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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Final Hamlet - Thursday, July 12, 2007 - link
Why bother buying the out-dated T166 model if the F1 is entering the market as we're speaking?Just judging after the 1Tera Hitachi it will be more silent, less warm and the 500GB model has only 2 platters instead of 3.
[I don't want to speak badly of Samsung HDs, as I have a T166 and a T133, but why bother buying the old generation?]
TA152H - Monday, July 9, 2007 - link
You've got guts buying a Crashtor, and if it actually a Seagate, count yourself lucky. But, you probably have a Crashtor or some mixture. Seagate has properly relegated it to the low end segment, but they also said when they bought them that Maxtor had better perpendicular recording technology. I don't know what that means exactly, but your hard disk might truly be befouled by Maxtor genetics. Back up early and often. Hmmm, maybe that should have been Crashtor's moto. It's catchy.