Ata-5 & Ata-6
 

Just buying a new hard-disk for my laptop as current went crrrrunch a few hours ago - and of course I have half an assigment for the OU on it due 25/4 - grrrr.

Anyway, current disk is ATA-5 (Toshiba 40GB) which I can find on laptopbits for 135 + VAT. However, Dabs has a similar one made by Toshiba and size=40GB but it's ATA-6 - does that matter? (the Tosh site is of no help).

Any ideas?

Thanks
amofw

amanoffewwords,

The only thing that matters is the RPMs the drive turns at. Since you are getting a new Hard Drive for your Notebook, I would go with the fastest RPM Drive you can get. Windows is all about Disk Access, you will see a boost in performance in your Notebook by using this opportunity to put in a faster RPM Drive. ;)

Take Care,

Richard

Thanks Mac and Richard - I ordered the Ata-6 version as I couldn't find any ata-5s - I suspected that it was just a performance enhancement but you never know...not my area of speciality.

amofw

amanoffewwords,

The only difference is the size of the data pipe. The drives are not fast enough to fill the ATA-5 (UDMA-66) Spec so changing to the ATA-6 (UDMA-100) Spec will not make any difference.

Take Care,

Richard

Correct, it hasn't changed the performance but hey it works so I'm a happy bunny :cool:

Cheers,

Charles (<--- fed up of mistyping amowf... grrr ... amfow .... see what I mean, hence I'm coming out!)

Charles,

What is the RPM of the old drive and the RPM of new drive?

Take Care,

Richard

Richard,

They're both 5400rpm

Cheers
Charles

nb: actually the first one is now 0rpm :(

Charles,

Since they were both 5,400RPM you would not see any difference in performance and further proves my point about not filling the theoretical limit of the ATA-5. (Since going to ATA-6 showed no difference in performance.) Now, if you would have installed a 7,200RPM Drive you would have seen an improvement in the Disk Access Performance.

Take Care,

Richard

P.S. You are up and running again. That is all that matters. ;)