Seagate 7200.9 160GB: The Highest Platter Density to Date!
by Purav Sanghani on January 31, 2006 10:29 PM EST- Posted in
- Storage
HDTach - Sequential Read Speed/Burst Speed
Being our newest test in our desktop hard drive storage suite, the HDTach benchmark gives us a great deal of detail on the performance of a hard drive. Like the WinBench 99 Transfer Rate test, HDTach graphs the sequential read speed of the drive as the drive reads continuously from beginning to end, and calculates the highest burst speed, the average read speed, and the average random access time for the drive.
We are very happy to see here that the burst speed reported for the single 160GB 7200.9 unit is 247.6 and the results for our dual-drive RAID-0 setup is over 300MB/sec. The average read speed of a single unit is around 60MB/sec while a 2-unit RAID-0 array can read data 20MB/sec faster. The 500GB 7200.9 compares very well to the higher density platters of the 160GB model. Since the 500GB unit uses 133GB platters, we weren't expecting a close race between the two siblings. Still, the 160GB drive is quicker when it comes to average read speed and the random access times, which are extremely important in desktop drives.
Being our newest test in our desktop hard drive storage suite, the HDTach benchmark gives us a great deal of detail on the performance of a hard drive. Like the WinBench 99 Transfer Rate test, HDTach graphs the sequential read speed of the drive as the drive reads continuously from beginning to end, and calculates the highest burst speed, the average read speed, and the average random access time for the drive.
| HDTach RW Benchmark Results for Seagate 160GB 7200.9 | ||||
| Burst Speed (MB/sec) | Average Read Speed (MB/sec) | Random Access Time (ms) | ||
| Seagate 160GB 7200.9 | 247.6 | 60.3 | 13.2 | |
| Seagate 160GB 7200.9 (2-Drive, RAID-0) | 306.5 | 84.4 | 12.9 | |
| Seagate 500GB 7200.9 | 248.1 | 52.2 | 14.0 | |
We are very happy to see here that the burst speed reported for the single 160GB 7200.9 unit is 247.6 and the results for our dual-drive RAID-0 setup is over 300MB/sec. The average read speed of a single unit is around 60MB/sec while a 2-unit RAID-0 array can read data 20MB/sec faster. The 500GB 7200.9 compares very well to the higher density platters of the 160GB model. Since the 500GB unit uses 133GB platters, we weren't expecting a close race between the two siblings. Still, the 160GB drive is quicker when it comes to average read speed and the random access times, which are extremely important in desktop drives.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
23 Comments
View All Comments
Orbs - Friday, January 27, 2006 - link
If you have a large, PATA backup drive, then the chance of failure issue really isn't that big a deal, especially with the longer warranties (Raptors are enterprise class products for WD, aren't they?).The interesting question to me is, does performance increase with 10,000 RPMs, SATA bandwidth AND increased platter density.
I believe the Raptors aren't 3.0 GB/s SATA but they still should have plenty of room to run, and if I remember correctly, the 150 GB Raptors gained their extra space by a higher density platter than the 74 GB version.
Now that's a setup that might be worth $600. It all depends if it lives up to the potential. AnandTech, let's get a SATA RAID-0 Shoot Out going!!
Orbs - Friday, January 27, 2006 - link
Oh, and in general, great articles lately :)DS Delaroca - Friday, January 27, 2006 - link
i think he means the new raptors WD1500ADFD 150GB on a raid setup.