Hard Drives, Yesterday And Today: From 500 GB To 1.5 TB

PCMark Vantage Application Performance

The application load benchmark shows clearly that the newer drive provides better performance, regardless of its capacity or rotation speed.

The gaming benchmark involves handling lots of smaller files, hence the 7,200 RPM Spinpoint T166 is more suitable here. However, the two other drives were not designed to host applications requiring maximum performance.

The Windows Vista startup benchmark might be relevant for those who intend to run one of the three drives as a system drive. Clearly, the older Spinpoint T166 with its 7,200 RPM is the quickest; however, the F2 EG is close behind.

And the winner is the Spinpoint F2 EG, which delivers the best overall HDD score in PCMark Vantage.