Western Digital's line of Caviar GP have been considered by many as a value-grade hard drive because of its low price. However, nothing can be further from the truth. Recently, we picked up a 500 GB model for our tests and we were most impressed with its performance. Not only did it deliver a large storage capacity using only two platters, it also delivered very good performance numbers. For more details, take a look at our comprehensive review. Here's a quote from the review :- Link : Western Digital 500 GB Caviar GP Hard Drive Review
It's interesting that WD would advertise their product as having an RPM ranging from 5400 to 7200. Is that because the RPM varies from time to time (to save energy) or is it fixed at an unknown value?
Nice looking HD and good article. BTW I work on car audio so have those small torx screwdrivers lol It doesn't have to be expensive to be good. Yesterday a buddy of mine and I compared notes and his Galaxy 8800gt with the Coolermaster cooler using a Q6600, 4G ram, Vista Home 64 was outbenched on 3dmark6 with my Gainward Bliss 9600gt using an E6550, 4G ram and Vista Ultimate X64
Well, I'm gonna get another new hdd to replace my dying (keeps on tuck tuck) HDD any time from now.If I'm not mistaken, this hdd is that one supposely uses less power compare to the normal WD HDD right? Actually does this actually works or just some marketing tactics? Meh, this hdd also cost slightly more than the normal WD HDD. So far i have always been using Seagate HDD Never once use b4 a WD HDD. Anyway another good review from Techarp again
Well,not really for me.Seems to be the bang for money now..It's cheaper now for a 500gb hdd..Like 299 for 500gb
Nope. Variable spin rates were never used for HDDs as far as I know, only older-generation CD-ROMs. The WD Caviar GP drives have a fixed spindle speed somewhere between 7200 RPM and 5400 RPM. The actual spindle speed varies according to the model (500GB, 750GB, 1TB). WD did this to achieve a balance between performance and power consumption. As such, I suspect the 500GB drive will probably have the highest spindle speed while the 1TB drive will have the slowest spindle speed with the 750GB drive in the middle.
Yeah, from the specs alone, these Caviar GP drives do use less power than similar 3.5" HDDs. Of course, they do not really run at 7200 RPM... but they are still fast and best of all, come with a really low price tag!
Yeah, there is always a sweet spot for price-capacity. Right now, 500GB should be the sweet spot for HDDs.
Sounds about right. Might be a reason why the drive is more expensive since each drive's rpm is optimized. I did a quick search for some infos on the HDD and SilentPCReview mentioned this in their review of the 750 GB: No idea how they figured that out
Actually, the Caviar GP drives are cheap. Over here, they are priced significantly lower than other hard drives of the same capacity. That has led many to consider the Caviar GP to be a value-line hard drive. It is possible to calculate the rough RPM if you know the areal density at the outer track and its platter transfer rate at the same outer track.
Hmm, i wonder how bout the WD5000AACS? I can't seem to find the price yet. Muahahaha...Price drop, good time to change my hdd o.o
