# Replacing A Hard Drive



## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

What does the buffer size entail when choosing a drive? Also the RPM speed?

Thanks.


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## pugster (Nov 22, 2004)

the buffer is used to store info, like the page file,as the drive waits to process it (its queued in the buffer), speed denotes the access time ,faster is better.


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## James (Jul 17, 2006)

Get a 2meg to 8meg buffer. At least a 7200PRM drive, depends if IDE or SATA etc and the rest of your sys. If the rest of your sys is rocking then a bigger diff noticed


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

James said:


> Get a 2meg to 8meg buffer. At least a 7200PRM drive, depends if IDE or SATA etc and the rest of your sys. If the rest of your sys is rocking then a bigger diff noticed


Thanks guys.

It's my mate who's getting a new one. Got IDE at moment - whatever that means.


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## James (Jul 17, 2006)

Thats the thin ribbon style cable. Myself I prefer Western over Maxtor. I have 4 plus one USB. Did have 2 maxtors bite the dust on me, my last 2, only 1 western bite it. Both excellent drives. Depending on your bios and age of comp, it may only detect up to a certain size replacement. It would be an 2-8meg cache and 7200 RPM then you would look at for IDE. Again depending on age, assuming not bought in the last couple yrs, cache not as important but RPM more important and ram most important


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

James said:


> Thats the thin ribbon style cable. Myself I prefer Western over Maxtor. I have 4 plus one USB. Did have 2 maxtors bite the dust on me, my last 2, only 1 western bite it. Both excellent drives. Depending on your bios and age of comp, it may only detect up to a certain size replacement. It would be an 2-8meg cache and 7200 RPM then you would look at for IDE. Again depending on age, assuming not bought in the last couple yrs, cache not as important but RPM more important and ram most important


Thanks James.

Know any good sites for such drives? My mate only needs 40gb, but we assume as his old one was IDE, better replace it with same?


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## James (Jul 17, 2006)

I think you are in the UK, will need a M8 to give you a local location.

Here is what I pay in Canada, a place a few blocks away from me. And I don't think you will find a new 40GB around now but 80 should work fine. Are you going to then use a master/slave setup or start fresh?

/http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProdList&cmd=pl&id=HD.443&mfg=WESTERN%20DIGITAL


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

James said:


> I think you are in the UK, will need a M8 to give you a local location.
> 
> Here is what I pay in Canada, a place a few blocks away from me. And I don't think you will find a new 40GB around now but 80 should work fine. Are you going to then use a master/slave setup or start fresh?
> 
> /http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProdList&cmd=pl&id=HD.443&mfg=WESTERN%20DIGITAL


M8?


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## pugster (Nov 22, 2004)

m8=mate









i use ebuyer for buying my componants when building machines for ppl ,i wouldnt bother with a 40gig drive , you can get an 80gb for 30quid +vat here ,scroll down for the 80gb drives.


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

pugster said:


> m8=mate
> 
> 
> 
> ...


But sata, ide-does it matter?


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## Julian Latham (Jul 25, 2005)

Mrcrowley said:


> Know any good sites for such drives? My mate only needs 40gb, but we assume as his old one was IDE, better replace it with same?


You're not too far from CCL Computers at Drighlington - they do mail order as well.

Julian L


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## pugster (Nov 22, 2004)

just get a standard ide drive (ribbon connector) - (sata drives just use a different connector,tho no good if your motherboard doesnt have sata plugs)


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## foztex (Nov 6, 2005)

Hiya,

just to bung an additional spanner in the works, I've never been a fan of WD or Maxtor and always use Seagate.

they are the first choice in the video industry and usually have a 5 year warranty as well as whatever the vendor gives you.

Andy


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

Thanks for all advice.

But getting crucial. Mate is PCless.

He needs 40gb Seagate - 8mb buffer-IDE.

Any suggestions of cheap sites please?


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## foztex (Nov 6, 2005)

Hiya Paul,

sorry no site suggestions as I am sorely out of date with cheap UK sites.

But as a guide to price and assuming its a 3.25 inch you are after, my usual suppliers over here do not have anything smaller than an 80 Gig (7200 rpm, 2M cache) at 50 Euros (say 34 quid) their first 8 meg cache drive is a 160 Gig 7200rpm at 75 Euros (51 quid).

My other supplier has the 160 at 62 Euros but would not guarantee Seagate.

hope this helps

Andy


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## pg tips (May 16, 2003)

I've heard dabs.com are quite good and cheap


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

pg tips said:


> I've heard dabs.com are quite good and cheap


Aghhh! Dabs! !

Sorry.................


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## pg tips (May 16, 2003)

Mrcrowley said:


> pg tips said:
> 
> 
> > I've heard dabs.com are quite good and cheap
> ...

















sorry Paul, was it something I said?


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## Stan (Aug 7, 2003)

Mrcrowley said:


> pg tips said:
> 
> 
> > I've heard dabs.com are quite good and cheap
> ...


Don't be sorry, I know what you mean.


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

pg tips said:


> Mrcrowley said:
> 
> 
> > pg tips said:
> ...


Just passed memories-which went as far as Trading Standards.


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## pg tips (May 16, 2003)

I was thinking of buying a monitor off them, ?not a good idea?


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## Stan (Aug 7, 2003)

PG,

Dabs is a cunch of bunts in my experience.


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

Stan said:


> PG,
> 
> Dabs is a cunch of bunts in my experience.


so im not alone


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## Stan (Aug 7, 2003)

Mrcrowley said:


> Stan said:
> 
> 
> > PG,
> ...


No sir, I had a war with David Atherton in the past.


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## pugster (Nov 22, 2004)

dont think you can beat the hard drive from ebuyer i suggested earlier,you can get a western digital 80gb 7200rpm fpr Â£28.65 ,the 40gb version is about 50 pence cheaper ,it has a 2mb buffer but that irrelevant as i get the impression his system is not top end and it would make little difference, these days a 40gb hd is like a floppy drive and will last just as long before it fills up


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## chris l (Aug 5, 2005)

pugster said:


> dont think you can beat the hard drive from ebuyer i suggested earlier,you can get a western digital 80gb 7200rpm fpr Â£28.65 ,the 40gb version is about 50 pence cheaper ,it has a 2mb buffer but that irrelevant as i get the impression his system is not top end and it would make little difference, these days a 40gb hd is like a floppy drive and will last just as long before it fills up


I agree; if you really want a 40GB have a look at http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/in...pe=ZXh0ZW5kZWQ=

Good luck!


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

My mate's old one is IDE. All ones coming up are mainly ATA. Does it matter?


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## pugster (Nov 22, 2004)

ATA is the formal (posh) name for IDE


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## Mrcrowley (Apr 23, 2003)

pugster said:


> ATA is the formal (posh) name for IDE


Oh lordy! Thanks Pugster


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