Benchmark Results: 4 KB Random Reads/Writes And Streaming Reads/Writes
In random reading and writing of 4 KB data blocks, the 7200 RPM drives don’t beat their power-optimized competitors, but rather fall slightly behind those "slower" devices.
Thanks to their faster spindle speeds, the Seagate Barracuda XT and Hitachi Deskstar 7K3000 have lower access times, allowing them to come out in front in the streaming Iometer benchmark.