Samsung and Seagate are each offering new high-capacity drives that strive to cram tons of data into a 3.5" form factor. Today's battle is the eco-friendly Spinpoint against the nearline Constellation, low power against business-class. Which one is best?
Comparison Table And Test Setup
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Manufacturer
Samsung
Seagate
Model
EcoGreen F3
Constellation ES
Model Number
HD203WI
ST32000644NS
Form Factor
3.5"
3.5"
Capacity
2,000GB
2,000GB
Spindle Speed
5,400 RPM
7,200 RPM
Other Capacities
1,500GB
500, 1,000GB
Platters
4
4
Cache
32MB
64MB
NCQ
Yes
Yes
Interface
SATA 3Gb/s
SATA 3Gb/s
Operating Temperature
0-60°C
5-60°C
Specified Idle Power
5.4W
7W
Measured Idle Power
4.1W
6.4W
Operating Shock (2 ms, read)
70 G
70 G
Warranty
3 Years
5 Years
This review deals only with these two drives, but there are two more products that require consideration: Hitachi’s Ultrastar A7K2000, a 7,200 RPM business class drive, and two options by Western Digital, the Caviar Green that compares to Samsung’s F3EG and the RE4 (RAID Edition), which is more similar to the Constellation ES.