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WD VelociRaptor 300GB HDD vs SSD

Which is best for gamers?

Agentless Backup is Not a Myth

Review Although Western Digital's VelociRaptor is a new model name, you can trace the roots of this new hard drive all the way back to 2003.

The original WD360 Raptor hard drive was something of a one-trick pony as it had a tiny 36GB capacity but could boast the 10,000rpm spin speed that became the signature of the Raptor family.

WD VelociRaptor

WD's VelociRaptor WD300GLFS: you're so vaned

The single-platter WD360 was updated to a 74GB twin-platter model, the WD740, later in 2003. It improved performance as well as capacity by adding Tagged Command Queuing (TCQ). The bearings were improved to reduce noise levels.

In 2006, WD launched the WD1500 Raptor which increased capacity to a useful 150GB and added Native Command Queuing (NCQ) as it was a native SATA design rather than an IDE drive with SATA tacked on the back.

VelociRaptor is the fourth-generation Raptor and it’s available in two versions: a single-platter, two-head 150GB model that costs £130 and this two-platter, four-head 300GB model that's twice the capacity but only £50 more expensive.

Crucial 32GB SSD

Crucial's 32GB SSD: pricey

Let’s get the value for money consideration out of the way before we go any further. Over the past few years, hard drives have dropped in price to the extent that the 1TB Hitachi 7K1000 that we used for comparison in testing costs £94, which works out to a mere 9p per gigabyte. That’s quite remarkable considering the headline-grabbing terabyte capacity and the blistering performance of the 7K1000.

Customer Success Testimonial: Recovery is Everything

Latest Comments

@Adrian

You could most likely treat the X61 that way, even if it had a mechanical hdd, and not the SSD device.

Ever hear of "Thinkvantage Active Protection"? It works, believe me.

//Svein

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well said Andy Bright!

couldn't have put it better meshelf!

;)

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useless thanks

so why while you gave proper mb/s numbers you dont give anything that tests heavy random IO which, after all, where the SSD might show interesting benefits, or for example tests using two IO threads (for the gamers: think leeching your new game off a p2p net and recording something with fraps)

This is an interesting test, but oh so inconclusive, you stopped halfway!

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