Hitachi 5K500.B finally available

[kaltmond]

Crystalmark done. Both disks are filled with data, so results may not be that good looking.

[K-TRON]

Thank you + rep

For those who havent followed harddrives, the Hitachi 5K500 is a 3 platter 12.5mm thick drive. The 5K500.B is a 2 platter 9.5mm thick drive. Both are 500gb 5400rpm, however the 5K500 is based on three 166gb platters, while the 5K500.B is based on two 250gb platters.
The difference in performance is clear in kaltmond's post. The two platter version has a higher data density, and thus a higher data bandwidth than a lower density drive.

The two platter model is also supposed to be the most power efficient drive in its class, which is a good reason to buy it over the competition

K-TRON

[JohnnyFlash]

I want two! Why can eBay merchants be faster?

[tomacher]

kaltmond, can you describe noise of your 5K500.B? I have Samsung HM160HI which is for me dead silent and I'm considering this Hitachi for upgrade. Silent is the most important for me, I know that WD is pretty silent but I'm worried about reliability. I had originally Hitachi 5K100 80 GB and got rid of it because was noisy like old diesel engine (No offence K-TRON )

[ajreynol]

Thank you + rep

For those who havent followed harddrives, the Hitachi 5K500 is a 3 platter 12.5mm thick drive. The 5K500.B is a 2 platter 9.5mm thick drive. Both are 500gb 5400rpm, however the 5K500 is based on three 166gb platters, while the 5K500.B is based on two 250gb platters.
The difference in performance is clear in kaltmond's post. The two platter version has a higher data density, and thus a higher data bandwidth than a lower density drive.

The two platter model is also supposed to be the most power efficient drive in its class, which is a good reason to buy it over the competition

K-TRON

but the access times are just slightly slower than the Caviar Blue, right?

just want to be clear I'm reading this information correctly.

[K-TRON]

The access times are a bit different, but you need to always take hdtune with a grain of salt. HDTUNE is a synthetic benchmark. Crystalmark is the real deal. If one drive performs better in crystalmark, than it will perform better in real life.

They are very similar in performance in crystalmark, but the Hitachi is more power efficient and should run cooler.
I cant critique it on sound because I do not own one. Send a PM to Kaltmond

K-TRON

[miro_gt]

I bought one, should be here tomorrow

[ajreynol]

The access times are a bit different, but you need to always take hdtune with a grain of salt. HDTUNE is a synthetic benchmark. Crystalmark is the real deal. If one drive performs better in crystalmark, than it will perform better in real life.

They are very similar in performance in crystalmark, but the Hitachi is more power efficient and should run cooler.
I cant critique it on sound because I do not own one. Send a PM to Kaltmond

K-TRON

thanks for the insight.

[John Ratsey]

I've done power drain measurements for both the WD5000BEVT and the 500GB Hitachi 5K500.B. The Hitachi's maximum power drain is about 2.3W compared to the WD's 2.5W.

John

[gnimble]

John,

Do you also have the low and average power drain numbers too? I wonder how efficient the WD is also.

Thanks,
Gnimble