Power Requirements
Samsung Specifications
| Header Cell - Column 0 | Spinpoint T166 | Spinpoint F1 EG | Spinpoint F2 EG |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seek | 10.6 W | 5.6 W | 5.7 W |
| Read / Write | 9.5 W | 6.2 W | 6.3 W |
| Idle | 8.2 W | 5.0 W | 5.1 W |
| Stand By | 0.7 W / 1.2 W | 0.5 W / 0.8 W | 1 W |
Test Results
We measured low power idle after 10 minutes of drive inactivity with the spindle motor still running. We measured lower power requirements than Samsung, but the results still make very clear that the EcoGreen drives do consume considerably less power when they’re just running idle.
At peak sequential throughput, the EcoGreen drives are close to what Samsung specified as seek power. Again, the Spinpoint T166 requires much more power.
Video playback limits the activity to a given stream and bit rate. Our benchmark simply plays H.264 FullHD video off the drives. In such a case, the EcoGreen drives at 5,400 RPM require nearly 50% less power than the Spinpoint T166.
With workstation I/O activity, the proportion remains the same. 5,400 RPM (EcoGreen) means a low power requirement, while the older T166 drive consumed much more.