[Rotary Rasp]

I got a hold of a 80gb 7200 rpm pata drive from work yesterday. Knowing that our stock hard drive is 4200 rpm, I figured this would be worth upgrading.

Here is what I've observed so far:

Initial navigation boot-up: about the same
POI search: significantly faster
Route calculation: moderately faster
Alt. route calculation: slightly faster

I just installed it last night, so I'll report back if I discover any more performance changes.


p.s. the drive also is more energy efficient and should run cooler than the oem drive.

[bender rodriguez]

Please let us know how it goes.. Where is the drive located btw easy to get at?

[Rotary Rasp]

Originally Posted by Mr.Ritz

Please let us know how it goes.. Where is the drive located btw easy to get at?

It's very easy to remove and it's located under the dvd-rom drive.

[bender rodriguez]

You might want to hold off on that. The current disk in there is designed not to skip from bumps. But if you do proceed make sure you clone your old drive to the new. That way it will be plug in play.


Toshiba, the leader in automotive-grade hard disk drives, introduces the MKxx50GAC 2.5-inch hard disk drive. Featuring storage capacities of 40 and 80GB*, the MKxx50GAC is designed specifically for the in-cabin automotive systems environment, and delivers the enhanced operating temperature range and operating altitude range required to meet the operating extremes of the on-road and off-road environment.

Toshiba pioneered the development of automotive grade hard disk drives to deliver the robust, cost-effective, high-capacity storage required for the complex GPS navigation systems used in the Far East and Europe. Building on this success, Toshiba works closely with Tier-1 automotive systems designers to meet the storage challenges presented by the evolving in-dash "infotainment" and telematics marketplace. In addition, Toshiba’s automotive-grade hard disk drives provide robust storage for in-car computing and for on-the-go digital communications.

[bender rodriguez]

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=332783

[Rotary Rasp]

Originally Posted by Mr.Ritz

You might want to hold off on that. The current disk in there is designed not to skip from bumps. But if you do proceed make sure you clone your old drive to the new. That way it will be plug in play.


Toshiba, the leader in automotive-grade hard disk drives, introduces the MKxx50GAC 2.5-inch hard disk drive. Featuring storage capacities of 40 and 80GB*, the MKxx50GAC is designed specifically for the in-cabin automotive systems environment, and delivers the enhanced operating temperature range and operating altitude range required to meet the operating extremes of the on-road and off-road environment.

Toshiba pioneered the development of automotive grade hard disk drives to deliver the robust, cost-effective, high-capacity storage required for the complex GPS navigation systems used in the Far East and Europe. Building on this success, Toshiba works closely with Tier-1 automotive systems designers to meet the storage challenges presented by the evolving in-dash "infotainment" and telematics marketplace. In addition, Toshiba’s automotive-grade hard disk drives provide robust storage for in-car computing and for on-the-go digital communications.

It's already done and working..... lol

I can always put the stock drive back in if there are issues down the road.

[F31Bimmerman]

Originally Posted by Rotary Rasp

I got a hold of a 80gb 7200 rpm pata drive from work yesterday. Knowing that our stock hard drive is 4200 rpm, I figured this would be worth upgrading.

Here is what I've observed so far:

Initial navigation boot-up: about the same
POI search: significantly faster
Route calculation: moderately faster
Alt. route calculation: slightly faster

I just installed it last night, so I'll report back if I discover any more performance changes.


p.s. the drive also is more energy efficient and should run cooler than the oem drive.

I would also advise against using a "normal" hard drive in your car.. a few bumps on the road will be enough to permanently crash the heads into the spinning disk. The you will be stuck with a failed disk. Some disks get damaged when they're not spinning just getting knocked over, imagine in a car

Your best bet is to get a PATA SSD drive, even then you want a robust ssd drive. 128G will fetch a hefty price, 64G a little less. So the second best bet is to get a larger rugged drive that was meant to be used in a car.

So don't throw away your old drive, you will probably need to put it back soon

[JackR]

A SSD hard drive would be by far the best option as has already been said. Not sure it'd need to be "robust". How ever you're still looking at a hefty price tag just to see a minimal increase in speed :/
Just my 2p worth!

[Rotary Rasp]

Guys, this drive was free. If it crashes... that's fine, I'll put the old one back in.

The point of this thread was to show that a faster hard drive will increase the performance on the nav system when doing certain tasks.

[F31Bimmerman]

Originally Posted by JackR

A SSD hard drive would be by far the best option as has already been said. Not sure it'd need to be "robust". How ever you're still looking at a hefty price tag just to see a minimal increase in speed :/
Just my 2p worth!

I would go robust because here in "the great white north" temperatures vary from one extreme to an another. I would want to be sure the components could handle such temp variations.

[bender rodriguez]

Originally Posted by MrMike

I would go robust because here in "the great white north" temperatures vary from one extreme to an another. I would want to be sure the components could handle such temp variations.

There are no moving parts.. I would think it would be fine..

I have a spare SSD.. What SATA to PATA should I use?

[F31Bimmerman]

Originally Posted by Mr.Ritz

There are no moving parts.. I would think it would be fine..

I have a spare SSD.. What SATA to PATA should I use?

You are right there are no moving parts but temperature variations cause components to expand and contract, that can affect soldered connections and make them crack and break tiny electric circuits.

As for the SATA/PATA, I don't know, I haven't ventured into this kind of swap.

[bender rodriguez]

How much space is back there.. Going to have to stuff a sata to molex and sata to PATA back there.

[Rotary Rasp]

Originally Posted by Mr.Ritz

How much space is back there.. Going to have to stuff a sata to molex and sata to PATA back there.

The problem with those adapters is that all need external power.

[bender rodriguez]

Originally Posted by Rotary Rasp

The problem with those adapters is that all need external power.

damn you are right

[iatacs19]

Regarding the PATA SSD, something like this perhaps?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/KingSpec-2-5...item4605d17bf1

or even more compact still:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/KINGSPEC-128...item43b1edf936

Better operating temps:

http://www.mydigitaldiscount.com/myd...-2.5-inch-ssd/

[JackR]

If a SSD will break chances are the standard hard drive in the car originally wouldn't hold up either!!

Originally Posted by MrMike

I would go robust because here in "the great white north" temperatures vary from one extreme to an another. I would want to be sure the components could handle such temp variations.

[bender rodriguez]

Originally Posted by iatacs19

Regarding the PATA SSD, something like this perhaps?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/KingSpec-2-5...item4605d17bf1

or even more compact still:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/KINGSPEC-128...item43b1edf936

Better operating temps:

http://www.mydigitaldiscount.com/myd...-2.5-inch-ssd/

I have a spare sata ssd rather just get an adapter

[Rotary Rasp]

No problems so far! Faster nav is nice.

[bender rodriguez]

Wow.. really.. damn I really want to put this spare SSD I have.. I found an all in one adapter that doesn't require external power to work

[dopedope]

what software do you use to clone the hard drive?

[Rotary Rasp]

HDclone

7200 rpm drive is still going strong.