2Mb or 8Mb Hard Drive

[Karnevil9]

I know we all recommend to go with the 8Mb cache on hard drives, but what I would like to know is how much noticable difference there is between the two.
The reason is, I am building a low end computer for my son. A local computer store has a 40G WD with 8Mb cache for $59. In the same perking lot, Circuit City has 40G WD with 2Mb cache for $39, after rebates. $79 out of pocket expense. Is the 8Mb worth the $20 extra dollars difference? He will use his computer for internet, and some music downloading.

[WhatsThisBoxFor?]

If the rest of the computer is super fast then you will notice a difference, but in my 800mhz Duron I can't notice the difference between my 2mb and 8mb drives, since the processor speed is so low. I would go with the 8mb cache though, if you upgrade in the future etc you will notice a difference and as you are building the system I doubt it will be as slow as mine and so you might experience speed diferences.

[EzyStvy]

For 20 bucks, the "buck to bang ratio" wouldn't be worth it.

But.....

Western Digital 40GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model WD400JB, OEM Drive only


Model# WD400JB
Item # N82E16822144126

Specifications:
Capacity: 40GB
Average Seek Time: 8.9 ms
Buffer: 8MB

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-144-126&depa=0

59.25 & free shipping.

[Karnevil9]

Good Point about the upgrade WTBF.
I am going to write down the part number and bring it with me when I decide. That may be the same one that the computer store has for $59. Don't have to wait for it to ship that way.
So far it is one for spending 20 for 6Mb of cache and one aginst.
This computer is going to be built with an older Amd CPU and an Abit KT7A-133 mobo. It is only running PC 100/133, so it won't be all that fast. There are two faster computers in the house that he can use if he needs to. This is just so he can have is own in his room for just messing around.

[Force Flow]

Check the warranty on both models. I know that 8MB cache OEM drives have a 3yr warranty, while the 2MB cache models only have one.

[EzyStvy]

If you get real bored, might want to read through tis long article:

Roundup: IDE Hard Disk Drives with 8MB Cache-Buffer

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/storage/display/8mb-ide-roundup.html

[glc]

Only the OEM WD 8mb cache drives have a 3 year warranty now - the retails are 1 year.

[Karnevil9]

After reading EzyStvy's link and doing a search for some others, it appears that while there is some advantage to the 8mb cache, the larest consensus says you will probably not notice any difference in most real world applications. A few reviews regarded the selling point of the 8mb cache mostly as marketing hype.

The computer store that has the 8Mb 40G sells the OEM version. Off hand does anyone know the length of the warranty on a retail 2mb WD 40G?

[Force Flow]

1 year, same as the other retail drives.

[Panama Red]

Originally posted by Karnevil9

The computer store that has the 8Mb 40G sells the OEM version. Off hand does anyone know the length of the warranty on a retail 2mb WD 40G?

As FF says, 1 year. Oct 2003 Western Digital changed their warranty policy. All Caviar SE drives sold in Retail packs and having the designation RTL in the part number carry a 1 year warranty. Should say that right in the package by the UPC code. You can go online and 'purchase' an additional 2 years of warranty for $14.95. The OEM packaged products, which do no come with a ribbon cable or installation disk like the RTL version, are warranteed for 3 years. The non-SE drives like the standard Caviar and Protege are 1 year regardless of Retail or OEM. The Raptor SATA drives are 5 year warranty in either Retail or OEM. Here's a link to the WD warranty page if I'm not making sense.

http://support.wdc.com/warranty/policy.asp

[Karnevil9]

Well I never checked out zip zoom fly before, so I thought I would go over and see what they have. I found a WD 80g HD with 8Mb cache for $66 plus free shipping. That is $7 dolloars more for 40 more gigs of space. So I bought that. Thanks for the tips.