Replacement Hard Drives

by: AimyD
Total views: 8 | Word Count: 319

If you hear a horrible noise coming from your computer, such as grinding sounds, and it’s working slower than ever, it may be time for a new hard drive. Unfortunately there are so many different types of hard drives out there, which one do you get? Should you get with better performance or one with more capacity? Take them both into consideration.

Performance is based on a computer's drive controllers (connector types), the rotational speed and access times of the drive itself. Capacity is basically a question of storage space and whether or not your current system can recognize and handle it.

Be sure you know your connector type. Many computers have many types of connectors, knowing what you need will determine what you can put in your computer.

One thing you should look at when purchasing a new hard drive is the rotational speed or RPMs (revolutions per minute). The higher the RPM the faster your computer will run. Higher speed means better performance for Windows and other operating systems. The average RPM for a hard drive is either 5400 or 7200.

Next will be seek times which are measured in milliseconds and are a gauge of how fast a program will find the needed data on a hard drive.

If you are looking for speed you need to match the highest RPM with lowest seek time.

Now you are asking yourself, is bigger better? Look at the hard drives storage space. Like most things you can never have too much. Try to get the biggest you can afford. Hard drive capacity is rated in “megabytes” for older computers, “gigabytes” for middle age computers, and “terabytes” for new computers.

Now you are ready to buy your hard drive. You will need one with high RPM, low seek times, and high number of gigabytes. Lastly, be sure you check the owner’s manual for your computer to make sure your computer can handle your new hard drive.

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