640GB Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS HD Tune Result

[Oversized Rooster]

I loved that about my raptors, the seek time and responsiveness of the system can't be beat. But I don't miss the whine from the rotational whirr of the platters. I wish they could do one without the other >.>

They can - in the form of the VelociRaptor. I've owned the 74GB "ADFD" older Raptor and also the 150GB "ADFD" but the VelociRaptor does away with any whining.

[belowzeros]

They can - in the form of the VelociRaptor. I've owned the 74GB "ADFD" older Raptor and also the 150GB "ADFD" but the VelociRaptor does away with any whining.

oh no kidding, I honestly didn't know that. aside from the drive crunching data is there any noise from the drive that would give you a headache? you probably know what I mean having owned the older ones like myself.

[Oversized Rooster]

oh no kidding, I honestly didn't know that. aside from the drive crunching data is there any noise from the drive that would give you a headache? you probably know what I mean having owned the older ones like myself.

No, there is no such noise. The VelociRaptor comes in 150GB and 300GB sizes. The 150GB can be had for around $200 while the 300GB costs around $300.

One of the main reasons why the new Raptors are quiet is because they are now 2.5 inch sized drives inside an aluminum heatsink. The aluminum heatsink thing is 3.5 inch sized just like normal drives, so you can still mount the VelociRaptor anywhere where a normal drive can go.



The performance is superb as usual:

[belowzeros]

No, there is no such noise.

damn. thanks for the education I'm off to the store lol.

[Dave98]

No, there is no such noise. The VelociRaptor comes in 150GB and 300GB sizes. The 150GB can be had for around $200 while the 300GB costs around $300.

Yes but are the low access times worth it when drives like the 640AALS are less than half the cost of the VR?

VR for OS drive
640AALS for everything else?

[Sgt_Strider]

Yes but are the low access times worth it when drives like the 640AALS are less than half the cost of the VR?

VR for OS drive
640AALS for everything else?

Definitely!

I use a VR as my OS drive and my 1TB HD as my data drive. Just keep in mind that the VR isn't completely silent. It's not loud either, but I definitely wouldn't say the drive is silent.

[Mir]

Access times are extremely important and for small files, that will matter much more than fast transfer speeds. One of the reasons why SSD drives and the WD VelociRaptor drives are popular aren't due to their transfers, but due to their low access times.

Transfer speeds usually go up when the platter density is increased since consumer desktop drives always rotate at 7200rpm these days...

May be for some people or user.
I need to have Quiet HDD, Cooler, Lower PWR Requirements, Need Fast Trasfer Rate and able to sustain multiple concurrent connection.
When I do DV files move 30-60 Gig Files I like to do some thing else.
SSD HDD will FAIL on my usage.
RaptorXXX is Nice but it is $$$, very Small, Take some AMP stay on.

[Oversized Rooster]

May be for some people or user.
I need to have Quiet HDD, Cooler, Lower PWR Requirements, Need Fast Trasfer Rate and able to sustain multiple concurrent connection.
When I do DV files move 30-60 Gig Files I like to do some thing else.
SSD HDD will FAIL on my usage.
RaptorXXX is Nice but it is $$$, very Small, Take some AMP stay on.

In your case, I would recommend one of the Western Digital Black Edition drives. They are known to be the fastest 7200rpm drives in terms of both access times and transfer speeds. They run very cool and they're silent. Plus they carry a 5 year warranty, 32MB cache and dual processing which allows you to perform several functions simultaneously without taking the usual hit in performance that inferior drives such as the Seagate 7200.11 will amount to.

[Mir]

In your case, I would recommend one of the Western Digital Black Edition drives. They are known to be the fastest 7200rpm drives in terms of both access times and transfer speeds. They run very cool and they're silent. Plus they carry a 5 year warranty, 32MB cache and dual processing which allows you to perform several functions simultaneously without taking the usual hit in performance that inferior drives such as the Seagate 7200.11 will amount to.

Well that is what reasons I had to buy that when they come on $50 a POP
I went to the Store; and guess what, pathetic Monkey Arse Selll Person told me he can't Give Two drives for that price. I told him why does he cares.
I told him Either I will 2 of these or NONE.
Guess what, they lost me forever!
For now I am settled for WD500AAKS in Raid 0 setup! ( i saved some $$)

[caRpetbomBer]

[Mir]

Man IDE Raid SUCKS
I miss my Good ol Adaptec SCSI Raid

[Bomberman07]

Access times are extremely important and for small files, that will matter much more than fast transfer speeds. One of the reasons why SSD drives and the WD VelociRaptor drives are popular aren't due to their transfers, but due to their low access times.

Transfer speeds usually go up when the platter density is increased since consumer desktop drives always rotate at 7200rpm these days...

So you're saying that for a OS hdd the access time is more important than the transfer speed?

[Silver Bullet]

So you're saying that for a OS hdd the access time is more important than the transfer speed?

You don't want a drive that excels at any one thing. You want a balanced drive; especially for a main system drive. Check out http://techreport.com/ for review of HDs, they have great comparison tables.

--
When you really wanna go fast: RAID 5 - 4 x 640GB AAKS