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[bleugh]

WTF is a 2M and a 3M hard drive?

[Cru]

So now that we know that 2m and 8m stand for cache..... does anybody know?

[cribby08]

In the xbox it does not matter if there is a 2mb or 8 mb buffer (cache), however in a normal computer it will matter.

[r0lf-]

The stock drive has a really small cache, I think smaller than 2mb. Youll be fine with the 2. I have a maxtor 120 gigger 7200RPM 2MB and it works great.

[Aron Parsons]

Hard drive speed and cache size make no difference in the Xbox because it uses such a slow interface (ATA33).  There is no difference when using a higher rated drive in the Xbox; now, if it were a PC, then yes, it makes a huge difference.  So basically, buy a 5400rpm, 2MB cache drive for your Xbox and save about $30 for stuff that makes no difference.

[Chris_X2k4]

it dosent make anything noticeable if it does its not much so who cares its an xbox not a home pc, you wont need it any way for uploading emus and games its good enuff for that



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[thejt]

Point is.. There IS a difference.. Upgrade your IDE cable to a 80 pin ATA100, get yourself a 7200 rpm 8mb cache and you will notice a difference.

[Bean Bandit]

How much of a difference though?

Are we talking not even the tiniest pause on Halo when it loads level sections? Completely smooth?

Or just qiucker overall loading of games?

Does it make much of a difference when running Linux?

[bleugh]

heh, its obvious now!

ATA33 cable VS ATA100 cable
bugger all difference, way less than 0.2% faster for ATA100

2M and 8M,

theres a teeeeeny weeeeeny bit of difference. less than 1% though, though maybe up to 2% on games that use the cache a LOT

though you will find that more 8M drives are unlockable than 2M drives

5400RPM and 7200RPM,

much more difference here, anything from 5% to 15% or so performance


the figures are arbitary numbers, someone should do some scientific testing!

[MoNkNZ]

I'd have to agree with that. Same reason it's pointless to upgrade to 128mb of memory. (ref: games)

[thejt]

Comon now.. do you think the buffer is freaking intended for application usage...

BUFFER!

This means BUFFER.. as in BUFFER the data from the read/write mech to the actual IDE bus.  NO program in particular will use or not use a BUFFER..  the drive is what uses it.. and its intended to make data transfers from larger drives more efficient.


And.. ata33 vs. ata100   is what??  >.2%  do you really believe that?

I usually am cool about peoples opinion on shit but this is really annoying me that people do not understand the benefits of ALL the features in question.  And then say "a regular computer would use it"  THE XBOX IS A REGULAR COMPUTER FOR CHRIST SAKE!

[bleugh]

Dum-De-Dum

the xbox is a freaking computer,
abeit restricted in some ways

due to the nature of the way the thing is programmed, and the total lack of billions of tiny files, and the 'sequential' file system used,

a buffer , cache if you will will make only the very teeeeeeeniest of difference because the HDD no longer has to access tens of thousands of randomly stored sectors to read any old bloody file.

[Grendal]

QUOTE (Bean Bandit @ Nov 17 2003, 01:03 AM)

How much of a difference though? Are we talking not even the tiniest pause on Halo when it loads level sections? Completely smooth? Or just qiucker overall loading of games? Does it make much of a difference when running Linux?

Has anybody figured out what would make games load faster?  I got my games loading off the HDD and they don't seem to be any faster than off the DVD.  Maybe the RAM is too slow?

Somebody told me that the hard drive would be limited to ATA33 if it's on the same cable as the DVD drive no matter what type of cable you're using.

[cribby08]

You are not too bright are you thejt?

[thejt]

Care to elaborate on that dickface?

I think if you dont understand my point you are the dumb one.  Maybe YOU need a greater understanding of how this all works.  Maybe you should stick to your xbox and your games!


BTW.. I have done some timing experiments with different drives, cables and whatnot.. but screw it.. it doesnt matter right.. so stick to your slow ass drives.

Oh also... 3 seconds multiplied by 1000 loads = 50 minutes wasted.. almost a damn hour down the drain.  All cuz why, you didnt want to spend a dollar or two more cuz you dont "BELIEVE" that it makes a difference.