Hard Drive Buffer Size

[mec_modifier]

Gee, I feel kinda retarded today, and had to ask a kinda stupid question. For having been actively involved in computers 7 years, from video editing to putting PCs together, I have never learned what the buffer size is for a hard drive. I was thinking about using my Christmas Cash for an extra drive, and noticed some that had a 2MB and 8MB buffer. What is the relevance of this, and does it make a huge difference having the larger buffer?

[ClayBuster]

From cocks to cars bigger is always better

[holistic]

A quote from a glossary that says it more clearly than i would have .

"A buffer is a temporary storage area. The hard disk buffer is a portion of the hard drive allocated to RAM used to speed up access to data on a disk. The hard disk buffer acts as a holding area for data so that the processor is free to perform other functions. The larger the buffer size, the more information can be temporarily stored and the quicker it can be accessed."

So basically .....If you are not doing "raw" (analog) captures then I really don't thing you will see any performance difference in the two.
eg: DVD ripping will NOT tax the hardrive, MPEG2 encoding neither. And as for DV @3.7MB/sec well enough said there .!

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[iooi]

See My post here
Never thought that a 8 meg buffer would make such a vast diffrence in speeds...
For the sake of the extra couple of £ or $ go for the 8 meg buffer.

[gmatov]

So, really, ifyou cn get a 160 w/ 8 meg buffer for 100 bucks, or a 200 w/ 2 meg buffer for 100 bucks, go for the 200. The buffer will not do a damn thing for you.

Seriously, you'll see no more difference than you will with a 1500 and an 1800. None, in fact. We, including me, capped video with 350 meg CPUs. 2 to 5 gig drives. It worked. You do NOT NEED 3 gig Intels, or 3200s and 200 gig 8 meg drives.

You will cap well.

Get the biggest fastest,,etc you can afford. You will need it in the long run.

[iooi]

So, really, ifyou cn get a 160 w/ 8 meg buffer for 100 bucks, or a 200 w/ 2 meg buffer for 100 bucks, go for the 200. The buffer will not do a damn thing for you.

Well having played some more with a 8 meg buffer hard drive i would go for a small drive if it had the larger buffer. Even doing stuff like compressing file is so much quicker with the larger buffer.

Get the biggest fastest,,etc you can afford. You will need it in the long run.

Sorry but you contradict your self a bit there as you cant have both, unless you got a bottom less pit of funds..