WD VelociRaptor

[juneau]

Just noticed this come up at my favourite wallet emptying store. Check out the price!

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=HD-209-WD

Can't see it being a great seller. Not now the standard 7200rpm drives have really kicked up a notch in their performance.

[WalkinTarget]

I have wanted to invest in a Raptor, but haven't found an agreeable deal on them yet. Found some 36gbs via private sale for $45, but not sure I need to drop dimes on it ATM.

Its ticks me off my Vista performance scores are all 5.8+ except for my HD, which is only giving me a 5.6 score ... pffttt

[Cain]

http://www.wdc.com/en/company/releas...-A2191EB887F4}

[Cain]

The (new) Fastest Hard Drive Ever

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/the...ard_drive_ever

[Cain]

WD's New Raptor Drive Is a Bird of Prey!

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...r,1914-14.html

Conclusion

Our benchmark results speak for themselves and prove that Western Digital has done the right thing from an enthusiast standpoint. The new VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS will ship in May at retail prices of approximately $300, and it is the fastest and coolest 3.5"-like hard drive you can get for desktop PCs. WE say ?3.5"-like? because it is a 2.5" hard drive that comes pre-installed in the IcePack frame, which provides efficient cooling and easy installation in standard 3.5" drive bays. The VelociRaptor provides the quickest access time, the best transfer rates, excellent application results, amazingly low surface temperature and an acceptable noise level along with its unorthodox product name.

[juneau]

Great links Cain. I'm still not buying into it though. I'd prefer a WD AAKS, 7200.11 or Samsung F1 any day of the week..... mainly because of the price.

[WalkinTarget]

Tech Reports tested an engineering sample drive and found that its firmware was a problem, which WD admitted to, as they were only 90% done tweaking it when they shipped it for review:

http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/14583

[CarbonFire]

I was thinking about looking into getting a pair of raptors....glad I waited though. I guess it remains to be seen what these will do once they hit retail (and how worth it they will be given the price).

Eagerly looking forward to the final results

Though I wonder how a pair of WD AAKS 640mb in RAID 0 would compare, given two would still be less than one of these

[juneau]

I was thinking about looking into getting a pair of raptors....glad I waited though. I guess it remains to be seen what these will do once they hit retail (and how worth it they will be given the price).

Eagerly looking forward to the final results

Though I wonder how a pair of WD AAKS 640mb in RAID 0 would compare, given two would still be less than one of these

I'm looking at those drives too Carbon. Or maybe two 320GB single platters.

[Dead...Again]

I have wanted to invest in a Raptor, but haven't found an agreeable deal on them yet. Found some 36gbs via private sale for $45, but not sure I need to drop dimes on it ATM.

Its ticks me off my Vista performance scores are all 5.8+ except for my HD, which is only giving me a 5.6 score ... pffttt

I used to get a 5.4 on my main HDD. I reinstalled Vista on a RAID 0 array using the same drive (plus an identical one), and it went to 5.9.

[Sirex]

Wonder if it would speed up my compiling... naaaa
I'll leave it, my games run fine off my 7200.1 lol

Overkill unless you REALLY need the speed for data transfer, ie network storage or something.

[Cain]

http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=459

[Cain]

Conclusion

Western Digital continues to stand alone as the only manufacturer offering a 10,000 RPM spindle speed coupled with a standard SATA interface. Here at StorageReview we have admittedly been quite enthusiastic with each new Raptor release. The improvements between the the VelociRaptor and its predecessor, however, dwarf all previous upgrades.

The drive's single-user scores, climbing by as much as 30% when compared to the WD1500ADFD's, blow away those of every other disc. Its noise and power measurements are among the lowest we have ever recorded. Topping it all off, the unit's multi-user scores for the first time bring a Raptor drive within striking distance of that of a 10K RPM SAS unit. Oh, let's not forget about the doubled capacity... 300 GB finally brings WD's 10K offering back into an eminently-usable range in today's capacity-hungry world.

Perhaps most encouraging is the manufacturer's claim that the engineering sample evaluated here is about "90% optimized." While cynics may point out that the final version may slip when contrasted to the awesome results presented above, WD confidently states that the performance we're seeing remains on the conservative side. While initial VelociRaptor shipments will go exclusively to a certain gaming-oriented OEM, WD estimates that individual units will hit distribution in mid-May. In addition to updating readers with figures drawn from a retail sample, we'll take a look how the VelociRaptor (obviously magnetic media's best overall single-user performance entry) holds up against some solid state offerings. Stay tuned!



http://www.storagereview.com/WD3000BLFS.sr

[{CLR}geneSW]

Glad I got my 160gb raptor when i did.

[[TT]BrundleFly]

Very Nice.
I don't care what it costs. My first hard drive was a 30MEG RLL drive for $600.00.