NEW 150Gb Raptors

BeatMaster · 23 Dec 2005 at 16:11

Western Digital are soon to release 2 new Raptors:

WD1500AD (WD1500ADFD) = Server version
WD1500AH (WD1500AHFD) = Gamer version

Both 150Gb but each optimised for a specific task

SATA-II
16MB cache
10000rpm
150GB
4.5ms seek
1.2M MTBF

BeatMaster

Messiah Khan · 23 Dec 2005 at 16:18

Any release date or estimated price on those?

The Halk · 23 Dec 2005 at 16:23

Ooh nice.

These will wipe the floor with every other drive around unless WD really mess it up

And fingers crossed there might be the same significant noise reduction between the 74GB and the 150GB that we've seen with recent 7.2K drives.

BeatMaster · 23 Dec 2005 at 16:25

messiah khan said:
Any release date or estimated price on those?

Only heard a rumour of 319 Euro's ~£218 :eek:

Bit pricey but then again, astonishing performance no doubt!

BeatMaster

Messiah Khan · 23 Dec 2005 at 16:27

Just found this on another forum, so how trure it is I don't know, but interesting non the less;

WD Raptor 150

A Unique Breed of Hard Drive
------------------------------------
Some hard drive companies design desktop-class drives with the SATA interface. To meet the demands of enterprise storage, WD is going one better. WD is the only company combining a 10,000 RPM enterprise-class mechanical platform with the SATA interface to meet all the demands of the enterprise environment - reliability, performance, and reduced cost.

Product Benefits
----------------------------------
WD produces the world's most reliable SATA drives. With 1.2 million hours MTBF, enterprise duty cycle, 5-year warranty, next-generation SATA technology, and state-of-the-art vibration tolerance, WD Raptor drives offer the best combination of reliability, high capacity, and performance for enterprise applications.

Product Features
* Reliable - designed and manufactured to enterprise-class standards to provide enterprise reliability in high duty cycle environments. With 1.2 million hours MTBF, these drives have the highest available reliability rating on a high-capacity drive.
* Fast - with a next-generation SATA interface, 1.5Gb/s data transfer rate, native command queuing (NCQ), and 16 MB cache, these drives deliver optimum performance.
* RAID-specific, time-limited error recovery (TLER) - a feature unique to WD, prevents drive fallout caused by the extended hard drive error-recovery processes common to desktop drives.
* Rotary Acceleration Feed Forward (RAFF) - optimizes operation and performance when the drives are used in vibration-prone, multidrive systems such as rack-mounted servers or network storange
* FlexPower - connector technology that accepts power from either industry-standard or new SATA power supplies
* 5 Year warranty

===================================
Physical Specifications
150 GB

Formatted capacity - 150,039 MB
User sectors per drive - 293,046,768
WD model number - (disclosed)

SATA latching connector - Yes
Bytes per sector(STD) - 512
Form factor - 3.5-inch
Interface - SATA 1.5gb/s
RoHS compliant - Yes

Performance Specifications

Average Latency - 2.99ms
Cache
Read - Adaptive
Write - Yes
Data transfer rate (buffer to host) - 1.5 Gb/s (maximum)
Drive ready time - 7.0 sec (average), 10 sec (maximum)
Error rate (non-recoverable) - <1 in 10^15 bits read
LBA support - Yes
MTBF - 1,200,000 hours
Rotational speed - 10,000 RPM
Seek time
Read - 4.6 ms (average)
Write - 5.2 ms (average)
Track-to-track seek
Read - 0.3 ms (average), 0.6 (maximum)
Write - 0.4 ms (average), 0.75 (maximum)
Warranty - 5-year

The Halk · 23 Dec 2005 at 16:30

Well, I can see some nice stats there, but I don't know how they compare with the 74GB ones.

And even at that price they're not a bad buy. It's not like graphics cards where the value will drop like a stone.

If I get a nice annual bonus I think I'll grab a couple of these for RAID0

Messiah Khan · 23 Dec 2005 at 16:35

From what I can see, the rumours suggest a January release date. There are also loads of rumours of a 'clear cover'. Not sure how true that one is. A pre windowed high performance hard drive doesn't sound like the best idea ever.

The Halk · 23 Dec 2005 at 16:45

Yeah. Read the same thread as you.

Things of note : The model number would seem to indicate SATA1 without NCQ.
Nobody is really sure if it'll be SATA2 with NCQ, or SATA1 with NCQ, but nobody is saying it won't have NCQ except the model number.

It's also mentioned that there may be a new revision of the 74GB Raptor.

The cost is a little under double the 74GB.

Messiah Khan · 23 Dec 2005 at 17:08

I wish they would make a revised version of the 36gb, with 16mb cache, NCQ, SATA2 etc, as I just want one for windows, and windows doesn't need 74gb, never mind 150gb.

The Halk · 23 Dec 2005 at 17:11

Hmm, that would be a good thing if they did. I'd buy 2 very quickly.

Fred_Or_Dead · 23 Dec 2005 at 17:15

messiah khan said:
I wish they would make a revised version of the 36gb, with 16mb cache, NCQ, SATA2 etc, as I just want one for windows, and windows doesn't need 74gb, never mind 150gb.

Wise words! Like we need 10k's for our Music/media/storage :rolleyes:

Fast HD's are only really needed for OS and Programs/Games, 36GB's is more then enough (o.k 74 if you play shed loads of games

)
Why don't they release a 15k 36Gb SATA2 drive?! Now that would be sweet and much more usefull than one thats a little faster but twice the size of the 74Gb models

The Halk · 23 Dec 2005 at 17:18

Fred_Or_Dead said:
Wise words! Like we need 10k's for our Music/media/storage
Why don't they release a 15k 36Gb SATA2 drive?! Now that would be sweet and much more usefull than one thats a little faster but twice the size of the 74Gb models

18 would be fine, 2 of those in RAID0

And why not slap on a much bigger cache too, sure it'd cost more, but the 7K500 beats the Raptor in benches partly because of the cache.

Slackworth · 23 Dec 2005 at 18:06

The WD Raptor 150GB will NOT be SATAII. We have started to get our orders ready as soon as they are in the country.

The Halk · 23 Dec 2005 at 18:10

Adam (I'm assuming?), can you confirm or deny that the 74GB Raptor will get respecced to the new 150GB specs?

Can you confirm if the 150GB Raptor will have NCQ?

maranello168 · 23 Dec 2005 at 18:39

would make no sense for WD to bring a new raptor into the market without it being SATA II capable

The Halk · 23 Dec 2005 at 19:02

maranello168 said:
would make no sense for WD to bring a new raptor into the market without it being SATA II capable

Yes it would. It won't use anywhere near enough bandwidth for SATA II to be useful. NCQ is useful though, but you don't need SATA II to have NCQ.

maranello168 · 23 Dec 2005 at 19:31

The Halk said:
Yes it would. It won't use anywhere near enough bandwidth for SATA II to be useful. NCQ is useful though, but you don't need SATA II to have NCQ.

doesn't matter about SATA II being useful or not, it's all about marketing.

The Halk · 23 Dec 2005 at 19:37

maranello168 said:
doesn't matter about SATA II being useful or not, it's all about marketing.

Ah. Now that IS a very good point.

VaderDSL · 23 Dec 2005 at 20:56

I think I'll wait and save up for a PCI-E SAS adaptor that affordable (probably 10 - 20 years

) and then buy 4 15k SAS drives and Raid them all up

anyone say noise and heat!!!

I'd have to make them their own separate case and cool them in it

But, will the difference between the server and gamer version be simply MTBF rates? the server ones built to a much higher standard I assume?

kinggost · 23 Dec 2005 at 23:56

BeatMaster said:
Only heard a rumour of 319 Euro's ~£218

Bit pricey but then again, astonishing performance no doubt!

BeatMaster

Same price as 2 74gb ones tho

*NEW* 150Gb Raptors

NEW 150Gb Raptors