8mb vs 2mb buffer cache in 2.5" hard disk

Hi, I've WD Scorpio wd800ue 80gb, 2mb buffer, 5200rpm, ATA100 installed my laptop. I will buy another 2.5" hd, a seagate momentus 5200.3, 80gb 8mb buffer, 5200 rpm ATA100 that I will use as an external storage, mp3 and maybe some 3dgames.

1. Is it better to replace the 2mb buffer hard disk with this new 8mb buffer hard disk as my internal hard drive?

2. Any huge difference in overall pc usage and playing 3d games such as nba07, nfc carbon, COH, far cry? Definitely it's a pain to reinstall the OS, apps and games especially those configurations. I think it would take me a whole day

3. Do you suggest that I'll buy 2.5" instead of the 1.8"? I'm opt to buy the 2.5" since it can be a replacement once my internal 2.5" laptop dies and I've heard 2.5" is faster than 1.8" . But mobility is a plus for me. 1.8" is very mobile.

4. Can I easily place a 2.5" with an enclosure inside my pant's pocket?

Thanks

 

I'd suggest shelling out a few more dollars, get a 2.5" 7200 rpm drive and use it internally while you use your old drive for storage. It won't cost a lot more, and you'll improve your laptop overall. Furthermore, you can clone your old drive to your new one, saving you all the trouble of reinstalled apps.

Check out this thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=103127

The 1.8" drives don't hold much and are much slower. The 2.5" drive in an enclosure is quite compact, about 2.5" by 4.5" by 1/3". Could be carried in a pocket, but noticeable. Suggest carrying it in the laptop bag or backpackto avoid bouncing around so much.

 

1.8" are harder to get, is more expensive as well as slower than the 2.5".
Buy a 5400 rpm or 7200 rpm 2.5 HD and swap it with your internal 1. U will definitely feel the difference. Also you can use disk copying software like Norton Ghost or Acronis True Copy to make a clone of your existing hard disk

 

Thanks.

@ Chaffy, my only option now is 5200rpm 'cause 7200rpm is not available yet in my place.

@ Bender, can I use norton ghost if I've a dual boot configuration (windows and linux)? Any performance downgrade if I copied the cloned drive image?
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If I replaced my 2mb buffer hard drive with the 8mb buffer hd same 5200rpm, will I notice huge leap of performance in 3d games, faster system response (file browsing) and overall performance?

 

no downgrade...norton ghost make an exact replica of your old hard disk to your new hard disk

 

If you don't want to shell the bucks for ghost, I found xxclone (freeware) did a very good job cloning mine. However, it did seem to miss a few files that were in a very hidden windows directory (C:\windows\installer\). I've since copied them over, but I'm not completely certain how much is still missing. Certainly have not had any errors or problems other than a few missing icons that I manually moved over.