Hard Drive Disk Density

Hard Disk Density;

Does a four platter drive w/ 100 gigabytes out perform a single or double platter with 400-200 gigabytes on it?

The answer is the single or double platter drive, I shall explain why, but first to explain the drive platters itself.

A drive platter is what holds the digitalized content of a computer.

If the Hard Drive is 600 gigabytes, and has three or two platters, each platter will rationally hold 200-300 gigabytes of data density (digitalized information); how does this matter? Well, the 600 gig, two 300gig platter drive should theoretically outperform the three platter drive, that is assuming of course that all the other specifications are the same (i.e. the RPM of the drives, SATA version, and the amount of space on the drive), also the motherboard determines the read speeds. But, why does the drive with less platter run faster?

First off, with less platters the drive should allow the laser to find the information faster, and read it faster.

Second, the less platters means less file fragmentation (file scattering, basically an unorganized file cabinet)which means the computer can read data and write data the the Hard Disk much faster.

So when buying a Hard Drive make sure you check these things:

SATA 3g compatible, as with your motherboard
Amount of space on the Drive (ex. 750 gigabytes)
The number of platters
Amount on each platter
Does it come with software
Does it support your OS
(Operating System, i.e. Windows 98/2000/XP/Vista, Linux)

Have fun!