Windows 7: New Hard Drive suggestions?

Conclusions

Although the Caviar SE16 640GB doesn't break new ground in storage capacity, platter density, or cache size, Western Digital has struck a good balance between those elements and delivered perhaps the most capable 3.5" hard drive we've ever tested. Throughout WorldBench, the SE16 exhibited excellent performance with common desktop applications. The drive's sequential transfer rates were exceptionally quick, as well, although not always as fast as those offered by the SpinPoint F1. However, the SE16 also finished near the front of the pack in iPEAK, maintaining reasonably balanced performance across most of our multitasking workloads. That balance carried over to IOMeter, where unlike the SpinPoint, the Caviar didn't crumble under demanding multi-user loads.

We've focused on how the Caviar compares to the SpinPoint because the Samsung drive was our previous performance leader. It still is in many tests, but the F1 has a split personality that causes it to suffer badly in some tests. The 640GB SE16 doesn't have a Mr. Hyde lurking in the background, allowing it to maintain great performance across a broader range of workloads.

Of course, there's more to a drive's performance than transfer rates and response times. Power consumption and noise levels count for a lot these days, and the Caviar delivers on both fronts. Not only does its power consumption flirt with that of Western Digital's own GreenPower drives, but its noise levels are among the lowest we've ever measured, too. Even with a 7,200-RPM spindle speed, the Caviar SE16 640GB is for all intents and purposes just as quiet as a Caviar GP.

Of course, performance leadership doesn't necessarily make the Black flawless. The drive's power consumption may be low, but its noise levels are not. I suppose there's a price to be paid for speed, but given the low noise levels of the Caviar SE16 640GB, I had hoped the Black would be quieter.

Top-of-the-line capacities rarely deliver the best value for dollar, and given the Black's pack-leading performance and five-year warranty, it's hard to complain too much about the associated price premium.

Sure, it's the fastest 7,200-RPM drive on the market, but it's also a little pricey and probably too loud for many enthusiasts' desktop systems.

For enthusiasts, the Caviar SE16 640GB offers the best blend of performance, capacity, noise levels, and overall value of any 7,200-RPM desktop drive.

Conclusions

With 250GB platters, 32MB of cache, and a 7,200-RPM spindle speed, the Barracuda 7200.11 should be the fastest high-capacity drive on the market. Except that it isn't. Results from our performance testing are mixed at best, with the new 'cuda excelling in some tests but faltering badly in others.

Reasonably low power consumption should also appeal to the enterprise crowd, and we're pleased to report that the 7200.11 has returned the Barracuda to relative silence. Those factors would combine to make the new 'cuda an attractive option for home theater PCs where transfer rates and application performance are less of a concern.

Although the drive's five-year warranty may justify the premium for some, it doesn't quite do it for me.

I personally prefer WD just because if something does go wrong with the drive you can easily send in for RMA & get a new one in like 2 days, all HDD's on my system are WD. I have had lots of issues with Seagate & Samsung drives just going out after a month or so.