My sons western digital 250GB hard drive has broke and I have a 320GB version by western digital one drive has manufacture date of Aug 2008 and the other is June 2008 (typical just out of the manufacturer 3 year warranty period)

Here is my quiry the 250GB drive is 16MB cache size where the 320GB one is just 8MB cach size and I would like to ask if its the pcb board that determins the drives cache size as I was thinking with them being identical drives (apart from the size difference)of putting the PCB from the 250GB drive onto the 320GB drive so that it will be 16MB cache rather than 8MB as the firmware numbers and boards seem to look like for like.

Or is there a big difference between 8MB and 16MB cache. Thanks for any pointers on this

All the cache memory is on the PCB, so what you want to do might work.... or might not.

If it works, I would use it only as a means to get the data off onto a new drive.

Thanks, Is there a big difference between 8MB cache and 16MB Cache. I will let you know how it goes, thanks.

As (bad) luck would have it, I've just had a similar problem to you albeit with an IBM drive. :(

Swapping the pcb from another IBM (different size) confirmed that both were okay but unfortunately the faulty hard drive still stayed faulty! It does in fact sound like the motor but AFAIA there's no way to do a swap on that. :S

I think in a few years we will see more solid state drives around, these have no moving parts. They are quite expensive now (about £485 for a 250GB one) but they will drop down soon to make them attractive to most.

We always go through hard drives in our house they must have a hard life, if its not the clunk of death its silly faults that stop the pc booting. nightmare.

Even SSD's aren't the answer yet as they wear out in about the same time as traditional HDD's. Other than speed and noise, they have no other advantage :S

As (bad) luck would have it, I've just had a similar problem to you albeit with an IBM drive. :(

Swapping the pcb from another IBM (different size) confirmed that both were okay but unfortunately the faulty hard drive still stayed faulty! It does in fact sound like the motor but AFAIA there's no way to do a swap on that. :S

FWIW, IBM have not made drives for years, so it's going to be a hitachi if a home user drive or a drove from one of the current manufacturers if it's IBM branded.

In terms of PCB swaps, make sure you have the correct firmware for your drive on the new PCB, as otherwise you run a high risk of actually damaging the data on the disk.

FWIW, IBM have not made drives for years, so it's going to be a hitachi if a home user drive or a drove from one of the current manufacturers if it's IBM branded.

In terms of PCB swaps, make sure you have the correct firmware for your drive on the new PCB, as otherwise you run a high risk of actually damaging the data on the disk.

It was only just over 10 years old - I'd have expected it to last a bit more than that lol!

The HD with the good board didn't have anything too critical on so it was worth a punt.

Thanks, Is there a big difference between 8MB cache and 16MB Cache. I will let you know how it goes, thanks.

Yep!......it can store (temp) and retrive (temp) large stuff easier.......just did my (5yr old) desktop PC (2MD cache to 16MB)...major difference...then swapped from IDE to SATA I(150 speed)......which again made a noticeable differnce!!