Roundup: Hand-Held Hard Drives With Up To 500 GB

Test Setup, Access Time

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System Hardware
Processor(s)2 x 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 WD1200JB120 GB, 7,200 RPM, 8 MB Cache, UltraATA/100
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 Rage XL, 8 MB
Performance Measurementc't h2benchw 3.6 PCMark05 V1.01
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System Software and Platform Drivers
Operating SystemMicrosoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, Service Pack 1
Platform DriverIntel Chipset Installation Utility 7.0.0.1025
Graphic DriverDefault Windows Graphics Driver

Access Time

Access times are important if you intend to work with lots of files on a regular basis, or if you regularly use the drive while large backup or restore processes are still running. If this is not the case and you want the drive as a storage product only, access time is a secondary metric.