Samsung SpinPoint T166 500GB: Cool, Quiet, and Quick
by Gary Key on July 9, 2007 2:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Storage
Actual Application Times
Our application benchmarks are designed to show application performance results with times being reported in seconds, with lower scores being better. While these tests will show some differences between the drives it is important to understand we are no longer measuring the pure performance of the hard drive but how well our platform performs with each individual drive. The performance of a hard drive is an integral part of the computer platform but other factors such as memory, CPU, core logic, and even driver choice can play a major role in determining how well the hard drive performs in any given task.
Game Load Test
Our Sims 2: Open for Business test measures the time it takes to load the initial portion of the game. Our application timer starts when the game icon is initiated until the neighborhood menu appears.
The results are basically the same as our iPEAK results as the WD Raptor series continues to lead all drives; however, the performance differences are not as drastic once we take into account the entire platform. The Samsung drive ties the T7K500 while finishing right behind the Seagate drives and for all intent purposes this tests reveals only minor differences between all of the drives. While the Raptor and Hitachi 1TB drives seemed "snappier" during the game load process, the actual time differences tell another story. Subjectively, during actual game play we thought the Raptor was slightly faster than the other drives but not to the point of giving up the capacity and cost advantages of the 7200rpm drives.
Game Level Load
This test centers on the actual loading of a playable level within our game selections. The Battlefield 2 test measures the time it takes to load the Daqing Oilfields level. Our application timer begins when the start single player icon is initiated and ends when the join game icon is visible.
The WD1500ADFD Raptor continues its pattern of being the best available drive for the gaming enthusiast and our subjective opinion also matches the test scores for the most part. That said, the larger capacity advantages of the 7200rpm drives certainly make up for the minimal loss in performance. Our Samsung drive finishes right ahead of the Hitachi and Seagate offerings and mirrors our iPEAK test results.
AnyDVD 6.1
Our next test has us utilizing the "ripping" function of AnyDVD to copy the Office Space DVD file from our source drive to our test drive. Our DVD features 29 files totaling 7.55GB of data and is an excellent test for determining the write speed of a drive.
The SpinPoint T166 drive is six seconds faster than the Seagate 7200.10 500GB in this test - a difference of 3%. The Samsung drive also finishes just ahead of the Hitachi drive.
Nero Audio Encode
Our last test has us utilizing the audio encoding functions of Nero to convert our INXS Greatest Hits audio files in MP4 format to a high quality variable rate MP3 file for our portable player. Our test features 16 files totaling 137MB of data and is an excellent test for determining the read and write speed of a drive.
In a slight reversal, we see the Samsung drive finishing a second behind the Hitachi drive but still five seconds ahead of the Seagate 7200.10.
Our application benchmarks are designed to show application performance results with times being reported in seconds, with lower scores being better. While these tests will show some differences between the drives it is important to understand we are no longer measuring the pure performance of the hard drive but how well our platform performs with each individual drive. The performance of a hard drive is an integral part of the computer platform but other factors such as memory, CPU, core logic, and even driver choice can play a major role in determining how well the hard drive performs in any given task.
Game Load Test
Our Sims 2: Open for Business test measures the time it takes to load the initial portion of the game. Our application timer starts when the game icon is initiated until the neighborhood menu appears.
The results are basically the same as our iPEAK results as the WD Raptor series continues to lead all drives; however, the performance differences are not as drastic once we take into account the entire platform. The Samsung drive ties the T7K500 while finishing right behind the Seagate drives and for all intent purposes this tests reveals only minor differences between all of the drives. While the Raptor and Hitachi 1TB drives seemed "snappier" during the game load process, the actual time differences tell another story. Subjectively, during actual game play we thought the Raptor was slightly faster than the other drives but not to the point of giving up the capacity and cost advantages of the 7200rpm drives.
Game Level Load
This test centers on the actual loading of a playable level within our game selections. The Battlefield 2 test measures the time it takes to load the Daqing Oilfields level. Our application timer begins when the start single player icon is initiated and ends when the join game icon is visible.
The WD1500ADFD Raptor continues its pattern of being the best available drive for the gaming enthusiast and our subjective opinion also matches the test scores for the most part. That said, the larger capacity advantages of the 7200rpm drives certainly make up for the minimal loss in performance. Our Samsung drive finishes right ahead of the Hitachi and Seagate offerings and mirrors our iPEAK test results.
AnyDVD 6.1
Our next test has us utilizing the "ripping" function of AnyDVD to copy the Office Space DVD file from our source drive to our test drive. Our DVD features 29 files totaling 7.55GB of data and is an excellent test for determining the write speed of a drive.
The SpinPoint T166 drive is six seconds faster than the Seagate 7200.10 500GB in this test - a difference of 3%. The Samsung drive also finishes just ahead of the Hitachi drive.
Nero Audio Encode
Our last test has us utilizing the audio encoding functions of Nero to convert our INXS Greatest Hits audio files in MP4 format to a high quality variable rate MP3 file for our portable player. Our test features 16 files totaling 137MB of data and is an excellent test for determining the read and write speed of a drive.
In a slight reversal, we see the Samsung drive finishing a second behind the Hitachi drive but still five seconds ahead of the Seagate 7200.10.
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phusg - Tuesday, July 10, 2007 - link
LOL. You're funny! Intel doesn't even make motherboards.
Of course build quality/reliability has come down over the years (as it has in almost all manufacturing sectors), but this has been done very consciously to lower cost so please don't pretend the U.S. is special in this regard.
TA152H - Tuesday, July 10, 2007 - link
Intel doesn't make motherboards? Is this an episode of the Twilight Zone? How can two people believe this. Well, I must be drugged or something, because I would have sworn I had several Intel motherboards running and about 15 that are part of my collection that are for show.Why do you post nonsense that can be easily disproven? Go to their site, I'll help you since you're obviously not too sharp http://www.intel.com/products/motherboard/index.ht...">http://www.intel.com/products/motherboard/index.ht... .
Fancy that they are just as delusional as I am. At least if I'm insane, I'm in good company (no pun intended).
amdsupport - Monday, September 17, 2007 - link
I know this is an old comment, but I just had to comment on this one...Intel mainboards are not actually made by Intel...never have been to my knowledge. All Intel mainboards are designed by Intel, however; Intel contracts all manufacturing out to Foxconn.Intel boards are really made overseas. People do not realize Foxconn makes a lot of stuff in the computer industry.
snor - Monday, July 9, 2007 - link
Actually, Foxconn produces Intel's motherboards.TA152H - Tuesday, July 10, 2007 - link
And you are getting this information from where??????lennylim - Monday, July 9, 2007 - link
Pardon my ignorance. Who are these two manufacturers?
TA152H - Tuesday, July 10, 2007 - link
You couldn't get that from the first message?Supermicro and Intel. They are widely regarded as the most reliable in the industry, and my personal experience with them does nothing to disprove it. Strangely, my personal experience with Epox is very good too, and they are Taiwanese, but this is not something I have seen widely accepted. So, I guess it's just a fluke. I also don't know what's happened to them. If I were going to buy an AMD based motherboard, I would pick them, but they don't seem to be selling much anymore. Again, I'm pretty sure I was just lucky with them, since they aren't known for reliability. But, sometimes it's better to be lucky than to be smart.
gigahertz20 - Monday, July 9, 2007 - link
Just read the Newegg reviews. This Samsung drive is the most highly rated 500GB hard drive on Newegg over Seagate and Western Digital. A company is not going to sell hard drives that are unreliable, maybe your luck is just bad or something.TA152H - Monday, July 9, 2007 - link
Newegg reviews generally aren't written by people three years after they buy a hard drive. So, it's not too useful.gigahertz20 - Monday, July 9, 2007 - link
I've had this Samsung hard drive sitting in my Newegg cart for awhile, but frys had an awesome deal for the 4th of July where they were selling Maxtor 500GB SATA3 16MB Cache Retail hard drives for $90...it's suppose to arrive tomorrow but damn, now I wish I would have waited and bought this Samsung instead.BTW, frys still has the deal going on. http://tinyurl.com/2ozqpr">http://tinyurl.com/2ozqpr
I've heard the 500GB Maxtor hard drives are rebadged Seagate 7200.10 drives since Seagate bought Maxtor up while ago. I'll find out tomorrow when UPS delivers it.