Will cache on new HD make a difference?

[sven]

Just wondering if a larger cache would make a difference in regards to using the HD in a DMS.  I found a notebook drive that has a 16MB cache that is pretty reasonably priced.  

[bushing]

Just wondering if a larger cache would make a difference in regards to using the HD in a DMS.  I found a notebook drive that has a 16MB cache that is pretty reasonably priced.  

I doubt it.  The PhatBox uses a pretty slow (non-DMA) way of accessing the drive; streaming MP3s off a drive is nowhere near as hard as, say, reading / writing 3 video streams at the same time (like a TiVo).  Pretty much anything will work here; go cheap!

Ben

[ry4n]

I'd have to say probably not as well. I just looked up the specs on what came inside my 10GB DMS cartridge...

256KB Cache
4200RPM

I think I'm just gonna go with something with a 2MB cache, even that would be an upgrade.

[judb]

Just go with whatever is cheap like bushing says.

The deal I got was a 100 gig drive for 179 in a box with 5 year waranty ... it has an 8 meg cache.. whoot!  not really all that useful for this application but it was cheaper than the 2 meg cache toshiba or fujitsu 100 gig drives they had by 15 and 30 dollars.  Shop around and see what deals you can get.

[judb]

On second thought, a drive with a large cache, 8 or 16 megs, MIGHT be a good thing.  Not for performance exactly, BUT it might be good for the life of the drive.

Think about it a minute.. if the drive caches more of a large song (think FLAC songs perhaps) the drive doesnt have to be spun up to read the next amount of data.  it can get the data from the cache.

We could maybe build a better version of the playback utilities to take advantage of these 8 or 16 meg cache drives..

hmmm..

[bushing]

On second thought, a drive with a large cache, 8 or 16 megs, MIGHT be a good thing.  Not for performance exactly, BUT it might be good for the life of the drive.

Think about it a minute.. if the drive caches more of a large song (think FLAC songs perhaps) the drive doesnt have to be spun up to read the next amount of data.  it can get the data from the cache.

We could maybe build a better version of the playback utilities to take advantage of these 8 or 16 meg cache drives..

hmmm..

Heh, especially considering that the PhatBox itself only has what, 16 mb of memory to begin with?

If your drive is defragmented, then the drive will automatically fill up the buffer with the next 8MB of disk contents, or whatever.

That having been said, I don't think it spins the drive down between songs?   So this would only be a drive head wear issue.

-b

[judb]

Well if you look at the code of the nmp3 that has options for spinning down the drive during playback if the buffer is full.  What buffer, I don't know yet.

So that being said, i think they do something with the drive during playback to stop spinning it.

I really wish Vince's NDA would expire so he could tell us about this stuff.

I am suprised we went a whole week with not a peep out of phatnoise folk.  Wonder if they even check here anymore.

Anyone want to submit a link to the wiki info to slashdot?

[Genesis]

I got an 80gb samsung drive for $80 from Newegg.

5400 RPM too.  Nice, big, fast, and cheap.