- Joined
- Jul 12, 2002
I just bought a new hard drive, a Hitachi/IBM Deskstar 7k250. This is the newest version of the Deskstar line, replacing the earlier Deskstar GXP180. This drive is available in 100MB/s PATA and as 150MB/s SATA versions. It comes in 40, 80, 120 160, and 250GB versions, differing in the number of platters used. Both 2MB and 8MB cache versions exist, but to date all the ones I've seen for sale are 8MB models.
Full specs for the Deskstar 7k250 series are found at:
http://www.hgst.com/tech/techlib.ns...6256CE800718F09/$file/HGST_Deskstar_7K250.PDF
I bought the 80GB-8MB SATA version, model #HDS722580VLSA80.
It was $97 shipped from newegg.
This drive features both SATA and legacy 4-pin molex power connections. The tiny connector in the center is the SATA data connection. I used the legacy power connection, and tested the drive in my PC in its current state, preserved for posterity here:
Abit IS7-E i865pe motherboard
P4-1.8a at 3.42GHz
1GB DDR SDRAM
Win2k SP3/NTFS
Glad to use one of the SATA cables that came with my IS7, I hooked it up to one of the two SATA channels integrated into the Intel ICH5 southbridge. Since the connect to the southbridge is 266MB/s this provides the bus capacity necessary to realize a 150MB/s transfer rate across the interface.
Note- If you are using ghost to transfer your data to your shiny new SATA drive, you must use the -fni switch on the command line in order for it to work with the SATA controller implementation on the Intel chipset motherboards. (a:\ghost.exe -fni)
These drives use FDB (fluid dynamic bearing) motors, and are very quiet in both spin and seek noises. Completely inaudible in my machine, and nearly inaudible period. Very nice.
Performance is very snappy. My machine is much more fun to use with this drive than with the 60GB 8MB 7200rpm WD drive I have had for some time. It responds to the click noticeably quicker, and I have been aware I was waiting on the WD's middling seek performance at every click for some time. The Deskstar offers a cost effective way to increase realized OS responsiveness and application performance with low noise and reasonable cost per/MB. The obvious alternative, the 10,000rpm WD Raptor, is a 36GB drive costing $117 at present, and while a tiny bit faster than the Deskstar, is louder.
Here is a look at the HD tach performance of the Deskstar vs the 60GB WD SE drive:
WD 600JB
HGST 7k250
The higher data density of the Deskstar (80GB/platter vs the 40GB/per platter of this WD) shows up in the sustained data transfer rate. The Deskstar averages 7MB/s more over its capacity than the WD does.
The reported seek advantage of 12.7ms for the IBM vs. 13.1ms for the WD is misleading. In practice the seek time and response of the IBM drive is noticeably better. The newer WD SE drives with 60GB platters is nearly the equal of the IBM. Both drives burst transfer in excess of 80MB/s.
PCMark 2002 w/7k250
PCMark scores for the WD hover in the 1050 range.
So overall the Deskstar 7k250 offers an inexpensive and cool running disk drive (at least in the 80GB version) at a reasonable price that is also quiet and the fastest of the 7200rpm drives. Capacities up to 250GB make it suitable for a lot of users. Unfortunately price rises to slightly over 300 for the 250GB version, but if you don't need that kind of capacity you can get the same performance and quality for less than 100 bucks in the 80GB version. All in all, very easy to recommend if you value noise, cost, and capacity over the tiny performance improvement the Raptor brings.
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=1&submit=Go&description=13G025
Full specs for the Deskstar 7k250 series are found at:
http://www.hgst.com/tech/techlib.ns...6256CE800718F09/$file/HGST_Deskstar_7K250.PDF
I bought the 80GB-8MB SATA version, model #HDS722580VLSA80.
It was $97 shipped from newegg.
This drive features both SATA and legacy 4-pin molex power connections. The tiny connector in the center is the SATA data connection. I used the legacy power connection, and tested the drive in my PC in its current state, preserved for posterity here:
Abit IS7-E i865pe motherboard
P4-1.8a at 3.42GHz
1GB DDR SDRAM
Win2k SP3/NTFS
Glad to use one of the SATA cables that came with my IS7, I hooked it up to one of the two SATA channels integrated into the Intel ICH5 southbridge. Since the connect to the southbridge is 266MB/s this provides the bus capacity necessary to realize a 150MB/s transfer rate across the interface.
Note- If you are using ghost to transfer your data to your shiny new SATA drive, you must use the -fni switch on the command line in order for it to work with the SATA controller implementation on the Intel chipset motherboards. (a:\ghost.exe -fni)
These drives use FDB (fluid dynamic bearing) motors, and are very quiet in both spin and seek noises. Completely inaudible in my machine, and nearly inaudible period. Very nice.
Performance is very snappy. My machine is much more fun to use with this drive than with the 60GB 8MB 7200rpm WD drive I have had for some time. It responds to the click noticeably quicker, and I have been aware I was waiting on the WD's middling seek performance at every click for some time. The Deskstar offers a cost effective way to increase realized OS responsiveness and application performance with low noise and reasonable cost per/MB. The obvious alternative, the 10,000rpm WD Raptor, is a 36GB drive costing $117 at present, and while a tiny bit faster than the Deskstar, is louder.
Here is a look at the HD tach performance of the Deskstar vs the 60GB WD SE drive:
WD 600JB
HGST 7k250
The higher data density of the Deskstar (80GB/platter vs the 40GB/per platter of this WD) shows up in the sustained data transfer rate. The Deskstar averages 7MB/s more over its capacity than the WD does.
The reported seek advantage of 12.7ms for the IBM vs. 13.1ms for the WD is misleading. In practice the seek time and response of the IBM drive is noticeably better. The newer WD SE drives with 60GB platters is nearly the equal of the IBM. Both drives burst transfer in excess of 80MB/s.
PCMark 2002 w/7k250
PCMark scores for the WD hover in the 1050 range.
So overall the Deskstar 7k250 offers an inexpensive and cool running disk drive (at least in the 80GB version) at a reasonable price that is also quiet and the fastest of the 7200rpm drives. Capacities up to 250GB make it suitable for a lot of users. Unfortunately price rises to slightly over 300 for the 250GB version, but if you don't need that kind of capacity you can get the same performance and quality for less than 100 bucks in the 80GB version. All in all, very easy to recommend if you value noise, cost, and capacity over the tiny performance improvement the Raptor brings.
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=1&submit=Go&description=13G025
