India Broadband Forum

Outlander

I'm thinking of buying a higher capacity hard disk, a 320 or 500 GB one. I've heard that these HDDs slow down your computer. At present I've 1 GB RAM on a P-4 3.0 Ghz, and I am thinking of adding another 1 GB - would it solve the problem of the computer slowing down?

All those who do have such HDDs, what is your experience with them? And how exactly have you fitted them? There are the portable ones, but they are too costly, and there are the internal ones, but I just came to know of another method, a USB method, where the USB pin or whatever it is called costs like rs. 400, and then you can plug in your normal (internal type) HDD SATA by USB, and remove it and carry it around whenever you want. A portable 500 GB one would cost around 8000 rs., while I've enquired of the price of an internal one here (in Ahmedabad), and it is somewhere around 3,400 rs (all the others whom I asked were quoting 5000 rs. prices) - now if I add that USB pin to this internal one, within 4000 rs. I would be able to get a portable HDD. This is what my computer guy has told me - he himself has connected a 320 GB SATA in this manner. If there are people on the forum who have done the same - does downloading from the internet to the USB HDD have the same speed?

I'd really appreciate some help here.

Thanks.

newprouser

Dude, there's no problem in using an extra 500 GB HDD to ur system. I'm myself using 160 GB + 500 GB SATA.

Fact is that if you configure your system properly , it will be faster than a system with single HDD.

As an example you can move your swap file or installation files of new programs to the 2nd disk and keep windows alone in 1st HDD.

Outlander

@ newprouser

Do you directly download stuff, like movies, to the 500 GB disk? And how much RAM have you got?

mickey

Yeah i wanna know about this externals.my brother will buy me one from bangaluru.

newprouser

Yes i do that, and i had 512 ram initially and now 2 GB. But I can assure you that RAM is irrlevent in this issue.

In fact HDD is seen as the slowest of the main pheripherals in the data processing, so adding another HDD improves the situation.

Consider it like this. Its easier and fast to access two things with separate hands rather than a single hand.

IMO its better to go with a branded product since the electronics used is of good quality and u get backup software etc.

I don't know if there are any branded cases available. I'm using a local casing for my old hdd and am not satisfied with it. Moreover it only supports IDE HDD's upto 320 GB.

I would suggest that u go for a seagate free agent external HDD, my cousin is using and its pretty good.

saurav_k

i dont think using external HDDs slow your pc down. i use a 160gb seagate internal laptop hdd with a SVB external casing using a mini-usb cable. this costs very less than an external HDD and its almost the same as external one

udayan

Go for something like the Transcend 250 GB or 320 GB External Portable Hard Drive. It is USB and is no drain on system resources. You can download torrents directly onto it and keep it disconnected when not needed. You can encrypt the entire drive, make it bootable, and it also has a one touch backup button. It is encased in rubber and fits into your shirt pocket (large pocket). It is supposed to be drop proof at about 3 feet, but I have'nt had the courage to test that yet. Costs about 4000 Rs. Very sleek.

jeyamaria72

As you are using a SATA hard drives there is no need to worry about your download speed and your computer's response. SATA data transfer is much faster than your broadband download speeds. Just compare the maximum download speed you achieve and the data transfer of a SATA drive (SATA-I is about 1.5GB/s and SATA-II is about 3.0G?B/s).
If you are looking for performance like Game Playing and Motion Graphics, there will be more data transfer from your HDD to RAM and for that you can chose RAID0 configuring you HDDs for that your mother board should support it.

pumbaa_g

I believe that if you are using a P4 till now you will be having a 965 Chipset? this does not support SATA or RAID

Apologies jeyamaria72 setting up RAID on this config will cost as much a new entry level pc

You will need to buy IDE Hard Disks and attach them to your PC as a secondary Hard Disk.

In case you are thinking of the external HDD Option you have two options

3.5" Laptop HDD
Normal Desktop HDD

Laptop HDD are more expensive (read compact) and do not require external power supply.

Desktop Hard Disks are bulky and require external power supply. Most shops will sell you a Hard Disk and a casing (price extra) or you can go for branded HDD like Lacie/Trancend etc

If you thinking about the performance factor go for the internal HDD, it will be faster then a external usb HDD.

While you are at it buy another gig of RAM too

jeyamaria72

I believe 965 chipsets support SATA and RAID. I remember some Gigabyte Motherboards with 965 chipsets are coming with SATA3GB and Raid support. Anyhow if the question is only for download speed, I could recommend both Internal and External of any type.

Outlander

I already have a 80 GB SATA. I don't know about the chipset but the motherboard is D102GGC2. My older computer has a 40 GB HDD which is not SATA, its the older type of connecting, I think its called IDE. Whenever I connect both HDDs in this new computer, it always boots from the older 40 GB; I've tried tinkering with the BIOS, but it never boots from the SATA one when the IDE one is connected.

Anyway, I'll probably buy an internal one, since I don't plan to carry it around. Its only movies from the net I want to download, and I don't want any decrease in performance anywhere. I'll also add about 2 GBs more of RAM.

just4kix

External USB or Firewire connected HDDs are slow because the data transfer rate is slow. It is advisable to use external HDDs for large volume storage only. Avoid installing programs on external HDDs.

Another problem of external HDDs is that the drive letter assigned to it may not remain constant. Suppose you have a Pen Drive and an External Pocket disk. The pen drive (thumb drive, if you will) may get the drive letter assignment as "F:". Next you connect the HDD, it will get "G:". When you disconnect and connect again next time, and connect external HDD first, the drive letter assigned may change to "F:".

If you installed applications on external HDD when its letter assignment was "G:", all registry entries and shortcuts will point to "G:".

Apart from that, external HDDs do not slow down the main computer. But when data on external HDD is accessed, the program will wait till data is fetched.

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thats_me

If I connect an external HDD and use it for say 24 hrs continuously, will it be a problem ? Is heating an issue here ?

cool_techie_tvm

Arent those peripherals meant for such usages? Just do not subject it to any major shocks. The head might touch the platter and all hell might break loose (aka your drive will be damaged).

thats_me

So I can use it for long hours. Actually its for my friend who has a Laptop and upgrading it will cost him too much. So he asked me this question and now I have a positive answer. Thanks.

saurav_k

i dont think using external HDDs for 24 hours causes much harm. i use my external HDD (seagate internal + SVB casing) 24/7. no problems yet. i download all my stuff in it ... yes it gets heated up ... but i think our internal HDDs get more heated inside the pc/laptop than the external ones. so no harm in using external HDDs 24/7 according to me

cool_techie_tvm

A good temperature monitoring utility calls for use in such situations. Maintain a sharp lookout for rising temperatures of the HDD. Defragment/Disk error checks are alternative methods to keep them fit.

HWMonitor is one such free utility which does the job of monitoring temperatures. In Linux, suitable applets are available which display the temps of various peripherals..

Outlander

Sorry if I've asked this thing before, but does it matter what company HD you get? Or does it have to be Seagate?

pisces_m

Today purchased Seagate Freeagent Desk 500Gb External hard Disk. Its sleeker than its previous version, for looks its good. Will test its performancee and let others know soon

newprouser

Please tell the cost...