My review of Western Digital 320GB RE3 and 2 in raid0 :)

clocka

clocka

clocka

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Front:

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Back:

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Test Settings:

Drives is installed in AHCI Sata Mode in bios and correct drivers used at f6 install.
Drives have no extra partitions, just a single drive
hd tach - long bench 32mb is used for tests
hdtune - 128kb blocks and 100% accuracy are options used.
All raid tests had write back cache enabled in intel matrix manager.
Raided drives are using 128kb blocks

Spec of computer tested on:

Nvidia 8400GS
Q6700 @ 3.44ghz (430*8)
4GB OCZ ReaperX PC6400 @ 1032 mhz 5-5-5-12
Abit IP35-Pro
ICH9R AHCI Sata Intel

Results:

Idle temp - 34c according to hd tune pro 3.00, max - 35c, as a comparison my wd 7500aaks was 38c
XP install time (including entering serial, name etc, from copying files to memory to booting to windows desktop - approx 10mins
PC Mark 05 1.2.0 Advanced hdd test - 7700 Points

HD Tach in XP:

WD 320GB RE3:
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In comparison my 750GB WD 7500AAKS:
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HD Tune 3.00 in XP:

WD 320GB RE3:
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In comparison my 750GB WD 7500AAKS:
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File benchmark:

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Info:

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PC Mark 05 Pro 1.2.0:

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Extracting 700mb .avi from 50*15mb rars - 7 secs












RAID0 Tests:




VISTA x64 SP1 Ultimate Tests:

adding 4.36gb .iso to 50mb rars, old style volume names, recovery records, store - 1m33s
extracting 4.36gb .iso from 50mb rars - 42s

HD Tune 3.00 Pro:

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PC Mark Vantage 1.00 + Hotfix HDD Test - 6481 Score

XP Pro SP3 Tests:

adding 4.36gb .iso to 50mb rars, old style volume names, recovery records, store - 1m34s

extracting 4.36gb .iso from 50mb rars - 41s
 
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CONTINUED....


Extracting 700mb .avi from 50*15mb rars - 3-4 secs

HD Tune 3.00 Pro:

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PC Mark 05 Pro 1.2.0:

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ATTO 2.34:

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HD Tach 3.0.4.0:

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Percentage increase in raid0 over single drive:

HD Tach 3.0.4.0: 176.3mb/s vs 91.8mb/s = 92.4% faster in raid0
HD Tune 3.00 Pro: 166.1mb/s vs 86.8mb/s = 91.36% faster in raid0




a lot of people might complain saying Samsung F1 320GB gets 95mb/s vs 91.8mb/s in hdtach but remember the seek time on these is around 11.6-12.2ms, samsung f1 is 13.7-14.4ms.

5yr warranty on these too.

Hope this review helps you guys, i know i have missed some comparisons like extracting 700mb.avi on raid and not extracting 4.4gb .iso on non-raided drives and things like that but i did this for you for free, aint getting paid:P

Hopefully someone can do the same tests i did but with Samsung F1 320GB's then we can have a proper comparison of them.
 
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yeah, these RE3 drives have dual processors inside which i think is why the raid is like 92% faster, normal drives are around 70% ish faster in raid0.
 
they are very quiet, no clunking, slight high pitch sound instead when transferring data, i thought my 7500AAKS drives were fairly quiet, i was wrong:P cost me £93 after 10% discount code on ocuk for the 320gb's. The 250gb's are a bit cheaper if you dont need the storage.
 
mine was done in XP not vista, i used latest sata raid drivers and latest chipset drivers too. There is only 5mb/s difference in raid0 thats nothing.

750GB + 1TB RE3 drives are coming out now too: http://www.westerndigital.com/en/co...elease={5896916E-1B47-46F5-9B00-1499B35BA757}


Here is some info about what these RE3 drives have over normal drives:

WD RE3 Features:

* StableTrac™ - The motor shaft is secured at both ends to reduce system-induced vibration and stabilize platters for accurate tracking during read and write operations. Visit the Web site at http://www.wdc.com/global/flash/index.asp?family=stabletrac to see StableTrac in action.
* Dual processor - Twice the processing power that results in a 20 percent performance improvement over the previous generation.
* RAFF™ technology - Resulting in up to 60 percent performance improvement over previous generation drives, WD's fourth-generation RAFF technology includes sophisticated electronics to monitor the drive and correct both linear and rotational vibration simultaneously in real time for maximum performance in high vibration environments.
* IntelliSeek™ technology - Calculates optimum seek speeds to lower power consumption, noise, and vibration in active seek modes without degrading performance.
* Multi-axis shock sensor - An additional third sensor has been added to RE3 models to detect automatically the subtlest shock events and to compensate to protect the data.
* RAID-specific, Time-Limited Error Recovery (TLER) - Prevents drive fallout caused by the extended hard drive error-recovery processes common to desktop drives.
* Third-generation dynamic fly height - With this next generation dynamic fly height technology, each read-write head's fly height is adjusted in real time for optimum reliability.
* Thermal extended burn-in test - Extended burn-in testing with thermal cycling added to ensure only the most robust drives are produced as RAID Edition.
* NoTouch™ ramp load technology - The recording head never touches the disk media ensuring significantly less wear to the recording head and media as well as better drive protection in transit.
 
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