Test notes
We'll be comparing the performance of the Caviar Green 2TB with that of a slew of competitors, including some of the latest and greatest Serial ATA drives from Hitachi, Samsung, Seagate, and Western Digital. These drives differ when it comes to external transfer rates, spindle speeds, cache sizes, platter densities, and capacity, all of which can have an impact on performance. Keep in mind the following differences as we move through our benchmarks:
| Max external transfer rate | Spindle speed | Cache size | Platter size | Capacity | |
| Barracuda 7200.11 | 300MB/s | 7,200RPM | 32MB | 250GB | 1TB |
| Barracuda 7200.11 1.5TB | 300MB/s | 7,200RPM | 32MB | 375GB | 1.5TB |
| Barracuda ES.2 | 300MB/s | 7,200RPM | 32MB | 250GB | 1TB |
| Caviar Black | 300MB/s | 7,200RPM | 32MB | 334GB | 1TB |
| Caviar GP | 300MB/s | 5,400-7,200RPM | 16MB | 250GB | 1TB |
| Caviar Green | 300MB/s | 5,400-7,200RPM | 32MB | 333GB | 1TB |
| Caviar Green 2TB | 300MB/s | 5,400-7,200RPM | 32MB | 500GB | 2TB |
| Caviar SE16 (640GB) | 300MB/s | 7,200RPM | 16MB | 320GB | 640GB |
| Deskstar 7K1000 | 300MB/s | 7,200RPM | 32MB | 200GB | 1TB |
| Deskstar E7K1000 | 300MB/s | 7,200RPM | 32MB | 334GB | 1TB |
| Raptor WD1500ADFD | 150MB/s | 10,000RPM | 16MB | 75GB | 150GB |
| RE2-GP | 300MB/s | 5,400-7,200RPM | 16MB | 250GB | 1TB |
| RE3 | 300MB/s | 7,200RPM | 32MB | 334GB | 1TB |
| SpinPoint F1 | 300MB/s | 7,200RPM | 32MB | 334GB | 1TB |
| VelociRaptor VR150 | 300MB/s | 10,000RPM | 16MB | 150GB | 300GB |
Note that we have three versions of Western Digital's GreenPower desktop Caviar. The Caviar GP is the original GreenPower drive, model number WD10EACS, while the Caviar Green is the newer WD10EADS derivative with 333GB platters. The latest Caviar Green 2TB drive should be easy to spot because we've included its capacity in the graphs.
Performance data from such a daunting collection of drives can make our bar graphs a little hard to read, so we've colored the bars by manufacturer, with the Caviar Green 2TB appearing in brighter blue than the rest of Western Digital's drives. Special thanks, a shout out, and mad props go to TR regular Usacomp2k3 for whipping up a slick VB script to automate graph coloring, saving me from entirely too much repetitive clicking.
The Caviar Green 2TB is both the highest-capacity drive on the market and a member of the energy-efficient GreenPower family, so you'll want to pay attention to not only how it fares against the other GreenPower drives, but also Seagate's Barracuda 7200.11 1.5TB.
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 P5WD2 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 Barracuda 7200.11 1TB Seagate Barracuda ES.2 1TB Samsung SpinPoint F1 1TB Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000 1TB Western Digital RE2- GP 1TB Western Digital Caviar GP 1TB Western Digital VelociRaptor 300GB Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB Western Digital Caviar SE16 640GB Western Digital RE3 1TB Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1.5TB Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB Hitachi Deskstar E7K1000 1TB Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB |
| OS | Windows XP Professional |
| OS updates | Service Pack 2 |
Thanks to NCIX for getting us the Deskstar 7K1000 and SpinPoint F1.
Our test system was powered by an OCZ PowerStream power supply unit.
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
- 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.
