HDD size

[Forseti]

I have 2 of these HDDs in my PC. Under windows explorer it has them both having a total of 298GB each or total of 596GB not 320 and 640 respectively. With the first one, it is all partitioned up and I just assumed space was eaten up or something in the partitions. After installing the second today unpartitioned and it too is only 298 I was wondering what was wrong. I thought the number they state (320 in this case) was always an underestimation. Not sure if having it formated as NTFS as opposed to FAT32 matters (I think it does if I remember right.) Can someone waist the time to educate me as I am sure I am just missing/forgetting something I once knew.

And do I really need 640 over 596? - ummm no, I only have 2 of them because I thought the HDD was the original reason my new PC was not working and since I got 2 good ones now, might as well use them for some backed up home movie editing I have let go lol. Truthfully I doubt I will even half use the first one, but I am sure I can put it in another PC once I get around to building my next one lol.

[Wízzßång]

It's a matter of how the drive is labeled vs. how the operating system reads it.  The HD is labeled with the size in decimal gigabits, but the operating system measures in binary gigabits.  There is about a 7.5% difference between what the drive is labeled as, and how the OS sees it.  This is perfectly normal.  (596 x 7.5% = 640.7)


For more info, read http://www.pcguide.com/intro/fun/bindec.htm

[Forseti]

kk thanks, I thought it was something like that but for some reason the other way around. I got used to hearing 298 and seeing 320 for some reason...or not lol.