Now for transfer rates you're going to need to do some searching, best way to find these numbers is to go to manufacturer's website and look at specification sheet for model you're looking to buy (actually this is best way to get all information I've talked about so far). One thing to look out for is that you may read something that says 133MB/s or ATA/133 or SATA150 or 150MB/s, and these are not numbers you are looking for, those numbers describe bus connecting hard drive to motherboard, and are theoretical peak numbers, which tell us virtually nothing. Also, if you are buying a Maxtor, don't bother looking up actual transfer rates, as Maxtor is apparently afraid to release such information. Not to say Maxtor's are bad drives, actually Maxtor has risen to top in terms of technical support and they are much more willing to replace broken drives than some other companies, which is important since some ridiculously large amount (something like 10 or 15%) of hard drives are either dead on arrival or die within first few weeks of use. As with last two points, when looking at transfer speeds (if you can find them) always try to pick one with highest numbers you can afford.

Notice that first three of 4 major aspects were all speed related? That was done intentionally to give you a sense of importance of speed in hard drive, because they are very very slow creatures, and for your gaming experience you don't need an enormous hard drive so much as a fast one. To increase speed substantially more you can set up a RAID, which is a network of hard drives which (in RAID0 mode) share portions of same data, such that accessing data takes 1/n time (n = number of hard drives attached) compared to 1 hard drive. To do this you really need a hardware RAID chipset, which are commonly included on higher-end mainboards.

Finally, capacity is an unnecessary nicety. The smallest hard drives you can buy today that are still within those higher speed classes are all about 30GB, which is more than enough for your games. But since games are not everything, and if you happen to be an iTunes member or like to download anime then you will really want some extra space. So I would recommend getting something between 60 and 120GB, any more and you're going to be paying through your teeth, any less and you might be looking to buy a supplementary hard drive in a couple years. And, oh yeah, 300GB hard drives from Maxtor are out, but they are comparatively slow, so I wouldn't recommend getting one for gaming, I like to stick to single platter drives (40-100GB usually), as they produce less heat and are less likely to break down on me.

That is really all you need to know in order to make a good choice when upgrading your hard drive or buying one for a new computer. Of course there are many other resources on web if you would like more detail on inner working of hard drives. For more information visit htp://www.computer-gaming-system.com

Turn off PC,but do not unplug it,open system unit. Set multimeter to read DC volts in next range higher than 12 volts.Locate a power connector similair to hard drive,or cdrom drive connector that is unused and turn on PC.

You can also unplug a drive connector and use it as well.Turn on PC and insert BLACK probe into power connector on one of BLACK wires.Touch RED probe to YELLOW wire on power connector.

The multimeter reading should be +12 volts Now touch RED probe to RED wire and reading should be +5 volts.If no readings or different readings occured,you'll have to replace power supply.If readings were correct,you should check P8 or P9 connectors at motherboard. These connectors may also be named P4 and P5.To check these connectors,perform following...

Insert BLACK probe into P8 at one of BLACK wires. Insert RED probe into P8 connector at RED wire. The reading on multimeter should be +5 volts

Check power going to Motherboard connections by inserting RED probe into P8 at YELLOW wire and you should get +12 volts.Leave BLACK wire touching black wire at P8 connector.Check BLUE wire and reading should be a -12 volts.

Now move BLACK probe to BLACK wire on P9 connector.Test WHITE wire by inserting RED probe and reading should be -5 volts.Check RED wires on P9 connector and you should get +5 volts on each red wire.You won't get exactly 5 or 12 volts but readings will be very close, such as 5.02 volts.

If Power Supply is a couple of volts off,in either direction,such as when RED wire should be reading -5 volts but it reads -8 volts,or if there are no readings,replace power supply.

DO NOT remove power supply from system unit case when performing these tests.DO NOT perform these tests if you do not feel comfortable.Be sure to remove any and all electrical static build-up from your clothes and body BEFORE touching any parts inside system unit.And NEVER open power supply case for any reason,since high voltage may be present.