Hey!
So this has bothered me for awhile and seems to be pretty much swept under the rug in PC discussions.
When comparing hard drives of the same capacity and rotation speed (i.e. 500GB 7200RPM), what OTHER factors play a considerable role in the performance of a drive?
For an example: I have a Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM (16Mb cache, 3Gb/s) hard drive from 2007. It has just under 3,000 hours on it and reports good health. It has a large and clunky PCB and overall design.
I also have a Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM (16Mb Cache, 3GB/s) hard drive from 2014, and it has just under 4,000 hours and also reports good health. It is considerably more streamlined and has a flat and neat PCB.
Now, in comparing the two, they are both Seagate Barracudas, both at 7200RPM and both with 16Mb in cache. They have a comparable amount of usage, so wear is likely not a large factor between them. The only obvious difference is the 3GB/s vs 6Gb/s sata interface.
Despite all of this, the NEWER Seagate Barracuda is considerably faster than its older predecessor, EVEN WHEN PLUGGED INTO A 3GB/S SATA PORT, thereby bottle-necking it to the same speed cap as the older drive.
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My question is, what are the underlying factors that make the newer drive so much faster? Are these factors readily available on product pages when purchasing hard drives, or is it simply a guessing game in the end?
I.e. if I had the choice between a brand new 2018 WD Blue hard drive or a brand new 2018 Seagate Barracuda with what appear to be the same specs, how would I reasonably compare the two in terms of performance, since the RPM and cache size arent necessarily all there is to know?
----------------------
I realize this is long winded, but I deal with hard drives a lot, so this would be very good to know.
Thanks!
So this has bothered me for awhile and seems to be pretty much swept under the rug in PC discussions.
When comparing hard drives of the same capacity and rotation speed (i.e. 500GB 7200RPM), what OTHER factors play a considerable role in the performance of a drive?
For an example: I have a Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM (16Mb cache, 3Gb/s) hard drive from 2007. It has just under 3,000 hours on it and reports good health. It has a large and clunky PCB and overall design.
I also have a Seagate Barracuda 7200RPM (16Mb Cache, 3GB/s) hard drive from 2014, and it has just under 4,000 hours and also reports good health. It is considerably more streamlined and has a flat and neat PCB.
Now, in comparing the two, they are both Seagate Barracudas, both at 7200RPM and both with 16Mb in cache. They have a comparable amount of usage, so wear is likely not a large factor between them. The only obvious difference is the 3GB/s vs 6Gb/s sata interface.
Despite all of this, the NEWER Seagate Barracuda is considerably faster than its older predecessor, EVEN WHEN PLUGGED INTO A 3GB/S SATA PORT, thereby bottle-necking it to the same speed cap as the older drive.
----------------------
My question is, what are the underlying factors that make the newer drive so much faster? Are these factors readily available on product pages when purchasing hard drives, or is it simply a guessing game in the end?
I.e. if I had the choice between a brand new 2018 WD Blue hard drive or a brand new 2018 Seagate Barracuda with what appear to be the same specs, how would I reasonably compare the two in terms of performance, since the RPM and cache size arent necessarily all there is to know?
----------------------
I realize this is long winded, but I deal with hard drives a lot, so this would be very good to know.
Thanks!
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