Connectors & Jumpers

This is a Serial ATA hard drive, with native support for SATA 6 Gb/s. However, it is backward-compatible so you will have no problem using it with SATA 3 Gb/s or even SATA 1.5 Gb/s controllers. However, at least a SATA 3 Gb/s interface is necessary for optimal performance since this VelociRaptor has a 64 MB buffer and boasts a maximum sustained internal (platter-to-buffer) transfer rate of 200 MB/s.

Like all Serial ATA drives, it comes the standard SATA data (left) and power (right) connectors and is hot-pluggable. That means you can connect and disconnect this hard disk drive to your PC while it's still running. To the left of the SATA connectors is the jumper block.

From what we can tell, Western Digital ships some drives with a jumper and others without a jumper. Since our OEM unit did not come with one, it is likely that only retail drives come with the jumper.

According to Western Digital, jumpering pins 1 and 2 enables Spread Spectrum Clocking (SSC). Placing the jumper across pins 5 and 6 will force the drive to use the slower SATA 3.0 Gb/s transfer speed. This is only a troubleshooting option in case your SATA controller does not properly implement SATA 6 Gb/s speed negotiation.

The most important jumper setting is the Adv Format jumper. On older operating systems like Windows XP, you must either use the WD Align software or place a jumper across pins 7 and 8. Otherwise, the drive will perform poorly due to sector misalignment. If you are using a newer operating system like Windows Vista or Windows 7, there is no need to do this.

IcePack Mounting Frame

This Western Digital VelociRaptor model (WD1000DHTZ) comes with an integrated IcePack mounting frame, which allows you to easily mount the drive into any 3.5" drive bay. This mounting frame is backplane-compatible, which is important for those who have servers and workstations with backplane mounts. In fact, this is the same mounting frame used in the previous generation VelociRaptor 600 GB (WD6000HLHX) and VelociRaptor 300 GB (WD3000HLFS) hard disk drives.

The IcePack mounting frame has a total of 26 stubby fins at both sides, allowing it to double as a heatsink for the VelociRaptor. When we first tested it, we found that it actually works pretty well. Take a look at the difference in maximum surface temperature between the HLFS and the BLFS versions of the original 300 GB VelociRaptor. This is quite surprising since the drive seems to be in contact with the mounting frame only at the four corners, and even that's over a small area.

Do note that if you buy the DHTZ model, you are not allowed to remove the mounting frame. Western Digital ensures this by covering one of the drive mount screws with an anti-tamper sticker. Breaking that sticker automatically voids the drive's warranty.

You might be wondering, why would anyone want to remove the mounting frame. After all, it makes it a lot easier to mount in a regular 3.5" drive bay. Well, fans of silent computing prefer to use the VelociRaptor without the mounting frame as it reduces the drive's noise level by about 3 dBA. If you prefer your VelociRaptor "naked", Western Digital will eventually offer this VelociRaptor without the IcePack mounting frame at a slightly lower cost.

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