6.4 GB Ultra ATA Drive Comparison

IBM, still the largest computer corporation today, is not commonly-known for its hard drives. When one thinks of ATA drives, the Maxtor and Western Digital models that one sees at major retail outlets are what come to mind. Even so, IBMs Deskstar 5 took top honors in both the Business and High-End Disk WinMarks. Despite its high speed, the drive was astonishingly quiet, operating unobtrusively in the background with little noise. There are some reports that the Deskstar does not run properly in overclocked systems with bus speeds and 75 or 83 MHz; we informally used the unit on an ABIT LX6 and FIC PA-2007, both clocked at 75 MHz, with no problems. The IBM is a little pricey when compared to the competition, though not prohibitively so. Top performance garners the Deskstar 5 this roundups performance recommendation.