Question: I am aware that this is probably a common question, yet I did not find the right search terms to use.I have to buy a new hard drive. I figured out that the equation consists of: connector standard, rpm and density. My question is: Will I experience the benefits of 7200 rpm over 5400 or will SATA2 limit the speeds below the capabilities of the drive? I’m looking for a 3.5″ 500 gb drive. Second question: Is data density same for all hard drives with 3.5″ platters, holding 500 gb ? If not, is there any way I can tell one from another?The drive will be used for everyday multitasking and gaming – not so much large file transfers.
Answer: Will I experience the benefits of 7200 rpm over 5400 or will SATA2 limit the speeds below the capabilities of the drive?
The SATA-II (3.0 Gbit/sec) interface ?tops out around 270MB per second.Top speed for current average consumer harddrives is about half that. ?
Top speed of 15000 RPM SAS enterprise drives is nearly 200 MB/sec. Still way below SATA-II throughput.
So no, SATA-II does not impose a limit to either 5400 RPM or 7200 RPM drives.
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I’m looking for a 3½ ?500 GB drive.
1 TB drives are only a fraction more expensive than 500 GB drives.
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Is data density same for all hard drives with 3.5″ platters, holding 500 GB ?
No, increased density means fewer platters are needed for the same capacity. So producers usually use the highest available density to cut down on cost. This means a typical more modern drive will have higher density platters, resulting in better performance and lower production costs.
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If not, is there any way I can tell one from another?
Read the drives manual (usually found on-line).
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The drive will be used for everyday multitasking and gaming – not so much large file transfers.
HDD only have two advantages over SSDs: Larger capacity (at a identical price), and decent large file performance. Since the latter is not important to you, consider a SSD. Performance on those is noticeably better.