SATA II HDDs different average read?

Widjaja · May 25, 2008

My 160GB WD 8mb cache has an average read of 52mb sec.
My 320GB WD 16mb cache has an average read of 89mb sec.

Both being SATA II I would expect them to have around the same average read.

Is this difference normal?

farlex85 · May 25, 2008

Companies make different caliber drives. That 320gb I'm suspecting is the se16, one of the fastest 7200rpm on the market. Spin speed would be another thing, if the first is 5400-7200rpm it will be slower.

Widjaja · May 25, 2008

I don't know if this is any help to better explain but here's what they read as in Device Manager

160GB:-WDC WD1600JS-00NCB1

320GB:-WDC WD3200AAKS-00B3A0

And also I do notice a performance gain with the 320GB HDD when loading in games.

farlex85 · May 25, 2008

Can't find that first drive in other places. I am assuming it uses 2 80gb platters, the second uses 1 320 gb platter. This makes the second one faster just on that. The first is I imagine of an older tech too, although thats as specific as I can get about it, others may be able to tell you more. But no, it is normal, the second drive is simply better.

panchoman · May 25, 2008

the 2nd one also has extra cache

Widjaja · May 25, 2008

farlex85 said:
Can't find that first drive in other places. I am assuming it uses 2 80gb platters, the second uses 1 320 gb platter. This makes the second one faster just on that. The first is I imagine of an older tech too, although thats as specific as I can get about it, others may be able to tell you more. But no, it is normal, the second drive is simply better.

I think you maybe right about the 2 - 80GB platters whatever that is.
Reason being is the 160GB HDD had an avg read the same as my 80GB IDE despite the burst rate being higher.

Also yes you are correct, the 160GB HDD is older tech and still has the legacy 4pin molex power connector while the 320GB HDD does not.

@Pancho
I saw no difference in performance in game between the 160 SATA II 8mb cache and the 80GB IDE with 2mb cache so I don't think it was the cache causing the issue.

farlex85 · May 25, 2008

Yeah, cache actually adds little to performance in many cases. And at 160gb, there is no need for more than 8mb.

freaksavior · May 25, 2008

cache is a major part of it. also platter size, rpm, and recording types, ect. thats sound about right tbh.

ktr · May 25, 2008

Higher density per platter = higher speeds...because the head can pickup more data (mb) in the same amount of time (s).

speed = mb/s

System Name	Darth Obsidious
Processor	Intel i5 2500K
Motherboard	ASUS P8Z68-V/Gen3
Cooling	Cooler Master Hyper 212+ in Push Pull
Memory	2X4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600
Video Card(s)	ASUS R9 270x TOP
Storage	128GB Samsung 830 SSD, 1TB WD Black, 2TB WD Green
Display(s)	LG IPS234V-PN
Case	Corsair Obsidian 650D
Audio Device(s)	Infrasonic Quartet
Power Supply	Corsair HX650w
Software	Windows 7 64bit and Windows XP Home
Benchmark Scores	2cm mark on bench with a razor blade.

System Name	Aquarium
Processor	Ryzen 9 7950x
Motherboard	ROG Strix X670-E
Cooling	Lian Li Galahead 360 AIO
Memory	2x16gb Flare X5 Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR5-6000 PC5-48000
Video Card(s)	Asus RTX 3060
Storage	2TB WD SN850X Black NVMe, 500GB Samsung 970 NVMe
Display(s)	Gigabyte 32" IPS 144Hz
Case	Hyte Y60
Power Supply	Corsair RMx 850
Software	Win 11 Pro/ PopOS!

System Name	Darth Obsidious
Processor	Intel i5 2500K
Motherboard	ASUS P8Z68-V/Gen3
Cooling	Cooler Master Hyper 212+ in Push Pull
Memory	2X4GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600
Video Card(s)	ASUS R9 270x TOP
Storage	128GB Samsung 830 SSD, 1TB WD Black, 2TB WD Green
Display(s)	LG IPS234V-PN
Case	Corsair Obsidian 650D
Audio Device(s)	Infrasonic Quartet
Power Supply	Corsair HX650w
Software	Windows 7 64bit and Windows XP Home
Benchmark Scores	2cm mark on bench with a razor blade.

System Name	Aquarium
Processor	Ryzen 9 7950x
Motherboard	ROG Strix X670-E
Cooling	Lian Li Galahead 360 AIO
Memory	2x16gb Flare X5 Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR5-6000 PC5-48000
Video Card(s)	Asus RTX 3060
Storage	2TB WD SN850X Black NVMe, 500GB Samsung 970 NVMe
Display(s)	Gigabyte 32" IPS 144Hz
Case	Hyte Y60
Power Supply	Corsair RMx 850
Software	Win 11 Pro/ PopOS!

Processor	Amd Athlon X2 4600+ Windsor(90nm) EE(65W) @2.9-3.0 @1.45
Motherboard	Biostar Tforce [Nvidia] 550
Cooling	Thermaltake Blue Orb-- bunch of other fans here and there....
Memory	2 gigs (2x1gb) of patriot ddr2 800 @ 4-4-4-12-2t
Video Card(s)	Sapphire X1950pro Pci-E x16 @stock@stock on stock
Storage	Seagate 7200.11 250gb Drive, WD raptors (30/40) in Raid 0
Display(s)	ANCIENT 15" sony lcd, bought it when it was like 500 bucks
Case	Apevia X-plorer blue/black
Audio Device(s)	Onboard- Why get an sound card when you can hum??
Power Supply	Antec NeoHe 550-manufactured by seasonic -replacement to the discontinued smart power series
Software	Windows XP pro SP2 -- vista is still crap

SATA II HDDs different average read?

Widjaja

farlex85

Widjaja

farlex85

panchoman

Sold my stars!

Widjaja

farlex85

freaksavior

To infinity ... and beyond!

ktr

System Name	ZeroUptime \| M.A.S.S / MM1
Processor	Xeon 2659 v3 / Xeon 2683 v4 / ARM A14
Motherboard	Asus X99-E-10G WS / ASRock x99 usb 3.1 / Apple
Cooling	NZXT Kraken / Noctua NH-L12 / Apple
Memory	16Gb DDR4 / 32Gb DDR4 / 16GB HBLM
Video Card(s)	Powercooler ATI vega 64 / GT 7300 / ARM
Storage	Samsung 970 512 Evo NVMe / A lot. / 256 + 512 External TB3
Display(s)	Acer Predator X34 / Headless / Acer X34 Non predator
Case	NZXT H630 \|Rosewill 8bay 4u server chasiss / MMM1
Audio Device(s)	Onboard / Onboard / Onboard
Power Supply	Corais HX850 \| Corsair TX750 / Internal 250w
Mouse	g502 proteus core / Headless / g502 proteus core
Keyboard	Corsair K95 Cherry Blue / Headless / K65 Cherry Red
Software	Windows 10 / ESXI / Big Sur 11.2.2