Understanding Hard Drive Performance

Test Setup

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System Hardware
Processor(s) 2 x Intel Xeon Processor (Nocona core)3.6 GHz, FSB800, 1 MB L2 Cache
Platform Asus NCL-DS (Socket 604)Intel E7520 Chipset, BIOS 1005
RAM Corsair CM72DD512AR-400 (DDR2-400 ECC, reg.)2 x 512 MB, CL3-3-3-10 Timings
System Hard Drive Western Digital Caviar WD1200JB120 GB, 7,200 RPM, 8 MB Cache, UltraATA/100
Mass Storage Controller(s) Intel 82801EB UltraATA/100 Controller (ICH5)Silicon Image Sil3124, PCI-X
Networking Broadcom BCM5721 On-Board Gigabit Ethernet NIC
Graphics Card On-Board GraphicsATI RageXL, 8 MB
System Hardware
Performance Measurements c’t h2benchw 3.6
I/O Performance IOMeter 2003.05.10Fileserver-BenchmarkWebserver-BenchmarkDatabase-BenchmarkWorkstation-Benchmark
System Software & Drivers
OS Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition, Service Pack 1
Platform Driver Intel Chipset Installation Utility 7.0.0.1025
Graphics Driver Default Windows Graphics Driver

Benchmark Results : 8 MB Vs. 16 MB Buffer

Access Time

Interface Performance

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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.

  • t30ne
    why only comparing seagate? what about WD?
    Reply
  • darkfall13
    They were comparing the minute differences or in this case indifferences within a range of nearly identical hard drives. Branding really didn't matter except to just have them all the same...
    Reply