WD Caviar Green 2TB & Seagate Pipeline HD 500GB

lunadesign · Post by **lunadesign** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 11:20 pm

Metaluna wrote:Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I suspect we're going to see a significant price drop on the 2TB soon. At $229-$249 it would be worthwhile to me to pick one up (I'm willing to pay a small premium to save a few drive bays/SATA ports on my server, not to mention power).

Its definitely not wishful thinking....I just picked up two 2TB drives for $237.99 each at Best Buy. The online site is backordered but all of the local stores had them in stock.

lunadesign · Post by **lunadesign** » Fri Mar 27, 2009 11:22 pm

Mike - On page 3 of your review you said:

we have yet to hear a single case of a Green Power drive running at a speed other than 5400 or 7200 RPM

Are any of the GreenPower drives actually running at 7200 RPM? I thought they were all 5400 RPM....

Post by **MikeC** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 7:48 am

lunadesign wrote:Mike - On page 3 of your review you said:

we have yet to hear a single case of a Green Power drive running at a speed other than 5400 or 7200 RPM
Are any of the GreenPower drives actually running at 7200 RPM? I thought they were all 5400 RPM....

The article was written by Larry and edited by me. I saw this but didn't have a chance to confer w/ Larry about it, so just left in there in case there were any 7200s that I didn't know about.

Ch0z3n · Post by **Ch0z3n** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 8:07 am

I heard somewhere, which means it probably isn't true since I don't remember where or if there was any substantiation, that they run at 5400rpm but in a sustained sequential transfer (read: copying your HD movie collection) it would speed up to 7200rpm. But like I said, probably false, just something I heard.

Post by **MikeC** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 9:23 am

Ch0z3n wrote:I heard somewhere, which means it probably isn't true since I don't remember where or if there was any substantiation, that they run at 5400rpm but in a sustained sequential transfer (read: copying your HD movie collection) it would speed up to 7200rpm. But like I said, probably false, just something I heard.

The idea that they auto-vary speed is a myth WD has done little to dispell. We've never measured any WD Green that runs at a speed other than 5400rpm.

lunadesign · Post by **lunadesign** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 10:25 am

MikeC wrote:
Ch0z3n wrote:I heard somewhere, which means it probably isn't true since I don't remember where or if there was any substantiation, that they run at 5400rpm but in a sustained sequential transfer (read: copying your HD movie collection) it would speed up to 7200rpm. But like I said, probably false, just something I heard.
The idea that they auto-vary speed is a myth WD has done little to dispell. We've never measured any WD Green that runs at a speed other than 5400rpm.

Which makes me wonder, what would prevent them from marketing the VelociRaptors as running "between 10,000 and 1 million RPM"?

Its technically true but blatantly misleading.

nutball · Post by **nutball** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 10:47 am

Well, reading this white-paper from Adaptec, it says

Adaptec has automated the ability to manage power based on
usage patterns. Adaptec Intelligent Power Management allows
you to choose a low-power mode that spins active disks at a lower
RPM and completely spins down idle disks. It is designed to
reduce power costs by as much as 70% without compromising
performance.
Adaptec Intelligent Power Management allows users to choose
from 3 levels of disk drive power modes:
1. Normal operation: full power, full RPM (revolutions per
minute)
2. Standby: low-power mode; spins disks at lower RPM when not
in use
3. Power-off: disks not spinning; reduces power and cooling
energy consumption by as much as 70% with unmatched
performance

which suggests to me that even if the WD drives don't support variable RPM (the WD10EADS don't seem to, I have some hung off an Adaptec controller, it doesn't offer that option) either some existing, or future planned drives, from WD or some other manufacturer, do or may do. Or something

Post by **MikeC** » Sat Mar 28, 2009 11:09 pm

nutball wrote:...some existing, or future planned drives, from WD or some other manufacturer, do or may do. Or something

I think you have a bright future in marketing if you want it.

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 12:04 am

MikeC wrote:
~El~Jefe~ wrote:How far apart vibrationally is the 2TB drive from Raptor?
Really hard to say, it depends a lot on the case and other particulars, But I have to say this: If you suspend them properly, most drives w/ vibration rating better than... say 6... will be completely vibration free.

I am concerned with losing speed due to it not be stable. I hear you can both get faster wear and slower performance having the lil sucker dangling around.

eh?

Post by **MikeC** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 6:35 am

~El~Jefe~ wrote:I am concerned with losing speed due to it not be stable. I hear you can both get faster wear and slower performance having the lil sucker dangling around.

eh?

This issue was discussed ad nauseum in a couple of previious threads -- going back years -- and there's overwhelming evidence from Seagate and other HDD makers' research that this is simply not true. There is neither any slowdown nor any decline in longevity to softmounting. Now if you're moving the PC frequently while the is HDD is on/running in a very soft elastic suspension, that's a different story.

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Sun Mar 29, 2009 8:46 am

OO. ok thanks buddy.

So no vibes plus raptop = awesome then.

Ch0z3n · Post by **Ch0z3n** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 1:34 am

~El~Jefe~ wrote:OO. ok thanks buddy.

So no vibes plus raptop = awesome then.

plus Stretch Magic = even more awesomeness.

hybrid2d4x4 · Post by **hybrid2d4x4** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 11:57 am

Thanks for yet another excellent review, Mike. I trust that the same noise profile can be applied to the 1.5TB 3 platter version (if not slightly better)?
The 2TB is a little too rich for my blood in my upcoming HTPC update (in fact, the 2TB drive costs ~$100 more than an E5200, GF9400 board, and 4GB RAM combined

)