Which is better for Win7 boot drive?

[wiatrog]

WD Raptor 150GB (WD1500ADFS)
10000 RPM
16MB Cache
SATA 1.5Gb/s

OR

WD Caviar Black 1TB (WD1001FALS)
7200 RPM
32MB Cache
SATA 3.0Gb/s

So my 3 year old WD Raptor died. I ran out and got a WD Caviar Black 1TB to hold me over until I got the replacement drive (gotta love a 5 year warranty!). I figured I should use the Raptor as a boot disk and the Caviar Black for data. But after poking around I think the Caviar Black might actually be faster?

What do you all think? Should the Raptor become a door stop? =]

 

[gtvr]

Your VR is slow and obsolete. I'll PM you my address, please send it to me for proper disposal.



Srsly though, the raptor is at least going to be faster for seek time (random access) due to the 10K rpm speed. The 1tb drive may be faster for sequential read/write speed due to higher bit density. So there are pluses and minuses. I'd at least use the VR for boot / os and swap file.

 

[wiatrog]

Thanks, I was hoping that was the case...

Any contradictory opinions out there?

 

[wiatrog]

Hmm, it looks to me like the 1TB Caviar Black spanks the Raptor in every category:

Tom's Hardware - Benchmark Drive Surface Temperature

 

[wiatrog]

I think this is the telling stat:

PCMark Vantage
Windows Vista Startup [MB/s]

Score in MB/s

Caviar Black 20.80
Raptor 9.70

 

[wiatrog]

I just bit the bullet and bought HDTune. Seems like seeks are quicker with the Raptor, but reads quicker with the Caviar Black:

So which makes the better boot drive? I'm not sure but it seems like reads are more important than seeks...

 

[gtvr]

the raptor is at least going to be faster for seek time (random access) due to the 10K rpm speed. The 1tb drive may be faster for sequential read/write speed due to higher bit density.file.

I just bit the bullet and bought HDTune. Seems like seeks are quicker with the Raptor, but reads quicker with the Caviar Black:

How much did HDTune cost you? I could have saved you some cash.

I still think I'd use the VR for boot & swap. It may not be a knockout blow, though. I'm sure there's benchmark tests out there comparing boot times of some different drives.

 

[wiatrog]

Yeah, I realized after I bought it was about 1/2 the cost of my 1TB drive!

As far as boot metrics. What about this one?

PCMark Vantage Windows Vista Startup [MB/s]

Caviar Black 20.80
Raptor 9.70

MB/s isn't exactly boot time.

 

[wiatrog]

Best answer selected by wiatrog.