Western Digital WD1500ADFD: King Raptor
by Gary Key on February 8, 2006 1:30 AM EST- Posted in
- Storage
Feature Set and Test Setup: WD1500ADFD
Both drives feature a 1.2 million MTBF hour rating and receive a 24-hour factory burn-in while offering a 5-year warranty. The 150GB version will run approximately $300 compared to $169 for the current 74GB drive. The Raptor X edition is currently listed in the $350 range.
Our test platform differs slightly from the previous version with the inclusion of the Asus A8N-SLI Premium board and the 81.98 video driver set. All drives are tested with NCQ or TCQ off unless otherwise noted. We have added the Samsung SP2504C and Maxtor MaXLine III 7L300S0 drives into our benchmark results for comparison to the Western Digital Raptor series.
Our test suite consists of the standard benchmarks utilized at this time. We will be expanding our application and game benchmarks in the near future to further provide real world test results across a variety of programs.
The WD740GD-00FLA1 is listed on the charts as "Western Digital Raptor WD740GD-00FLA1 (74GB)" in the description field. The replacement drive for this model and the WD740GD-00FLA2 is the WD740GD-00FLC0. The WD740GD-00FLC0 is listed on the charts as "Western Digital Raptor WD740GD-00FLC0 (74GB)" in the description field.
| Specification | Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD | Western Digital Raptor WD740GD-00FLC0 |
| Capacity: | 150GB | 74GB |
| Interface: | SATA 150 MB/s | SATA 150 MB/s |
| Rotational Speed: | 10,000 RPM | 10,000 RPM |
| Buffer Size: | 16 MB | 8 MB |
| Average Latency: | 2.99 ms (nominal) | 2.99 ms (nominal) |
| Read Seek Time: | 4.6 ms | 4.5 ms |
| Write Seek Time: | 5.2 ms (average) | 5.9 ms (average) |
| Track to Track Seek Time: | 0.4 ms (average) | 0.6 ms (average) |
| Full Stroke Seek Time: | 10.2 ms (average) | 10.2 ms (average) |
| Transfer Rate - Buffer to Disk: | 84 MB/s (sustained) | 72 MB/s (sustained) |
| Number of Heads: | 4 | 4 |
| Number of Platters: | 2 | 2 |
| Command Queuing: | Native Command Queuing | Tagged Command Queuing |
| Acoustics- WD: | Idle - 29dBA Seek Mode 0 - 36dBA |
Idle - 32dBA Seek Mode 0 - 36dBA |
| Other Features: | TLER - RAID Specific RAFF FlexPower |
FlexPower |
Both drives feature a 1.2 million MTBF hour rating and receive a 24-hour factory burn-in while offering a 5-year warranty. The 150GB version will run approximately $300 compared to $169 for the current 74GB drive. The Raptor X edition is currently listed in the $350 range.
| Performance Test Configuration | |
| Processor: | AMD Athlon 64 3500+ (Venice E4) utilized for all tests |
| Memory: | 2 x 512MB OCZ PC4800 Elite Platinum Settings- DDR400 at (2-2-2-5, 1T) |
| Hard Drive(s): | 1 x Maxtor MaXLine III 7L300S0 300GB 7200 RPM SATA (16MB Buffer) 1 x Samsung SpinPoint P Series SP2504C 250GB 7200 RPM SATA (8MB Buffer) 1 x Western Digital Raptor WD740GD-00FLC0 74GB 10,000 RPM SATA (8MB Buffer) 1 x Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10,000 RPM SATA (16MB Buffer) |
| System Platform Drivers: | NVIDIA Platform Driver - 6.70 |
| Video Card: | 1 x Gigabyte 6600GT (PCI Express) for all tests |
| Video Driver: | NVIDIA nForce 81.98 WHQL |
| Cooling: | Thermaltake Big Typhoon |
| Power Supply: | OCZ Power Stream 520 |
| Operating System(s): | Windows XP Professional SP2 |
| Motherboards: | Asus A8N-SLI Premium |
Our test platform differs slightly from the previous version with the inclusion of the Asus A8N-SLI Premium board and the 81.98 video driver set. All drives are tested with NCQ or TCQ off unless otherwise noted. We have added the Samsung SP2504C and Maxtor MaXLine III 7L300S0 drives into our benchmark results for comparison to the Western Digital Raptor series.
| AnandTech Storage Test Applications | |
| iPEAK- Business Winstone: | A capture and test playback of all I/O operations within VeriTest's Business Winstone 2004 suite. |
| iPEAK- Content Creation Winstone: | A capture and test playback of all I/O operations within VeriTest's Multimedia Content Creation Winstone 2004 suite. |
| Synthetic Benchmarks: | WinBench 99 HD Tach 3.01 Everest Ultimate Edition 2.50 PCMark 2005 - HD Tests |
| Single Application Tests: | Timed tests of file copying, zipping, and unzipping operations. |
| Multi-Tasking Tests: | Timed tests of file zipping and data import operations. |
| Game Load Tests: | Half-Life, Doom3, and Command & Conquer: Generals |
Our test suite consists of the standard benchmarks utilized at this time. We will be expanding our application and game benchmarks in the near future to further provide real world test results across a variety of programs.
The WD740GD-00FLA1 is listed on the charts as "Western Digital Raptor WD740GD-00FLA1 (74GB)" in the description field. The replacement drive for this model and the WD740GD-00FLA2 is the WD740GD-00FLC0. The WD740GD-00FLC0 is listed on the charts as "Western Digital Raptor WD740GD-00FLC0 (74GB)" in the description field.
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Gary Key - Wednesday, February 8, 2006 - link
Believe me, Purav cannot wait to start testing this drive in a RAID setup.feraltoad - Wednesday, February 8, 2006 - link
It would be great if you could include a comparison of the all 3 raptors in Raid 0. I have a 36gb Raptor and have often wondered if 2 in raid 0 would be as fast as 1 74gb raptor. Esp. now w/newer versions.Rapsven - Wednesday, February 8, 2006 - link
The content was very informative, and as a whole, the article was very well done. But jesus christ, dude, opening your articles with quotes ticks me off to no end.rjm55 - Wednesday, February 8, 2006 - link
Perhaps the quotes at the front of Gary's reviews will give you a repetoire that will include words that can be substituted for Dude. If you hate the quote just skip the first few sentences and you will not have to be bothered by the quotes.Personally I like them - the quotes set the reviews apart. It's sometimes nice to have a little education with my favorite hobby.
Gary Key - Wednesday, February 8, 2006 - link
Is it the quote itself or just the fact there is one? I would appreciate some honest feedback on the subject. I like the quote as it sets the tone for the article but I also realize it really is not needed. :-)
Rolphus - Thursday, February 9, 2006 - link
I love the quotes. In particular, this one stuck in my mind, and provided an incredibly simple, single-sentence "hook" into the review which summed it up perfectly. I'd vote to keep them.johnsonx - Wednesday, February 8, 2006 - link
I like the quotes. It makes me think of Chairman Kaga on Iron Chef (the original Japanese show, not the new Iron Chef America).Seriously Gary, keep the quotes.
fb0252 - Wednesday, February 8, 2006 - link
newbie q: the review uses the term "single user" recommending turning off native command queing in single user setting as opposed to multi user. i have a pair of wd1500s on my floor ready to be installed in our office system in Raid 0. One person at a time uses the computer but we frequently "multi-ask". do we turn of NCQ to get faster speeds in this sitaution--am I a "single user" on this computer, though much of our use is multi-asking--six programs at once e.g. doing multiple tasks.Gary Key - Wednesday, February 8, 2006 - link
Hi,I am assuming your applications will be general office and the machine is not being setup as a local server. If so, turn off NCQ. It it really meant at the server-level where you have highly random and concurrent requests. I would not go with RAID 0 for an office environment as you are playing with fire in regards to data reliability. Setup you system in RAID 10 if it supports it.
Thanks....
Gary Key - Wednesday, February 8, 2006 - link
We need an edit function. "Setup your system in RAID 10 if it supports it."