WD's 1TB SATA 6.0 Gbps HDD Out in Japan
Western Digital is selling an HDD in Japan that uses the SATA 6.0 Gbps interface.
TechConnect reports that over in Japan, hard drive manufacturer Western Digital has introduced a new Caviar Black model that uses the speedy SATA 6.0 Gbps interface. Codenamed WD1002FAEX, the 3.5-inch, 1 TB drive has a 64 MB buffer memory, and operates at 7200 rotations per minute (RPM). The drive also features a sound output of 33 dBA while seeking.
Legit Reviews adds to the report, translating information provided by Japanese website Akiba. According to the site, WD's new drive has a maximum internal transfer rate of 126 MB/s. The drive also consumes 6.8 W of power during an active state, 0.7 W while in sleep mode.
Right now WD is selling the WD1002FAEX drive for 10,000 yen-- that's roughly around $111 USD, making it slightly more expensive than the SATA 3.0 Gbps model (WD1001FALS).
Currently there's no indication that the drive will hit the States, however this is a good indication that a new wave of SATA 6.0 Gbps drives from WD could be on the horizon soon.

I thought SSDs were the only things that could truly take advantage of the increased bandwidth.
It's not that I'm not happy that we keep pushing the envelope with technology, but I couldn't imagine spending more on a drive when I couldn't take advantage of it.
I thought SSDs were the only things that could truly take advantage of the increased bandwidth.
It's not that I'm not happy that we keep pushing the envelope with technology, but I couldn't imagine spending more on a drive when I couldn't take advantage of it.
+1. Well said. Hell some really high end SSDs in RAID could probably swamp up SATA III in a year or two.
Advertising that something has a high speed connection, whether you can utilize that connection or not, will boost your sales enough to compensate for using slightly more expensive components.
good move technically speaking, but not worth buying as a consumer
You are completely right, but the new 64mb buffer is nice, and this might also be the new higher density platter design. This is great for those of us who have extra sata 6 ports, and if priced at 111usd thats not too bad over the 90ish 1tb 32 mb older line of drives.
Lool True,
like my friend who got a new desktop with 6 gb ram and 32 bit windows
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/terabyte-battle,1717-3.html
Not exactly Moore's Law rates of improvement, up 26 percent in 29 months.