WD Caviar GP: The "Green" 1 TB Drive

Power Consumption

We did not have all the drives handy when we received the WD10EACS for review, so we only compared it to its direct competitor : the Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000. The difference is tremendous, as the 4-platter WD Caviar GP requires less than 50% of the Deskstar 7K1000’s idle power, and around 67% of its power at high activity. Combined with the considerably lower heat dissipation, the WD clearly is the better choice for anyone who is looking for a storage monster that is reasonable in terms of power and heat.

Conclusion

The first green 3.5" hard drive with a focus on power savings comes from Western Digital, and it comes with a little bang, as it quietly beats Samsung and Seagate to market. It spins at 5,400 RPM to save energy whenever high performance isn’t needed.

The main feature in WD’s GreenPower portfolio is the dynamic adjustment of the drive’s spindle speed. It can run at speeds between 5,400 RPM and 7,200 RPM to save energy whenever high performance isn’t needed. This feature is also the reason why the performance isn’t at the very top. The second benefit aside from reduced power consumption is low heat dissipation, which is at the level of a single-platter hard drive. Compared to the improvement in power consumption and surface temperature, the performance impact is almost negligible Compare Prices on Caviar 1 TB Drive.

At $330 and up, the terabyte hard drives from Hitachi and Western Digital are fighting at the same price point. Since the performance difference is little and will mainly be noticeable in I/O-intensive applications, we tend towards the more efficient Western Digital Caviar GP at this point.

Join our discussion on this article !

  • Dick99999
    I wonder whether the following should be read such that each GP model has it's own but otherwise fixed RPM for that model.
    WD spec sheet says:
    "IntelliPower™ — A fine-tuned balance of spin speed, transfer rate, and caching algorithms designed to deliver both significant power savings and solid performance. For each GreenPower™ drive model, WD may use a different, invariable RPM."

    Or is it really a fully dynamic RPM during operation as could be read by:
    "WD goes down this path with its Caviar GP drives, as the firm adjusts the rotation speed anywhere between 5,400 RPM and up to 7,200 RPM dynamically for each model."


    Reply
  • Dick99999
    Sorry, it seems every series has a different description. I quoted the Caviar GP and the tech overview. The different descriptions are:

    RE2-GP series
    IntelliPower — A fine-tuned balance of spin speed, transfer rate, and caching algorithms designed to deliver both significant power savings and solid performance. Additionally,....
    AV-GP series
    IntelliPower – A fine-tuned balance of spin speed, transfer rate, and caching algorithms designed to deliver both significant power savings and solid performance.

    Caviar®GP
    IntelliPower™ — A fine-tuned balance of spin speed, transfer rate, and caching algorithms designed to deliver both significant power savings and solid performance. For each GreenPower™ drive model, WD may use a different, invariable RPM.
    Reply
  • All GP drive are fixed 5400rpm as of today. No they do not vary RPM, this reviewer does not know what he is talking about. It has been proven mathematically with access times and acoustical measuring. Further more, WD does NOT claim the spindle speed varies. They CONFIRM that the spindle speed is INvariable as clearly stated below. WD has pulled ALL GP spindle speed information off their website to avoid confusion and to not detour people from this great drive.

    Caviar®GP
    IntelliPower™ — A fine-tuned balance of spin speed, transfer rate, and caching algorithms designed to deliver both significant power savings and solid performance. For each GreenPower™ drive model, WD may use a different, invariable RPM.
    Reply
  • TheCloud903
    How about this one...????
    Western Digital Caviar Green WD20EARS 2 TB Desktop Hard Drive
    Reply