How to choose HDD for OS??

[sleepychink125]

Hi everybody. I recently built a computer using vista 64 OS.

I have 2 hard drives for my previous build:

Seagate Barracuda 7200.11
Interface SATA 3.0Gb/s
Capacity 1.5TB
RPM 7200 RPM
Cache 32MB
Average Latency 4.16ms

and

Western Digital Caviar RE WD3200YS
Interface SATA 3.0Gb/s
Capacity 320GB
RPM 7200 RPM
Cache 16MB
Average Seek Time 8.9ms
Average Latency 4.2ms



So there is obviously a huge difference between the 1.5 tb and the 320gb drive in capacity and cache 32 vs 16. I have been using the 1.5tb for storage in the past but since i've got a new comp, should I install the 1.5 TB as my main HDD for my OS? What will yield the best performance? If there is not a big difference, I guess I will just use the 1.5 TB for storage since its huge.... (thats what she said)

 

[GhislainG]

16 vs 32 cache provides no real performance difference, but it's a good selling point.

Unless you run benchmarks, you probably won't be able to tell the difference between both drives, but the Seagate is faster (not because of the cache, but because of higher data density per platter).

 

[sleepychink125]

so do you recommend that i use it for my os???

 

[sleepychink125]

i mean because i hear these seagates might have problems or soemthing. it sounds like the difference between speeds might not be significant enough to outweigh the potential of that seagate drive having problems.

 

[shortstuff_mt]

The Seagate drive is faster, but you shouldn't notice it in real-world use. I'd use the WD drive as the system drive and continue using the Seagate drive as a data drive. That's the most common setup (smaller drive for OS and large drive for storage).

 

[GhislainG]

so do you recommend that i use it for my os???

Yes because it makes a lot more sense than using the 1.5 TB drive for the OS and a 320 GB drive for storage.