HD NEWS: Western Digital Raptor WD1500 Review

[TechZ]

Following the release of the world's first 10,000 RPM hard drive, Seagate's Cheetah 4LP, enthusiasts around the globe speculated for years about the potential offered by a 10,000 RPM ATA drive. Though the performance advantages offered by the SCSI-equipped 10K RPM screamers were undeniable, the barrier to entry for those simply seeking top-flight single-user performance remained too high. SCSI's high cost per gigabyte combined with the need for a relatively expensive controller placed it out of reach for all but, well, the markets Seagate and others were targeting - high-performance enterprise server needs.

The years that followed witnessed continued evolution in the industry. SCSI units marched onwards to 15,000 RPM, ATA drives increased their capacity advantage over SCSI units, and FDB motors reduced idle noises across the board. Localized non-server access patterns persisted in marginalizing once-dominant physical performance metrics and placed more importance on buffer size and firmware code. As memories of Western Digital's ill-fated SCSI division slowly faded away, the Lake Forest-based firm eyed a 10,000 RPM ATA design as a potential competitive advantage. Unlike the other major players, WD had no high-margin SCSI line to protect, and as a result had nothing to lose and everything to gain should 10K RPM ATA meet success.

Full review: Storage Review

[TechZ]

Western Digital today introduced the world's only manufacturer-produced clear-top hard drive, WD Raptor X.

WD Raptor X drives feature:
- 10,000 RPM
- 150 GB capacity
- 1.5 Gb/s external data rate
- NCQ
- 4.6 ms average seek time
- 16 MB cache
- 5-year warranty

The new Raptor X is mechanically identical to the recently announced WD1500 - 10,000 RPM, 4.6ms seek time, 16MB buffer, and, yes, there's a clear window so you can see what's going on inside!