"Bob Harris" <rharris270[SPAM]@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:OC90ODzPIHA.1208@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> I have two SATA/150 (version I of SATA) internal hard drives. All file
> transfers between these disks are faster (at least 50%) than between either
> of them and an external USB2 or firewire disk or between extrnal and
> external, even though all spin at 7200 rpm. So, there is more to copy speed
> than just the rpm.
>
> However, I do agree that an external USB drive that uses a 5400 rpm disk is
> slower than one that uses a 7200 rpm disk. So, if everything else were
> equal, rpm could matter.
>
> Some years ago I had a Pentium II 450 Mhz with 100 Meg buss and two ATA/33
> drives and controllers. The copy speed doubled when I added a PCI card with
> an set of ATA/100 controllers and two new ATA/100 disks. I do not know the
> speed of the old disk, but the new ones were 7200 rpm.
>
> My current PC is a Pentium 4 2.5GHz with 400 Meg buss with SATA/150 drives
> and controllers (on motherboard). The copy speed is about triple that of
> the Pentium II machine with ATA/100 drives and controllers. Some of that is
> SATA/150 vs ATA/100, but some is likely the buss and CPU speed differences.
>
> From these experiences I surmise that copy speed is governed by the more
> limiting of (1) rotational speed, (2) I/O speed (e.g., ATA vs SATA vs USB2),
> (3) buss speed, (4) CPU speed. Additionally, the copy speed for small files
> is probably impacted by the cache size in the hard drive; bigger chache is
> better.
>
> I have also heard that on current PCs SATA-II (SATA/300) is not
> significantly faster than SATA-I (SATA/150). This is likely because the I/O
> interface is not limiting. However, as other aspects of a PC get faster,
> that may no longer be true.
>
>
All very nice, but would you/do you notice a difference when
just doing regular stuff (net browsing, etc.) or is it just noticable
when copying large files (not something anybody does all the time)?
Let's offer our opinions based on REAL-WORLD usage, please.
Stats mean nothing when used outside the context of the device's
usage pattern.
> "smith" <dd@dd.com> wrote in message
> news:%23CWOl7vPIHA.5400@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> > Is the HD with SATAII really much faster than the IDE HD?
> >
>
>