10000RPM HDDs

[meine]

Hey guys, do those extra 2800RPMs make much of a difference in higher end systems? (Higher end Core 2 duos or quads) isn't the HDD a sort of bottleneck compared to the speed these multi die processors process information? And will a 10k RPM HDD even make much of a difference?

Thanks.

[noell]

I assume you are referring the Western Digital's Raptor hard drive series.

That being the case, while faster hard drives certainly help any system's performance, they will not speed up everything. The differences in gaming benchmarks, for example, between a Raptor and a "regular" drive are so small that it really doesn't matter. However, in file intensive/large database applications, the improvement is more noticeable. Because file I/O is faster with a Raptor, programs will load a little bit faster and, IMO, a system with a Raptor feels "snappier". When it comes to Flight Sim, it stands to reason that any scenery files will load faster from a Raptor but I haven't been able to detect anything definitive in that regard. I consider the Raptors as "enthusiast" drives for those who feel that anything which improves performance is worth the extra cash even if the performance increase is very small.



....Noell

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 3GHz
Arctic Cooling 'Freezer 7 Pro'
ASUS P5N32-E SLI
2GB Mushkin XP2 PC2-6400 DDR2-800@4-4-3-10
EVGA 8800 GTS KO ACS3 w/ 640MB @580MHz&1.7GHz (Driver: Xtreme-G 160.02)
Samsung 215TW Monitor
1 X 36GB WD Raptor
2 X 74GB WD Raptor RAID 0
1 X 250GB WD Caviar (2500KS)
X-Fi XtremeGamer Fatal1ty Pro Series
OCZ GameXStream 700W
Antec P180B case

[meine]

Thanks Noell.

I was asking because I was thinking of upgrading to a lower-end Conroe when the Intel price cuts arrive in July 22nd, spending a reasonable amount of money in a quad/duo mobo (not DDR3 though) to update to a quad (Yorkfield) whenever they come out next year.

[greggerm]

Personally, I would say that there is a noticable difference in FS2004/FSX loading times with a 10,000 RPM drive vs. a 7200 RPM drive.

Due to the fact that MSFS consists of a zillion small files (texture, scenery, elevation, etc), file seek times are important to acheaving fast load times. The 10k drives give you very rapid file seek times, and as such, improve your load times.

You can help your load times on either the 7200's or the 10k's with appropriate defragging, but sometimes it is speed that counts.

As mentioned, a 10k drive won't do anything for frame rates, it will have a *MINOR* impact on in-game texture loading (maybe noticable, maybe not), but will show it's benefits most during flight loading. Adding in new tools like TileProxy, which depends on tens of thousands of unique texture files, and the Raptor shows it's benefits even more.

It is an enthusiast product, but it will give you more than just a benchmark improvement when it comes to loading MSFS.

-Greg

[loki]

As the others have said, Raptors will help with load times, but not frame rates. You may want to check out reviews of some of the newer 7200RPM drives as they are almost as fast as the Raptors now. Plus, they are also up to the terabyte range for storage, compared to 150GB for the fastest Raptor.

loki

[angels355]

Hi Meine,

The all star team here has given some really good advice. I thought I would add that some FS9 users who have Raptors have said wow, regarding the performance of these HDD's in loading graphics. One user went out of his way to mention how much more improved his graphics loading was.

On the other hand, I hate spending money, today's mega dollar product will be tomorrow's humdrum product. I think the bottom line is a matter of accounting analysis, how much will you lose by getting today's cutting edge product?

You probably would not have guessed this, but I am a fan of Ferrari products. I wear a Ferrari baseball cap wherever I go, I can't explain it, it's a passion. It can also definitely make accounting analysis sense. Believe it or not. There are pitfalls however, so knowledge of mechanics etc are very important to be savvy. It can be cool to look at things in terms of accounting analysis. For example, at our local Chevy dealer, they want $85,000 for the latest Z06 Corvette, it's marked up by I think $20,0000 by the dealership for a market value price gouging fee. A very nice low mileage Ferrari 308 can be had for 30 to $45,000, AND, it is fully depreciated at that price, and may in fact increase in price over the upcoming years. It takes a lot of Ferrari knowledge and savvy to come out on top, but it can be done. The Z06 at $85,000 may drop in value to perhaps as low as $50,000 after a short time of owning it. Because the "market value" added fee from the dealership, is pure boloney, it will evaporate about as quickly as you drive off the lot with a big "sucker!" sign pointing at you as you drive off. If you're not Ferrari savvy and want the safety of the Corvette's Chevy support, then buy a fully depreciated Corvette, which is best at about 10 to $15,000. Or buy a fully depreciated Porsche, many experts say that a Porsche is the best car to buy, but still you have to know what you're doing. It's cool to be a frugal and wise shopper.

In my opinion, paying mega bucks for today's latest technology is not worth it. In a couple of years it will be soooo yesterday, as they say. I have been very delighted with the features of yesterday's techology, what products are GOOD ENOUGH, and fully depreciated prices! I think what you have to evaluate is, what is it that you're trying to accomplish? Do you want to be a real professional pilot? Or do you want the last word in beautiful graphics which no one important will care about? A friend of mine is a real retired airline pilot, he has never even once demanded to know, how sharp are your graphics???? Instead he wants to know what my real world skills are, and what are my real world levels of knowledge in flight procedures?? The computer can be a great tool to accomplish these two goals, with flight simulator you can practice techniques you need to know over and over. Also, you can study FAA educational texts to improve your knowledge of flight procedures. I fly Fly!2k, FS98 through FS9 inclusively for mega hours for practice, and I just set up my 150 mhz computer to read FAA handbooks to me.

What is critical in my opinion, is, what is your goal, what do you actually want to accomplish? In the Air Force, they have people/departments that are "low drag", in other words they are focused, with nothing extraneous distracting them from accomplishing their specific goal. What you want to avoid is anything that will distract or detain you from accomplishing your goal in life.

Before I became a scientist, I was in photography and was considering going pro, and I got caught up with what equipment was the very last word in current technology, thinking that the latest technology was what made you a pro. It didn't take me long to learn that what makes a pro is YOU yourself, what are YOUR skills? A super pro photographer can take a piece of junk camera and take an award winning photo. The bottom line is YOU, what is YOUR skill and knowledge? A true pro doesn't care what equipment you own, instead he wants to know what is your skill level and knowledge. If you learn that early in life, the less time you waste, and the faster you accomplish your true goals, and reach true satisfaction in professional accomplishment.

I just want to be honest, so that perhaps you won't head down the wrong road while trying to reach your true goals. Want to become a military pilot? What you need is more math, physics, languages won't hurt, and if you want to buy something, buy a better scientific programmable calculator. Want to be an airline pilot? Get a degree, and even better is experience as a military pilot. Athletics can be crucial.

I hope I have been constructive. I just don't want you to be led down the wong road while you're trying to accomplish goals that are more important. Here is the analysis in a nutshell: study less, sell shoes at the mall, study hard and fly F-15's and 16's. That is how important it is to study and get good at athletics.

Good luck.

[RyanbATC]

Yep, 10k's with a nicely defragged drive (3rd party apps) will show an decrease in loading time....

It did for me at least

[727stretch]

Just want to add my two cents here. A few months back I upgraded to a 74GB Raptor HD for my gaming drive, and I definitely noticed a difference in texture loading times. The drive is so great that I'm planning to get one of the 150GB versions to use for my OS, paging file, etc. However, if you choose to go the cheaper route, you won't be disappointed with WD's Caviar series @ 7200RPM. I'm currently using the 320GB 3200KS and it's nearly silent, cool, and plenty fast unless you're a speed freak...

[angels355]

Hi Meine,

I hope I haven't sounded like a killjoy, if you can easily afford a raptor and you want it then go for it, I was just saying the hardware is for hobby and the last word in equipment is only good for the hobby. If you need to save your money for your education, then saving the money and studying might be a better choice.

But I've heard many people say how great the raptors are at improving fs performance.

There's something new on the horizon, an 8 gb ram drive, this would be an extremely fast master drive for the OS, it would make even the raptors seem slow. The only thing is that you have to keep your ram plugged into an electrical source 24/7, otherwise you'll lose the OS, and have to reinstall everything once you plug it back in.