[transcode-users] Hard Disk doesn't seem to do the fps it used to...

[Iain MacGranthin <iaingmacg@xxxxxxx>]

System – SuSe 10.0
AMD64 3500
1x277gig, 2x202gig SATA Hard disks.
2x512meg paired memory.
I have noticed that the transcode speed have decreased over time on one hard disk that I am using – which was confirmed by my using another disk today, which is processing consistently at about 35fps as opposed to the 21-24fps my more heavily used disk now averages.

The time has not been long either, perhaps 2 months at most since I installed SuSe 10.1.

It has given me a layman’s impression that the volume of transcoding from mpg to XviD, after recording dvb-t and editing it with dvbcut, followed by deletion of original m2t (from recording using Kaffeine) files and dvbcut created mpg files, is affecting the hard disk performance in a similar way to how a windows drive gets when it needs defragmenting.  However, having a Powerbook with Mac OS X, I was under the impression that this wouldn’t be an issue, as unix based systems manage their disks without need for interference.

If there is some disk maintenance that needs performing, what do I do and with what, and if not, what could be causing the change in performance, and what can I do to keep things running smoothly and at best speed?

Finally, some basic stats, just in case they may be of use:
Heavy use disk: 277gig, logical drive 250gig, with 109gig free.
Recently conscripted disk: 202gig, logical drive 189 gig with 140 gig free.