Performance

To test the performance of this drive, I ran two sets of benchmarks on this drive using benchmark software (HD Tach 3.0.1.0 and Sisoft Sandra 2007) and a speed test timing ripping a CD using iTunes 6.0.5. Here are the specs of the computer doing the benchmarks:

Motherboard: ASUS SK8N, Bios Revision 1007
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 FX-53
ATA: Onboard UltraDMA adapter, 133 MB/s transfer rate
SATA: Promise PDC20378 RAID adapter, 150 MB/s transfer rate
Primary Drive: Seagate 7200.10, 750 GB, SATA
RAM: 1 GB Mushkin ECC DDR PC3200
DVD-ROM: Pioneer DVD-115
OS: Windows XP SP 2


HD Tach 3.0.1.0

HD Tach has two different tests: a “quick bench” test, where the program runs benchmarks with 8 MB blocks and a “long bench” test, where the program uses 32 MB blocks. I ran the two tests and came up with the following results:


HD Tach Results – Quick Bench – 7200.10



HD Tach Results – Long Bench – 7200.10

It’s worth noting that HD Tach doesn’t include any benchmark data with HD Tach 3 that’s more recent than April, 2004, but a quick look at the HD Tach forums on maker Simplisoft’s website gives me the impression that these results are slightly sub par for a SATA 1 setup; 120 MB/s for the Sequential Read Speed seems to be about the (unscientific) norm. However, in this case, I believe the hardware is the problem: the configuration of the motherboard requires the user to plug any SATA drives into the Promise RAID controller, so the 7200.10 is running in a RAID 0+1 configuration that may be slowing things down when it comes to benchmarks.