This is the single-platter Serial ATA version of the Travelstar 5K160 by Hitachi. As already mentioned when I discussed the UltraATA version, the SATA model has much higher energy requirements: 0.9 W instead of 0.5 W idle power is a considerable difference, but 0.9 W idle power requirements can be considered normal for 5,400 RPM Serial ATA drives.
The data transfer rate of almost 46 MB/s is adequate for a 5,400 RPM drive. The 16.8 ms access time is pretty fast, as most other 5,400 RPM drives are in the area of 17-17.5 ms. A 7,200-RPM drive's transfer rate reaches 14-16 ms.
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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.
