new WD 750GB problem - so slow =[

[Rich'[ard]]

as the title states, i'm having a huge problem with my new 750GB WD i bought yesterday.

i installed Vista on it, anticipating it to be a lot faster than my old Seagate 250GB. but infact, it is much slower than my Seagate (HD Tune benchmark).
my start up times have increased from 40 secs to 60 secs, and i can no longer start doing stuff as soon as the desktop appears. even my G15 takes 20 seconds before the LCD and G keys work.

i have partitioned the 750 into 40GB (windows) and 660GB - 50GB got cut off). i have also defragged it with AusLogics Disk Defrag after i installed all my programs, yet it is still a lot slower than my Seagate.

HD Tune Benchmarks:
Seagate 250gb
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn109/Rich_huang70/Seagate.jpg

WD 750gb
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn109/Rich_huang70/WD.jpg

both are 7200rpm, 16mb cache.
any help would be great, becuase if this is unusual, i want to send it back as soon as possible.

thanks.

EDIT: if this can help, my Seagate has probably been formatted 10 times (10 Windows installs) while my WD is fresh.
i remember when i was running XP about a year ago, my Seagate hdd's benchmark was similar to the WD - all over the place and jumpy. but now it's very good. does a hdd need some type of burn-in process like TIM does?

[Rich'[ard]]

anybody? please? any help would be appreciated.

[MadMan007]

The transfer rate spikes are probably due Vista indexing the drive during the benchmark. That should go away, leave the computer on for a while.

As for the access times, again the really high points are probably due to Vista. In addition though you can try this if you like: http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=565932&highlight=WD6400AAKS

[Vipersfate]

You could disable Vista indexing, automatic defrag (Vista does automatic defragging in the background), and other services that you don't need.

http://mostlysavingmoney.com/top-10-windows-vista-speed-tweaks/

The only thing I would not recommend in this list is to leave the Defender option on. I'd rather be safe, than that extra 1 second of load time.

[Rich'[ard]]

ahh, thanks. i think i remember now. before i benchmarked my Seagate, i disabled all these auxiliary programs Vista was processing in the background. i'll disable all of them and see how it goes. (Y)

[MadMan007]

Disabling Vista stuff is fine for older computers. There's not really any reason to disable them on yours imo, at least not permanently, things like indexing and prefetch are there to improve performance they just have to be allowed to work. A site that recommends readyboost :rolleyes: is circumspect anyway that guy probably just published them from some other 'Vista is slow' bs site. Just turn them back on after you've benched, they get out of the way of proper programs well enough.

[Rich'[ard]]

mm, yep.
i also read the WD 640gb problem and fix thread. i'll try the Hitachi Feature Tool and WinAAM to see if that's the reason for my slow access time. my transfer rate also seem to be $**t slow. i'm almost sad. lol

[Cuiiey]

hey rich are you using the Green power WD hdds or just the normal ones???

[Rich'[ard]]

Green Power. same as yours. :thup: lol i so should've got hte 640GB so much faster.

regarding the topic, my AAM is already set to 254 (default) yet it is still slow. any ideas?

[MadMan007]

Heh I hadn't even thought of that. The GP drives are 5400RPM drives meant to be quiet and low power draw (a whopping few watts but they are less) above all else. The spikes aside your results look normal for a Greenpower drive.

[Rich'[ard]]

S#1T!!!!@!@!@!@!!!!
i am so going to refund this. i don't want some laptop-speed harddrive in my computer. is there some way to increase the RPM? before i try to return it.

[Cuiiey]

LOL, as if you got a 5400rpm one, ive got the same as you and mines @ 7200rpm

[Rich'[ard]]

that Website is BS =p. find some way to check the drive. all Green Power drives are 5400rpm.

[Vipersfate]

I just tried to use one of these green drives in a system build I'm doing at work. DOA. Plus, my boss didn't know about the speed issues these drives have. Stupid green XD

[Cuiiey]

Bad luck rich, i guess S*** happens in life

[Rich'[ard]]

yo man, i got the Samsung in the end. i decided to chose an extra 110GB over the extra speed from the WD. i'll see if it's faster than the WD 750GB green i exchanged it with.