Image processing

Adobe Photoshop

ACDSee PowerPack

ACDSee gives the drives some room to stretch their legs, and while the Caviar SE16 and RE2 manage to distance themselves a little from the rest of the field, they can't outrun each other.

Multitasking and office applications

Microsoft Office

Mozilla

Mozilla and Windows Media Encoder

WorldBench's office and multitasking tests are largely a wash.

Other applications

WinZip

Nero

Things get more interesting with WinZip and Nero, though. In the former, the RE2 ties the SE16 at the head of the class, followed closely by several of its competitors. However, in Nero, the RE2 has a good 15 seconds on the SE16, and even more over the rest of the pack.