Tuesday Hitachi announced the worldwide release of its new line of Deskstar 7K1000.D 3.5-inch HDDs featuring a single 7200RPM platter offering up to 1 TB of storage and a maximum areal density of 569 gigabits per square inch. The company is also offering an additional Deskstar 5K1000.B model using the same 1 TB platter, but instead relies on Hitachi's CoolSpin technology to deliver "a new level of power efficiency and quiet operation."
Arriving in 250 GB, 320 GB, 500 GB, 750 GB and 1 TB capacities, the Deskstar 7K1000.D line is seemingly built for PC gaming systems and desktop RAID arrays. The drives use Advanced Format which increases the sector size on HDDs from 512 bytes to 4096 (4K) bytes, thereby increasing capacities and improving error correcting capabilities. Other features include a 32 MB data buffer, an SATA 6 Gb/s connection and a maximum media transfer rate of 1822 Mbits/sec.
As for the stand-alone 1 TB Deskstar 5K1000.B, this model is focused on energy-conscious, environmentally friendly computers and is nearly identical to the 7K1000.D line save for the rotational speed. According to Hitachi, CoolSpin is "an optimization of motor speed to provide an ideal balance of performance, power utilization and acoustics."
"The areal density race continues and while having the highest capacity is appealing, reaching 1TB per platter is equally important as it serves a full range of applications and opportunities across the industry’s largest market volume," said Brendan Collins, vice president of product marketing at Hitachi GST. "As we ship our first 1TB per platter drives, we know we’re delivering capacity, reliability and value to a broad customer base. Not only are we shipping our 1TB per platter drives to our own Branded Business, but we are shipping to our channel partners as well, enabling them to design affordable HDD-based solutions at attractive price points."
Following the launch of the two Deskstar lines, Hitachi will also introduce another 3.5-inch HDD series based around its new 1 TB platter: the CinemaStar 7K1000.D and 5K1000.B series. These are designed for A/V streaming on DVRs, set-top boxes and video surveillance systems. However, based on a quick comparison with the Deskstar versions, the CinemaStar drives don't appear to be any different spec-wise even though Hitachi claims they're optimized to record multiple, simultaneous video streams. And as with the Deskstar line, all 1 TB/platter 7200RPM and CoolSpin versions will ship with a 32 MB cache buffer and a 6 Gb/s SATA interface, the company said.
The Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.D and 5K1000.B CoolSpin versions are shipping today to distributors and channel partners. CinemaStar drives are expected to ship in the Fall.
