Next up, I utilized HDTach to generate test graphs. Still a synthetic benchmark, HDTach gives you considerably more information than Sandra’s Disk benchmark. For this test I was unable to run tests on the IBM Deskstar 15GB and Maxtor 40GB drives due to time constraints.

First off, a quick peek at my test system Maxtor 15GB drive.

Click to enlarge

Here, the graph shows you several things. First, the drive’s sequential read speed, which is averaging 22473.2 KB/sec. Random access seek times come in at a higher than paper specs 11.9ms. Burst  speed comes in at 58.4mbps. CPU utilization comes in at 12% during the test.

Now’s let’s take a look at the new Quantum Fireball Plus AS 30GB graph.

Click to enlarge

Here we see some significant improvement in raw throughput across the board. Sequential read speeds are ~35% higher, at 34180.5kBps. Random access seek times are slightly higher than spec, at 9.6ms but not as far off as the Maxtor. Burst transfer speeds…Well, boys and girls we really don’t know what they are, as the drive is off the chart! (Time for TCDLabs do give us an update to HDTach I think :D). CPU utilization in comparison to the Maxtor is ~50% lower, at a mere 6.1%.

Next page: Conclusion

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