Storage: Hard drives
Every PC needs storage to read / save data, the
operating system and games / applications. For the most
part, you will be using hard drive(s), although you
periodically backup your data to CD / DVD-R / Ws or install
applications from CD / DVD-ROMs. So, hard drives are not
only a critical component of your PC, it is also one that
affects your PCs performance, though indirectly. Why? Since
the PC only use the hard drive when it needs to get or save
something, getting a bigger or faster hard drive won't have
much effect on your frame rates. However, they will take
less time when loading maps or levels.At the moment, hard drives capacity ranges from 30 to 500 GBs. While this may seem unnecessary for some, these hard drives are here for the duration. Look at some modern games, its not that uncommon to find games that's available in DVDs. Games are getting larger as more and more detail are put into it. More and more people are using their PCs not only to play games, but store MP3 songs, DivX videos and other types of media that will quickly gobble up space even on the biggest hard drives. As the number of files, their capacity and size gets larger, seeking a particular file or file segment may take longer so we need a high performance hard drive and storage sub system. That's why hard drive performance is more important now than ever, despite the little impact they have on gaming performance.
Up to 2004, PC hard drives and CD / DVD-ROMs have been using the same standard interface. You may know this interface as IDE or Enhanced IDE (EIDE) or even the newer versions of it such as Ultra ATA or ATA-33 / 66 / 100 / 133. All these standards basically use the same connector, so newer ones are backward compatible with older drives. This is one of the reasons IDE have been here like forever. The other reasons are its price (both the controller and the storage devices are cheap), availability and user install base. Every motherboard since the days of Intel 486 and AMD 5x86 processors in 1993 have an onboard IDE controller. While there are other interfaces such as SCSI or the more exotic Fibre Channel, they're usually reserved for professional and corporate users. These devices are more expensive, although they're offer more performance and features.
Out with the Old,
In with the New
Since it's very old, IDE is not very suitable for
modern PC users needs anymore. Physically, the connectors
takes too much space, the cables too wide by today's
standards and quite often they hinder airflow. An IDE
controller can only support no more than four devices - by
using two channels, two devices per channel. To use two
device in one channel, you need to configure them properly,
which for some might be confusing or too much of a
hassle.That's why the industry is moving on to a new standard, Serial ATA or S-ATA for short. This new standard uses a new, smaller connector and cable while at the same time providing higher bandwidth than ATA-133. They're also easier to install, since you don't have to configure anything. Compared to the first generation of S-ATA (S-ATA 150), S-ATA 250 compliant controllers offers features such as hot-swap / hot-plug and native command queuing 'borrowed' from SCSI's into the consumer market.
S-ATA: The Real Deal
Unfortunately, only S-ATA 250 controllers offer
support for four devices and they have just recently
arrived on the market (note the same maximum number of
devices with IDE). S-ATA hard drives are also more
expensive than their IDE counterparts, but in general they
don't offer much performance improvement. To use extra
feature of S-ATA 250 like hot-swap and native command
queuing, you must use them with S-ATA 250 storage devices
(hard drives and CD/DVD-ROMs). That means first generation
S-ATA hard drives won't be able to utilize this feature.
Furthermore, for most users with one or two hard drives,
S-ATA 150's bandwidth of 150 MB / sec or S-ATA 250's 250 MB
/ sec won't be much utilized. Why? Most hard drives
available now (regardless of interface) offer a maximum
transfer rate of 60 to 70 MB / sec, so only when your PC is
accessing two hard drive at the same time (such as in the
case in a RAID array) does the bandwidth really do any
good. S-ATA's extra bandwidth only really comes to play
when you use more than two devices.Granted, some of you might be thinking of using four hard drives on a S-ATA 250 controller. But before you do, think carefully. Sure, using four hard drives with a maximum transfer rate of 60 to 70 MB / sec each will deliver a total of 240 to 280 MB / sec maximum transfer rate. But if the S-ATA 250 controller is still connected through a PCI interface, that bandwidth would go to waste - PCI still transfers data at 133 MB / sec! Make sure it's connected through a PCI Express x1 (266 MB / sec) or PCI-X which is an extension of PCI targeted for professional workstation and servers.
Knowing this, why should anyone invest in S-ATA peripherals? Well, since newer motherboards come equipped with them, there's no additional cost (except for the hard drives) of using S-ATA peripherals and devices. The transition from IDE to S-ATA will not happen overnight, so think of it as a long term investment. If one day manufacturers stops supporting IDE, you would be happy that you made this decision now rather than later. Believe me, that day will eventually come - probably the same day S-ATA hard drives becomes cheaper than IDE drives.
On to the Drives
Let's talk about hard drives in general. Capacity is
all the rage these days, as you may have noticed. You will
also undoubtedly notice that the hard drive's dimensions
itself haven't changed much, most come as a 3,5' drive.
That's because, manufacturers have been able to squeeze
more and more capacity from a single data platter than ever
before. So, while the platter dimension stays the same,
data density is much higher on modern drives. If users need
more capacity, they put in a second platter to effectively
double the capacity.But if you look at spindle speed, hard drives haven't really changed that much. For desktop users, hard drive's spindle speed are either 5.400 or 7.200 rpm. Only Western Digital currently offers 10.000 rpm S-ATA hard drives for desktop users. There are faster hard drives (15.000 rpm), but they're usually targeted for professional workstation and server users, and they're only available on SCSI or Fibre Channel. You may be asking why haven't everyone move to 10.000 rpm hard drives. First and foremost, cost. While you do get the better performance due to lower access time with these drives, you lose much in capacity. The first 10.000 rpm WD Raptors came with only 36 GBs. Now, compare that to the 80 GBs capacity which is the norm for 7.200 rpm hard drives at the time. Plus, these 7.200 rpm drives actually cost less. The second factor is surprisingly, performance. While a 10.000 rpm is faster, it's not that much faster and in reality 7.200 rpm hard drives are fast enough for most users.
insert table: 5400 rpm, 7200 rpm, 10000 rpm (capacities, access time, cache size)
This doesn't apply to differences between 5.400 and 7.200 rpm hard drives. First, 7.200 rpm hard drives are faster due to the lower access time (around 10-12 ms compared to 15-17 ms on 5.400 drives and 7-9 ms on 10.000 rpm drives). Second, they're available in the same capacity since manufacturers use the same platter for both 5.400 and 7.200 hard drives. Third, they only cost a fraction more than at the same capacity. So you could honestly say that 7.200 rpm hard drives are the best bang for the buck solution in storage.
Hard drive buying tips:
- Choose S-ATA hard drives if your motherboard comes with S-ATA connectors. While they don't offer much improvement over traditional IDE drives, they're basically investments for the future. One day manufacturers will eventually stop supporting IDE all together, so we might as well make the change now.
- If you're going to use first generation S-ATA devices, use the smaller, cheaper drives. S-ATA hard drives are still more expensive than traditional IDE drives, so don't get overboard with capacity - buy what you need.
- If you want more capacity but want to maintain performance, buy two identical, smaller drives instead of one big drive. Then use them in a RAID 0 array (stripe). Most S-ATA controllers are RAID 0/1/0+1 capable, so why not use it to your advantage? It will be slightly more expensive, but you will certainly gain performance when working with large files.
- For most people, the best solution is the 7.200 rpm hard drive. They offer the best mix of price, capacity and performance. 10.000 rpm hard drives have very limited capacity. If you're working with large, uncompressed audio or video files, maybe they will suits your needs better. 5.400 rpm hard drives are better suited for those who don't need performance, whose PCs main use is office work and multimedia playback. They also can be used as second hard drives, storing data that's rarely accessed or for backups.
[Go to top]
[Next Page]