<< Are you kidding me? How would the HDTach scores differ? >>
No, im not kidding, if your theory about hardware was correct, then wth would be the reason to review mobos, hardrives, and any other piece's of equipment. Maybe you should tell anand about your theory and then instead of reviewing one motherboard, harddrive or videocard, he could start taking three of them and performing averages.
<< Each drive is distinct, just like CPUs and all other components. >>
Explain to me what would make one hardrive "distinct" from another. A CPU is a LOT different than a hardrive, and many more variables go into producing one. Further, a 1.2 athlon will never perform like a 1.3 athlon. Now i do agree that one 1.2 athlon may be able to hit a higher frequency, but that does not apply since Im assuming you are not overclocking your harddrive.