Can Command Queuing Turbo Charge SATA?

NCQ Vs. Non-NCQ Using Seagate's Barracuda 7200.7

We had two versions of Seagate's Barracuda 7200.7 for testing purposes. Unlike Seagate's advertising slogans regarding the good performance of this model, it won't be able to keep up with the two Western Digital Raptor drives - not even with Command Queuing. The reason is the slower rotation speed of Seagate's Barracuda 7200.7. Yet, all Seagate drives are still worth paying for because of their comfortably low noise level.

Please read Smart Hard Drives: Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 and Western Digital WD740 Raptor for benchmark results that compare the WD740 Raptor and Seagate's Barracuda 7200.7.

TOPICS
Patrick Schmid
Editor-in-Chief (2005-2006)

Patrick Schmid was the editor-in-chief for Tom's Hardware from 2005 to 2006. He wrote numerous articles on a wide range of hardware topics, including storage, CPUs, and system builds.

  • Thank you for the comparison. Judging by the tests, it seem NCQ is no big deal. Does it really help with multitasking in ways other than speed, though?
    Reply