Test notes
Today we'll be comparing the IDE Flash drive's performance to a slew of drives from our recent 2.5" ATA hard drive round-up. We've thrown in 2.5" mobile and 3.5" desktop Serial ATA hard drives for good measure, as well. The IDE Flash is a unique product, so that's about as close to direct competition we we're going to get.
All testing was conducted on the same platform as our 3.5" hard drive reviews, so you can compare the performance of the IDE Flash with a wider range of 3.5" drives by flipping back to our Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD review. Our test system is also identical to the one used in our 2.5" Serial ATA hard drive comparo, so those results are comparable, too. However, we have changed the way we conduct power consumption tests, so you won't be able to compare power consumption scores from this review with those in our 2.5" Serial ATA hard drive round-up.
Our testing methods
All tests were run three times, and their results were averaged, using the following test system.
| Processor | Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 3.4GHz |
| System bus | 800MHz (200MHz quad-pumped) |
| Motherboard | Asus P5 WD2 Premium |
| Bios revision | 0422 |
| North bridge | Intel 955X MCH |
| South bridge | Intel ICH7R |
| Chipset drivers | Chipset 7.2.1.1003 AHCI/RAID 5.1.0.1022 |
| Memory size | 1GB (2 DIMMs) |
| Memory type | Micron DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz |
| CAS latency (CL) | 3 |
| RAS to CAS delay (tRCD) | 3 |
| RAS precharge (tRP) | 3 |
| Cycle time (tRAS) | 8 |
| Audio codec | ALC882D |
| Graphics | Radeon X700 Pro 256MB with CATALYST 5.7 drivers |
| Hard drives | Seagate Momentus 7200.1 100 GB SATA Seagate Momentus 5400.2 120 GB Seagate Momentus 5400.3 160 GB Seagate Momentus 7200.1 100 GB Western Digital Scorpio WD1200VE 120 GB Hitachi Travelstar 5K100 120 GB Hitachi Travelstar 7K100 100 GB Fujitsu MHV2040AT 40 GB Super Talent IDE Flash 8 GB |
| OS | Windows XP Professional |
| OS updates | Service Pack 2 |
Our test system was powered by OCZ PowerStream power supply units. The PowerStream was one of our Editor's Choice winners in our last PSU round-up.
We used the following versions of our test applications:
- WorldBench 5.0
- Intel IOMeter v2004.07.30
- Xbit Labs File Copy Test v1.0 beta 13
- TCD Labs HD Tach v3.01
- Far Cry v1.3
- DOOM 3
- Intel iPEAK Storage Performance Toolkit 3.0
The test systems' Windows desktop was set at 1280x1024 in 32-bit color at an 85Hz screen refresh rate. Vertical refresh sync (vsync) was disabled for all tests.
All the tests and methods we employed are publicly available and reproducible. If you have questions about our methods, hit our forums to talk with us about them.
