Seagate and Western Digital 1TB Drives: Improved and Green
by Dave Robinet on November 26, 2007 7:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Storage
The Tale of the Tape
| Hard Drive Specifications | ||
| Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1TB | Western Digital Caviar GP 1TB | |
| Manufacturer's Stated Capacity | 1000.2GB (1 Terabyte) | 1000.2GB (1 Terabyte) |
| Operating System Stated Capacity | 931.5 GB | 931.5 GB |
| Interface | SATA 3Gb/s | SATA 3Gb/s |
| Rotational Speed | 7,200 RPM | 5400-7200 RPM (variable) |
| Cache Size | 32 MB | 16 MB |
| Average Latency | 4.16ms (nominal) | 5.6ms (nominal) |
| Read Seek Time | 8.9ms | 8.9ms |
| Number of Heads | 8 | 8 |
| Number of Platters | 4 | 4 |
| Power Draw (Idle/Load) | 8W/12.0W | 4W/7.4 W |
| Command Queuing | Native Command Queuing | Native Command Queuing |
| Warranty | 5 Years | 3 Years |
The specifications chart spells out the extent of the differences between the two drives. The Seagate drive runs at 7200RPM with a 32MB buffer. The Western Digital drive's IntelliPower algorithm, which varies the rotational speed between 5400RPM and 7200RPM, dictates the Western Digital's rotational speed. Despite this variable rotational speed, Western Digital specifies the same average seek time as Seagate. Western Digital lists this product as a desktop-class drive; it carries a three-year warranty, which falls short of the Seagate's five-year warranty. Western Digital's enterprise drive (RE2-GP) carries a five-year warranty and offers similar performance.
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jojo4u - Monday, November 26, 2007 - link
IBM is varying the spindle speed (Low RPM Standby mode). But only after quite an amount of idle. http://www.silentpcreview.com/article304-page2.htm...">http://www.silentpcreview.com/article304-page2.htm...