A Quartet Of 500 GB HDDs Under $60

Comparison Table, Test Setup

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ManufacturerHitachi GSTSamsungSeagateWestern Digital
ModelDeskstar 7K1000.BSpinpoint F1Barracuda 7200.11WD Caviar Blue
Model NumberHDT721050SLA360HD502IJST3500320ASWD5000AAKS
Form Factor3.5"3.5"3.5"3.5"
Capacity500 GB500 GB500 GB500 GB
Spindle Speed7,200 RPM7,200 RPM7,200 RPM7,200 RPM
Other Capacities750, 1,000 GB320, 640, 750, 1,000 GB750, 1,000, 1,500 GB640, 750 GB
Platters2232
Cache16 MB8 MB32 MB16 MB
NCQYesYesYesYes
InterfaceSATA/300SATA/300SATA/300SATA/300
Operating Temperature0-60°C0-60°C0-60°C0-60°C
Specified Idle Power4.4W5.7W7.96W8.4W
Measured Idle Power3.9W6.4W5.7W6.1W
Operating Shock (2 ms, read)70 G70 G65 G65 G
Warranty3 Years3 Years3 Years3 Years

Test Setup

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System Hardware
Processor(s)2x Intel Xeon Processor (Nocona core)3.6 GHz, FSB800, 1 MB L2 Cache
PlatformAsus NCL-DS (Socket 604)Intel E7520 Chipset, BIOS 1005
RAMCorsair CM72DD512AR-400 (DDR2-400 ECC, reg.)2x 512 MB, CL3-3-3-10 Timings
system Hard DriveWestern Digital Caviar WD1200JB117
Mass Storage Controller(s)Intel 82801EB UltraATA/100 Controller (ICH5)Promise SATA 300TX4Promise FastTrak TX4310 Driver 2.06.1.310
NetworkingBroadcom BCM5721 On-Board Gigabit Ethernet NIC
Graphics SubsystemOn-Board GraphicsATI RageXL, 8 MB
Performance Measurementsc't h2benchw 3.6 PCMark05 V1.01
I/O PerformanceIOMeter 2003.05.10Fileserver-BenchmarkWebserver-BenchmarkDatabase-BenchmarkWorkstation-Benchmark
Performance and Power MeasurementsIOMeter 2006.07.27Fileserver-BenchmarkWebserver-BenchmarkDatabase-BenchmarkWorkstation-Benchmark
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System Software&Drivers
OSMicrosoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, Service Pack 1
Platform DriverIntel Chipset Installation Utility 7.0.0.1025
Graphics DriverDefault Windows Graphics Driver