Image processing

Adobe Photoshop

ACDSee PowerPack

Photoshop doesn't give the drives much room to stretch their legs, but ACDSee manages to spread the field a little. In that test, the 640GB Caviar leads the pack by six seconds, although that only works out to a little over 1%.

Multitasking and office applications

Microsoft Office

Mozilla

Mozilla and Windows Media Encoder

Scores are close through WorldBench's office and multitasking tests.

Other applications

WinZip

Nero

Nero and WinZip provide plenty of opportunity for drives to differentiate themselves, however. The 640GB SE16 takes advantage, topping the field in both tests—and by an impressive 30-second margin in Nero.