Windows Vista recommended spec: NCQ

[jebo_4jc]

Though the article refers to "S-ATA 2", the author is really referring to any drive with NCQ and 3gbps speeds:

http://www.apcstart.com/teched/pivot/entry.php?id=6

 

[DougLite]

Couple of comments: This also conveniently disqualifies 2MB buffer PATA drives, as the vast majority (all?) SATA drives have an 8MB buffer. Furthermore, I hope they can get more out of NCQ, and I hope their emphasis on NCQ doesn't mean more disk thrashing. If anything, they should be working toward less disk access, especially with the generous 2GB of RAM figure. The whole asynchronous execution is a great concept, but there has been stuff like pre-emptive multitasking and other buzzwords that haven't lived up to the hype in actual execution. NCQ certainly doesn't do much for general desktop productivity right now.

 

[jebo_4jc]

NCQ certainly doesn't do much for general desktop productivity right now.

Agreed, but here's hoping, as Doug said, that they can get more out of NCQ.

Here's my thought though:
The whole dual core craze is basically focused on multitasking, and supposedly, so is NCQ. How often are 2 programs going after the HDD at the same time? I can only think of trying to fire up Outlook and Photoshop at the same time or something. Perhaps we can see NCQ being taken advantage of in a more single-tasking situation?