The WD6400AACS (Green) disk on my new PC was slower than expected. I anticipated possibly 120 MB/second maximum reading speed but the best that I got was around 80. The disk specification does not indicate rotation speed but says IntelliPower instead of an RPM value. The disk drive is often advertised as 7200 RPM but it seems that this is based on a claim of 7200 RPM performance levels. Other benchmarks also indicate that the disk is not as fast as other modern counterparts. Seagate says “Have you ever wondered what IntelliPower stands for? Wonder how it works? It’s simple—IntelliPower is equal to 5400 RPM”.
http://www.seagate.com/docs/pdf/whitepaper/mb_intellipower_exposed.pdf
My disk has three partitions of 224, 224 and 146 GB (241, 241, 158 GB decimal). I ran the benchmark on the D: partition as the first area of this ought to be nearly as fast as C:. I ran the tests on C:, where maximum speed was 102 MB/second then on E:. Surprise, surprise, that produced 93 MB/second.
I then looked at the sizes shown on Computer where D: is 146 GB and E: 224 GB. It looks as though Windows 7 has misinterpreted partition positions. Some software that can be simply copied from another PC has complex BAT files that use D:. I wonder if I could simply change partition letters in Disk Management. Here, the partitions shown are in the order C: Boot, E: Primary Partition and D: Logical Drive.
Roy
>>I wonder if I could simply change partition letters in Disk Management
As long as it's not the OS volume or where the Swap file resides, you can change drive letters to your heart's content...
John - Santa Clara, CA
Thanks - I was hoping you would chime in with your experience! <smile>
John
I was aware of the read/write circuitry limitation (you probably pointed it out earlier <g>). Looking at the comparable range of WD disks, maximum data transfer speed is not that much slower on the 5400 RPM green versions. I assume that this is due to more data on each track. This also provides some credibility to the marketing claim of 7200 RPM (obscure reference to speed). The main performance limitation is on random access, with latency of 5.56 ms compared with 4.17 ms.
It's one thing to say "Performance equivalent to a 7200rpm drive" if that is the case and not the same as claiming it is a 7200rpm drive when it is not.
From what John is saying it sounds as though it is perfectly possible to design a 5400rpm drive with the same performance as a specific 7200 rpm drive with consequent advantages in power consumption, noise and so on and for me it would be performance that matters.
Hugh
I did see power consumption claims. I think that it was reduced from around 8 watts to less than 4, idling. You should read the Seagate link I quoted earlier. This exposes the misleading marketing.
I see that you have edited the msg as I write this.
It seems as though Seagate's response is the 5900 RPM disk - at least they admit it.
"Some software that can be simply copied from another PC has complex BAT files that use D:. I wonder if I could simply change partition letters in Disk Management. Here, the partitions shown are in the order C: Boot, E: Primary Partition and D: Logical Drive."
I'd be reluctant to change the drive lettering scheme only because every MS OS since DOS uses the same (unwritten?) rules to enumerate drives and drive partitions, i.e. Boot drive, other primary partitions, then logical and extended partitions--always in the same sequence. It is possible that by changing the assignments "outside" of the normal order, at some point some software is going to jump on them and mess them up. As MS themselves have done in the past, infrequently but done.
Why not use a search-n-replace tool to change the drive letters in the batch file? Any number of text editors will do a global search on D:\ and change it to E:\ etcetera. When I assign drive letters, I try to do so above the range of the actual physical devices, i.e. starting backwards from Z: or upwards from K: to make sure I don't mess with anything the OS might be expecting.
And then again, the old ASSIGN and SUBST commands should always still work as well.<G>
CTRL + F does a great job in replacing drive letters or paths in INI files. F3 takes you on to the next instance.
I've used it frequently when moving VA/VAOS from one place or computer to another since it is independent of the registry.
Thank but too late. I changed them just before I saw your msg.
> every MS OS since DOS uses the same (unwritten?) rules to enumerate drives and drive partitions, i.e. Boot drive, other primary partitions, then logical and extended partitions--always in the same sequence. <
Every one except my 64-Bit Windows 7 ????
Attached are System Information details. Disk Drive partitions are listed in the expected order (and confirmed by disk benchmarks) - 224 GB (fastest), 224 GB and 147 GB (slowest).
Drive Information originally had the sequence C:, E:, D: (slowest) shown as 147 GB in Computer (but I didn’t notice to start with).
Roy, if Win7 changes the rules for drive enumeration, that's news to me. Bear in mind that Win7 is just NT6.1, so it is largely NT6 at heart.
Your first partition is in inacitve hidden maintenance partition--WIndows won't be assigning a letter to it. I can't tell from the attached report but expect that if all you've got is the one drive, and IF it was partitioned normally by Windows, you'll have C: as the primary active boot partition, followed by D and E in the logical extended partitions.
> C: as the primary active boot partition, followed by D and E in the logical extended partitions.<
It is now but was C:, E:, D: to start with.
