Western Digital 640GB

[najames]

If you want the low down, either look on Xtreme, or read below. http://www.xtremesystems.org/f...howthread.php?t=178989

I can tell you something about the drive, I have 3 of the WD 640GB, using 2 currently. I bought them for a server because they have "fast transfer rates" and are quiet, didn't know squat about access times. I have been doing VERY EXTENSIVE network testing wiht a bunch of different gigabit NIC cards and onboard LAN chips, a SMC 5port switch and a HP Procurve 1800-24G. Linux Ubuntu/Mint OS on both systems, both using Intel Pro1000 9300PTBLK PCI-e x1 cards and current drivers. I was really hoping to get 60MBytes/sec througput as a goal for an unRAID box. Here is some test results hot off the bench using VSFTPD on as a FTP server, commands for sending/receiving files to eliminate software settings. Sending a Mint Daryna CD ISO back and forth got these results.

I did a get (writing to Hitachi 164GB drive in the "PC") from the WD 640GB "server" and it took 20.17sec @ 34967.3KBytes/sec.
I did a put (writing to the WD 640GB drive in the "server") from the Hitachi 164GB "PC" and it took 7.21sec @ 97847.7Kbytes/sec.

I just replaced the "PC" 164GB Hitachi with a WD 640GB drive now.

I did a get (writing to "PC" now using a WD 640GB) from the WD 640GB "Server" and it took 9.51sec @ 74113.1KBytes/sec.
I did a put (writing to the "server" WD 640GB drive) from the "PC" WD 640GB and it took 6.89sec @ 102283.4Kbytes/sec.

NOTE: The previous best writing to the "server" with a Hitachi 80GB SataII was about 50MBytes/sec.

I think the WD 640s are some kick arss drives, don't you?

 

[pugh]

Convinced me. Ordered two this morning. Might RAID them.

 

[Glavinsolo]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
I just got a new 3200AAKS (B3 revision) and it's great so far.

It installed Vista in around 20 minutes flat. Its average read in HD tach is around 85mb/sec. I pretty much matched the scores in the AT article.

It's noticeably faster, quieter, and cooler than my old 2500JS. I'm quite happy with it for $75. If my old HDD weren't full, I would have waited it out for the F1. From the preliminary reviews I've read, it's around 5% faster.

When did you order and from who? It looks like they still have some old stock of those 320gb that aren't single platter.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: Glavinsolo

Originally posted by: SickBeast
I just got a new 3200AAKS (B3 revision) and it's great so far.

It installed Vista in around 20 minutes flat. Its average read in HD tach is around 85mb/sec. I pretty much matched the scores in the AT article.

It's noticeably faster, quieter, and cooler than my old 2500JS. I'm quite happy with it for $75. If my old HDD weren't full, I would have waited it out for the F1. From the preliminary reviews I've read, it's around 5% faster.

When did you order and from who? It looks like they still have some old stock of those 320gb that aren't single platter.

There's a B&M store in Toronto, Canada called Filtech Computer. I walked in and inspected the code on the drive (which had the staff scratching their heads so I told them why).

I'm pretty sure I paid $75CDN for mine. It's been great so far, but my access times have been inconsistent (and a little slow, sometimes around 16ms).

As the other poster mentionned, speeds in excess of 100mb/sec are common with this drive (it tops out at just over 110mb/sec, with an average at around 90mb/sec).

It's so quiet I can't even hear it at all. You wouldn't even know that it's there, even while under load. :thumbsup:

 

[Cheex]

I'm still convinced that I will buy this drive but I'm not quite ready yet.

I do like what I'm hearing about it though. It really puts my mind at ease. As many have said though, the longevity of these drives are the only uncertainty (as with all HDDs) but given that I have a WD 250GB drive currently...I think that the 640GB one will stand the test of time also (maybe even longer).

 

[imported_Innovato]

I ordered one yesterday morning and it arrived today. Sadly, my Abit-supplied SATA cable and Corsair VX550W SATA power connectors did not play nice and broke the L-shaped plastic key on the WD 640 since one of them seems wider than normal. The plastic seemed awfully weak in my opinion, also. I'll try to dig up an older style (w/o retention clip?) SATA cable and try again....(that hdd was the last component of my rig too!, sigh

 

[Tweakin]

Originally posted by: SickBeast

Originally posted by: Griswold
I like mine (got it the other day), awesome disk. Silent and fast (both access time for a 7200rpm drive and throughput). Makes a good system drive and the excess capacity for whatever you want to store on it.

What kinds of seek times are you getting in HD Tune?

I'm getting around 16ms with my 3200AAKS which isn't great.

That's about what I'm getting from mine...not really happy with it. I'm waiting on the new WD 6400AAKS from the Egg...will post results when it arrives on my Thread I just started so that we can track what the real world results are on Our machines.

 

[masteryoda34]

I read that the high seek times on the 320GB model are a result of being specifically tuned for lower heat and noise output as required by many OEMs.

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: masteryoda34
I read that the high seek times on the 320GB model are a result of being specifically tuned for lower heat and noise output as required by many OEMs.

:Q

I just ran a test on a pair of them in RAID1 on an Areca ARC1680 SAS controller with 2GB cache. (no affect on access time) and it looks typical for a 7.2k drive.

Text

 

[Tweakin]

Originally posted by: Rubycon

Originally posted by: masteryoda34
I read that the high seek times on the 320GB model are a result of being specifically tuned for lower heat and noise output as required by many OEMs.

:Q

I just ran a test on a pair of them in RAID1 on an Areca ARC1680 SAS controller with 2GB cache. (no affect on access time) and it looks typical for a 7.2k drive.

Text

That's about what I saw.

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: Tweakin

That's about what I saw.

Your access times are significantly higher though.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: Rubycon

Originally posted by: Tweakin

That's about what I saw.

Your access times are significantly higher though.

They're comparing the 640gb drive and the 320gb drive.

The 320gb drive was apparently designed for maximum silence and minimum heat output at the expense of performance.

 

[Tifosi248F1]

Are there any drawbacks to buying an OEM drive? I'm looking for a few but have always bought retail when drives were on sale.

 

[pugh]

I have never had any problems in the last 8 years of buying drives that are OEM.

 

[Ages]

This drive is advertised as SATA II, will I get the same performance if I put it into a SATA I mobo? I'd be putting it into an ABIT IC-7 MAX3 motherboard that is equipped with SATA I connections, running WinXP. I think this is the most bang for my buck as far as upgrading my older systems hard drive is concerned. Your input is greatly appreciated.

 

[Tweakin]

Originally posted by: Ages
This drive is advertised as SATA II, will I get the same performance if I put it into a SATA I mobo? I'd be putting it into an ABIT IC-7 MAX3 motherboard that is equipped with SATA I connections, running WinXP. I think this is the most bang for my buck as far as upgrading my older systems hard drive is concerned. Your input is greatly appreciated.

Yes you should...we have not even reached the limit of SATA I yet, and the SATA II just means it is "ready" for the latest technology that will cost us more money.

 

[Rubycon]

Originally posted by: SickBeast

They're comparing the 640gb drive and the 320gb drive.

The 320gb drive was apparently designed for maximum silence and minimum heat output at the expense of performance.

Well in that case I'd hope "performance mode" can be changed in the drive's firmware. It's usually desired by performance seekers to have single platter versions of the fastest drives with highest areal densities. In this case WD has crippled performance. 🙁

Those seeking performance place comfort second to finishing first. 😉

 

[taltamir]

as with anything new, those drives are being price gouged. They are cheaper to manufacture, yet they cost more then 750GB drives. While its nice to have a faster drive (these make a nice raptor replacement, as they are cheaper and faster), I would just get a 750GB drive instead...

Actually I just ordered 5 Caviar GP 750GB for a RAIDZ2 + ZFS fileserver 🙂
PS. Lots of bugs on the new drives. The 750GB caviar GP has a bug causing vista to hang when coming out of hibernate, the F1 from sumsung has bugs that cause it to drop out of raid arrays (1TB) and that it comes with misconfigured settings about NCQ causing it to crash on nforce motherboards (750GB) unless you know to manually configure the NCQ settings to the correct values, and ths seagates come with a bugged firmware that makes only part of their cache work... giving them much reduced performance, BAH. Bunch of junk that gets rushed out the door. I haven't actually read any about hitachi but I am presuming their 750GB drives have their own bugs too... at least the GP bugs aren't TOO terrible. (vista hanging doesnt matter if its used on opensolaris for a ZFS array). I calculated 4.6$/year savings (at 12 cents per kwh) on the GP model on 24/7 operation due to lower electrical consumption (4.4watts less)

 

[Ages]

I haven't been able to find anyone who has it in stock, Newegg is out of stock until at least 4/1/2008. Anyone know where I could order it today. I'd like to order the retail version because I need to move everything from my old hard drive to this new one and the retail version comes with software that will allow me to do that. My mind is made up, I just need to find a place that can fill my order! 🙂

 

[taltamir]

I have lost data like that before... before moving ANYTHING to a new drive, format it, fill it with junk, let it spin for a couple of days, and try to acces it. There is a sizeable chance that it will die on you from that. If it survives, it will last years...
So break in a new drive before moving your stuff onto it, or you will loose all the data. That, and use RAID1 or even better, ZFS.

 

[Tweakin]

Originally posted by: Griswold
I like mine (got it the other day), awesome disk. Silent and fast (both access time for a 7200rpm drive and throughput). Makes a good system drive and the excess capacity for whatever you want to store on it.

Why don't you do a HD Tune and post your results for us in the HD thread

 

[Tweakin]

Originally posted by: Glavinsolo

Originally posted by: SickBeast
I just got a new 3200AAKS (B3 revision) and it's great so far.

It installed Vista in around 20 minutes flat. Its average read in HD tach is around 85mb/sec. I pretty much matched the scores in the AT article.

It's noticeably faster, quieter, and cooler than my old 2500JS. I'm quite happy with it for $75. If my old HDD weren't full, I would have waited it out for the F1. From the preliminary reviews I've read, it's around 5% faster.

When did you order and from who? It looks like they still have some old stock of those 320gb that aren't single platter.

I picked mine up from the egg. Nice drive but the access time is above 16ms. See my thread on HD Tune results in sig.

 

[Cheex]

Finally bought my 640GB HDD and it arrives today.

Question:
How much space should I allocate for my OS partition.

Relevant Info:
My current 250GB is using a 60GB partition for OS & Apps (including games).
The rest (~172GB) is for data storage.
I will be keeping that 60GB partition for OS testing (messing around with Linux maybe).

Please advise.

 

[Cheex]

Sorry. Double post.

 

[sjwaste]

Is there a 320 gig single platter model from WD, with the same platter density as the 640? I'd like the speed, but 640 gigs is overkill for my system drive.