Our testing methods
The best way to find out whether the Barracuda LP is a better alternative to the Caviar Green is to pit the two drives against each other. And so we have, using the following test system:
| Processor | Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 2.66GHz |
| System bus | 1066MHz (266MHz quad-pumped) |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte EP45-DS3R |
| Bios revision | F10 |
| North bridge | Intel P45 Express |
| South bridge | Intel ICH10R |
| Chipset drivers |
Chipset 9.0.0.1008 AHCI/RAID 8.8.0.1009 |
| Memory size | 4GB (2 DIMMs) |
| Memory type | OCZ PC2-6400 Platinum Edition at 800MHz |
| CAS latency (CL) | 5 |
| RAS to CAS delay (tRCD) | 4 |
| RAS precharge (tRP) | 4 |
| Cycle time (tRAS) | 15 |
| Audio | Realtek ALC889A with 2.24 drivers |
| Graphics | Gigabyte GeForce 8600 GT 256MB with ForceWare 185.85 drivers |
| Hard drives |
Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB Seagate Barracuda LP 2TB |
| OS | Windows Vista Ultimate x64 |
| OS updates | Service Pack 2 |
Our test system was powered by an OCZ GameXStream power supply unit.
With the exception of our power consumption and noise levels, all tests were run at least three times, with the results averaged. We used the following versions of our test applications:
- WorldBench 6 Beta 2
- Intel IOMeter v2006.07.27
- Xbit Labs File Copy Test v0.3
- HD Tach v3.01
- Far Cry 2 v1.3
- Call of Duty 4 v1.4
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.
