How do I tell how much Cache my Hard Drive has?

[TheJackal]

Simple question, how do I tell how much cache my hard drive has?

[scott_d]

Look up the model number on the manufacturer's website

[TheJackal]

I have tried searching Maxtor's website however it doesn't give me any answers... It says that this model of drive comes in both PATA and SATA, is available in capacities up to 200gb, and comes in both 2mb and 8mb cache versions. BTW, the model number is 6Y080LO.

[pillainp]

Download AIDA32 (v3.90 Enterprise Edition) from www.aida32.hu and check under Storage>Windows Storage.
It will list all youravailable storage devices and give you detailed information for each, including buffer size.

[glc]

2mb. A 8mb cache would be a 6Y080P0.

[TheJackal]

Thanks glc.

[Punked Out Comp]

BTW might want to upgrade to a 8mb cache modellike the 1 glc mentioned.

[glc]

Why, if it works fine? The difference isn't THAT great.

[Punked Out Comp]

idk ive just heard that its alot better to have a hdd with 8mb cache

[Cricket]

Originally posted by punked out comp
idk ive just heard that its alot better to have a hdd with 8mb cache I haven't seen that much of a performance difference between the 2MB and 8MB hard drives.

If you're building a new computer, you might as well get the 8MB cache HDD. But if you already have a 7200 RPM 2MB cache HDD and it still works fine, just leave it until you have to replace it...then get the 8MB cache HDD. No need to replace the hard drive just because it has only 2MB cache.

:) Cricket

[ric449]

Actually, with ata 133 it's pretty essential to have a large cache. This is because the 133 part is only the speed that the computer can access the cache, the actual hard drive is much slower. I had to research all this for my guide on buying a hard drive on my site.