow down your games.

man22hog · 06-08-2009, 03:17 PM

The only disadvantage that I can see is when you install lots of games in it then you defrag it, run antivirus scan, spyware/malware scan. It might a take a while with that gigantic hdd.

Are you gonna use it just for installing games like a secondary hdd? or with windows as well? all together.

Zealex · 06-08-2009, 03:17 PM

You can use Auslogics Disk Defrag to defrag rather than windows defragger. Koala showed me that a long time ago and its much faster than regular defrag and you don't need 15% free space.
And make sure your computer is clean and dust free, I think if the HDD gets hot which I think is rare but if it does get hot, pins won't be Aline as much anymore so it won't run as well.

06-07-2009, 11:32 PM	#1 (permalink)
wilfredo Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: los angeles Posts: 54 OS: xp	does the hard drive matter? suppose i have a hard drive with 160GB, would that affect my gaming capabilities. what advantages and dis advantages does a hard drive with 160 GB have.

06-08-2009, 01:06 AM	#2 (permalink)
GeorgeKS Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 136 OS: Windows Vista Ultimate SP2 32/64bit My System	Re: does the hard drive matter? Hi What matters (as far as HDD performance is concerned) is Rotation Speed, Interface/throughput and to a lesser degree cache. Is your HDD IDE/SATA/SATA II/SCSI? What is the rotation speed? Search time is of great importance.

06-08-2009, 06:46 AM	#3 (permalink)
koala Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: UK Posts: 12,350 OS: XP/7/Ubuntu My System	Re: does the hard drive matter? Another thing that affects a hard drive's performance is the amount of free space on the drive. For a 160GB drive, there should be at least 25GB free space (15%). Also, defrag regularly. Ideally, your 160GB drive should have a rotation speed of 7200rpm, use a SATA2 interface and have a 32mb cache, but small hard drives tend to be not as good so you might only have a speed of 5000rpm, IDE interface and 8mb cache which could make games feel slow and jerky. __________________ New members: Subscribe to your thread (Thread Tools) to receive an instant email notification when you get a reply. TSF Folding@Home Team 85015 - details here

06-08-2009, 03:07 PM	#4 (permalink)
wilfredo Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: los angeles Posts: 54 OS: xp	Re: does the hard drive matter? the rotation speed of this hard drive is 7200 RPM and it is a SATA

06-08-2009, 03:12 PM	#5 (permalink)
koala Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: UK Posts: 12,350 OS: XP/7/Ubuntu My System	Re: does the hard drive matter? As long as you keep 15% free space and run defrag every few weeks, the hard drive won't slow down your games. __________________ New members: Subscribe to your thread (Thread Tools) to receive an instant email notification when you get a reply. TSF Folding@Home Team 85015 - details here

06-08-2009, 03:17 PM	#6 (permalink)
man22hog Registered User Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 109 OS: Windows XP SP2	Re: does the hard drive matter? The only disadvantage that I can see is when you install lots of games in it then you defrag it, run antivirus scan, spyware/malware scan. It might a take a while with that gigantic hdd. Are you gonna use it just for installing games like a secondary hdd? or with windows as well? all together. __________________ Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted

06-08-2009, 03:17 PM	#7 (permalink)
Zealex Tech, Games Team Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: USA Posts: 2,158 OS: Windows Vista Home Premium 32 bit SP2 My System	Re: does the hard drive matter? You can use Auslogics Disk Defrag to defrag rather than windows defragger. Koala showed me that a long time ago and its much faster than regular defrag and you don't need 15% free space. And make sure your computer is clean and dust free, I think if the HDD gets hot which I think is rare but if it does get hot, pins won't be Aline as much anymore so it won't run as well. __________________ Xfire Steam Nvidia Drivers ATI Drivers DirectX 9.0c Game-O-Meter System Information for Windows(SIW) Revo Uninstaller Last edited by Zealex; 06-08-2009 at 03:18 PM.