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How does hard drive affect gaming?

post #1 of 18
4/3/06 at 3:42pm
Thread Starter 
All i want to know is how much of a difference would a 7200RPM hard Drive make to a 5400RPM?

and just for kicks how would a 4200RPM Hard Drive compare?

Jonno
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post #2 of 18
4/3/06 at 3:43pm
from what i understand 4200rpm harddrives are pretty crummy for games like WoW or other mmorpgs. i think you woudl want a 5400 rpm at minimum for games like those, but i dunno what kind of games you play.
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post #3 of 18
4/3/06 at 3:54pm
Thread Starter 
games like elder scrolls oblivion and CS and wow and civ 4 etc
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post #4 of 18
4/3/06 at 3:58pm
i upgraded from a 4200 to a 7200 and the difference is huge!
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post #5 of 18
4/3/06 at 4:46pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jonno
All i want to know is how much of a difference would a 7200RPM hard Drive make to a 5400RPM?

and just for kicks how would a 4200RPM Hard Drive compare?

Jonno
I upgraded from a 4200rpm to 5400rpm to 7200rpm, probably within 2 years time.. I really would not recommened using a 4200rpm drive unless its just for storing stuff like video and music.

If you want to play games u should at least consider a 5400 rpm drive. You really notice the difference going from 4200rpm to 5400rpm. I would say that if u alreayd have a 5400rpm drive don't bother with a 7200rpm unless u don't care too much about spending the money or you can get a great deal.

Don't forget that its' not all about rpm speed. Larger hard drives (100 or 120) has more dense platters and they perform pretty close to smaller 7200rpm drives.
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post #6 of 18
4/3/06 at 4:54pm
Thread Starter 
so your saying the bigger in space it is the faster it is?
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post #7 of 18
4/3/06 at 7:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jonno
so your saying the bigger in space it is the faster it is?
Typically, yes. A 100 5400 RPM hard drive is about the same speed as a 60 7200 RPM drive.
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post #8 of 18
4/3/06 at 8:29pm
in other words, get a 120gb 7200rpm for good speed
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post #9 of 18
4/3/06 at 8:46pm
I'm actually considering upgrading my drive too, this comes as good information at the right time.
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post #10 of 18
4/3/06 at 9:12pm
You'll pretty much see longer load times with slower hard-drives, and that's about it.

I run copies of BF2 off of CD drives (yes, CD drives) at LAN parties. Loading levels is painfully slow, but once loaded, the game behaves normally.

Oblivion has lots of loading doors and loading areas. Faster hard-drives will make a nice difference there.
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post #11 of 18
4/3/06 at 10:15pm
Order of importance from greatest to least:

1. GPU
2. RAM
3. CPU
4. HDD

Make sure you get the best you can afford of the first 3 before thinking of upgrading the last.
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post #12 of 18
4/3/06 at 10:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by awingedpig
Order of importance from greatest to least:

1. GPU
2. RAM
3. CPU
4. HDD

Make sure you get the best you can afford of the first 3 before thinking of upgrading the last.
Totally agree.

Its mainly the gpu that effect your gaming performance. However if there is a bottleneck in your system because of a slow component or not enough ram then you'll lag...

1gb min for current games these days. 2GB is better...
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post #13 of 18
4/3/06 at 10:38pm
Don't get confused if you have a shitty graphics it makes no difference if you have the fastest hard disk in the world... neither does having the fastest cpu...
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post #14 of 18
4/3/06 at 11:42pm
how long before 2gb of ram isn't enough?
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post #15 of 18
4/4/06 at 2:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cd470
Typically, yes. A 100 5400 RPM hard drive is about the same speed as a 60 7200 RPM drive.
Wow i just noticed the prices of those 7200 rpm drives now.. 210 CDN for a 100 gigger.. I payed well over 300 for my 60 gigger when it came out..
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post #16 of 18
4/4/06 at 2:20am
Quote:
Originally Posted by stuckinasquare3
how long before 2gb of ram isn't enough?
A year to a year and a half, I suppose.
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post #17 of 18
4/4/06 at 5:50am
hi guys, i was just wondering if you would notice the difference between 4200rpm and 5400rpm when playing music or video or using office type apps? also what about non-rpg games like cs-source?

cheers
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post #18 of 18
4/4/06 at 7:09am
Thread Starter 
well ill either be getting the 6800 ultra or the 7800gtx... but its hard to find one with a 7800gtx on ebay (like there were loads a week ago) grr!
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