Testing The WD1000DHTZ

The Testbed

Testing Methodology

We tested in both Windows 7 and Windows Vista, with the latest updates. We chose to use IO Meter as well as our "old faithful", WinBench 99 2.0, with the following tests :

• Platter Data Transfer Profile
• Business Disk WinMark 99
• High-End Disk WinMark 99
• Disk Transfer Rate (Beginning)
• Disk Transfer Rate (End)

Business Disk WinMark 99 is a real-world simulation based on three office application suites - Microsoft Office 97, Lotus SmartSuite and Corel WordPerfect Suite 8, as well as a web browser, Netscape Navigator. They are quite dated, but should still reflect the usage patterns of users in an office environment using such applications. The test runs through a script that keeps multiple applications open, while it performs tasks that switches between those applications and Netscape Navigator. The result is the average transfer rate during the script run.

High-End Disk WinMark 99 is a real-world simulation based on AVS/Express 3.4, FrontPage 98, MicroStation SE, Photoshop 4.0, Premiere 4.2, Sound Forge 4.0 and Visual C++ 5.0. However, it differs by running the applications serially, instead of simultaneously. There are individual results for each application but in this comparison, we will be looking only at the weighted average score, which is the average transfer rate during the tests.

Unfortunately, WinBench 99 seemed to have some issues with Windows Vista, or the current Vista driver for the SATA controller. It would register a SetFilePointer error in the Disk Access Time test. So, we were not able to obtain any Disk Access Time results.

In addition, it would keep crashing if the hard drive was tested with a single partition. This is likely due to a limit on the size of the partition that is supported by WinBench 99. We came up with a workaround by dividing the hard drive into 2 partitions of similar sizes. We tested each partition individually and averaged the results.

The IO Meter 1.1.0 RC1 tests were carried out with the alignment set at 4 KB. In addition, we tested each drive with repetitive (compressible) and random (non-compressible) data, and used the average of the two results. This will give us a more accurate representation of how the drive will perform in real life.

Maximum Surface Temperature

We monitored the surface temperature of six hard disk drives during their benchmarks. The following chart shows their operating temperature range, from idle to maximum load. Please note that instead of giving you the absolute numbers, we are showing the temperature delta, which is the difference between the actual temperature and the ambient room temperature.

The 1 TB VelociRaptor was hotter than its predecessors. In fact, it was actually hotter while idling than the 600 GB VelociRaptor was at full load! Still, it was cooler than the 1.5 TB Samsung EcoGreen F2 hard disk drive, which is an ostensibly eco-friendly drive that spins at only 5,400 RPM for lower power consumption and thermal output.

Platter Data Transfer Profile

Although the 1 TB Western Digital VelociRaptor has an official maximum platter-to-buffer transfer rate of 200 MB/s, the maximum platter transfer rate (as shown above) seems to be about 220 MB/s, which progressively dropped across the platter to about 120 MB/s at the last track. The platter quality is superb in this sample, with only one noticeable dip which would suggest the use of replacement sectors.

Support Tech ARP!

If you like our work, you can help support out work by visiting our sponsors, participate in the Tech ARP Forums, or even donate to our fund. Any help you can render is greatly appreciated!