{"id":4024,"date":"2020-01-02T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-02T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=4024"},"modified":"2020-01-01T13:34:56","modified_gmt":"2020-01-01T18:34:56","slug":"is-a-256mb-cache-hdd-significantly-faster-than-a-64mb-cache-hdd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2020\/01\/02\/is-a-256mb-cache-hdd-significantly-faster-than-a-64mb-cache-hdd\/","title":{"rendered":"“Is a 256mb cache HDD significantly faster than a 64mb cache HDD?”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

(Answer requested by Gabriel Yeung)<\/small><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You want the technical answer, or the practical answer?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technically speaking, if your average working dataset is larger than 64MB, then YES<\/u><\/strong>, a HDD (hard drive) with a larger internal electronic cache (aka “buffer”) will probably perform better than the same drive with a smaller cache because the cache can accept data in bigger chunks, meaning there\u2019ll be fewer operations required — and thus less time spent — to move data in and out of the cache. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But practically speaking, will the larger cache make a meaningful difference in the routine use of a normal PC? Almost certainly: NO<\/u><\/strong>; not enough to notice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides, a hard drive with a big cache is still a hard drive: It will never be fast<\/span><\/em> — just a little less slow<\/u><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you’re looking for a truly meaningful speed boost, go with an SSD (solid state drive); SSDs cost roughly the same as HDDs these days, except in unusual sizes and configurations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a way, an SSD can be thought of as a fast all-electronic “cache” large enough not to need any slow-spinning mechanical underpinnings at all! Again, in a way, an SSD is “all cache, all the time.” \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And even a cheap SSD will absolutely, positively, no-question-about-it be \u201csignificantly faster\u201d than any<\/em> HDD setup!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Make the move. You won’t regret it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Almost any brand or type of SSD will outperform almost any brand or type of HDD.<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Permalink: https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=4024<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"[seperator]\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

COMMENT \/ QUESTION<\/strong> on THIS ITEM?<\/strong> See the<\/em> Comment box<\/strong> at bottom of this page!<\/em>

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(Want free notification of new content? Click<\/em> <\/strong>here<\/a><\/b>!)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Answer requested by Gabriel Yeung) You want the technical answer, or the practical answer? Technically speaking, if your average working dataset is larger than 64MB, then YES, a HDD (hard drive) with a larger internal electronic cache (aka “buffer”) will probably perform better than the same drive with a smaller cache because the cache can…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-reader-asks","category-hardware"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paaiox-12U","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2665,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/04\/26\/i-know-to-de-fragment-my-hdd-and-not-to-de-fragment-my-ssd-do-i-de-fragment-my-hybrid-drive\/","url_meta":{"origin":4024,"position":0},"title":"“I know to de-fragment my HDD and not to de-fragment my SSD. Do I de-fragment my hybrid drive?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-04-26","format":false,"excerpt":"It's a quandary. Solid-state\/hybrid drives (SSHDs) use a modest amount of high-speed memory as a kind of front end to a large, conventional, spinning-platter drive; software makes the two act as one. The idea is to yield a drive that's faster than a conventional drive, but less expensive than an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2841,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/28\/is-there-an-easy-way-to-upgrade-a-disk-drive-on-a-laptop\/","url_meta":{"origin":4024,"position":1},"title":"“Is there an easy way to upgrade a disk drive on a laptop?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-05-28","format":false,"excerpt":"(Answer requested by Joshua Sneed) Sure! In fact, you may be surprised how easy drive replacement really is. Often, the hardest part is figuring out how to open the case! Once you're inside, it's a piece of cake. You can find appropriate instructions for your system by searching for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/20190513_140928.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/20190513_140928.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/20190513_140928.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/20190513_140928.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/20190513_140928.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/20190513_140928.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3402,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/09\/12\/why-would-a-new-seagate-barracuda-2-tb-hdd-not-power-on\/","url_meta":{"origin":4024,"position":2},"title":"“Why would a new Seagate Barracuda 2 TB HDD not power on?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-09-12","format":false,"excerpt":"(Answer requested by Dex Jackson) It's new? Still under warranty? First, make sure the problem isn't something obvious: Plug the drive into different, known-working electrical power outlets; and into different, known-working USB ports. If a different PC is available, try temporarily plugging it into that. If it doesn't work with\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3983,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/12\/24\/is-there-any-possibility-to-recover-data-from-a-256-bit-encrypted-nas-hdd\/","url_meta":{"origin":4024,"position":3},"title":"“Is there any possibility to recover data from a 256-bit encrypted NAS HDD?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-12-24","format":false,"excerpt":"(Answer requested by ZeeForce Gaming) Encrypted files are still just 1s and 0s. So, if you're talking about recovering encrypted files after a crash, hardware failure, or something similar, you may be able to lift the encrypted bits off the defective drive using utterly normal data\/disk-recovery software, and write the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/safecracker-123rf-e1612187334162.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3247,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/08\/29\/yes-your-hdds-and-ssds-really-do-weigh-more-when-in-use\/","url_meta":{"origin":4024,"position":4},"title":"Yes, your HDDs and SSDs really do weigh more when filled with data.","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-08-29","format":false,"excerpt":"It's odd: Questions about the physical weight of data get asked fairly often --- I don't know what's prompting it. Perhaps the move to SSDs? The most recent iteration phrased it this way: \"Does data have physical weight? If something is 10 gigabytes, does it actually weigh whatever system you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2901,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/06\/05\/can-you-physically-move-an-hdd-external-hard-drive-while-its-plugged-in\/","url_meta":{"origin":4024,"position":5},"title":"“Can you physically move an HDD external hard drive while it\u2019s plugged in?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-06-05","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, if you're careful. The main thing to remember is that a spinning hard drive acts like a gyroscope, and will resist any movement from its original plane. Move too much\/too fast, and you'll hear it in whining drive bearings or --- worst case --- the awful scraping sound of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4024"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4024\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4036,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4024\/revisions\/4036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}