9.5 Versus 12.5 mm: Which Notebook HDD Is Right For You?
Notebook drive manufacturers can choose between two drive heights: 9.5 mm and 12.5 mm. At 9.5 mm, most drives are limited to two spinning platters, while 12.5 mm has enough room for three, enabling higher capacity. We compare the two 2.5" variants.
Benchmark Results: Power And Efficiency
Power Consumption
This is interesting. Both drives require the same 0.8W at idle.
At peak throughput, we measured 2.7W on the three-platter 1TB drive, while the 640GB, two-platter drive consumed 2.6W.
The three-platter drive clearly requires more power when providing a defined data stream, such as HD video.
Efficiency
Throughput performance per watt, and hence power efficiency, is better on the 12.5 mm drive, as it delivers more throughput at slightly less power.
The contrary applies in the workstation efficiency test, where a large number of I/O operations per second is required. Apparently, the 640GB, two-platter model is faster.
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