TheOverclocker Issue 11 | Page 23

Summary Benchmarks We used a traditional benchmark such as HDTUNE but included our favourite “IOMeter”. IOMeter measures IOPS (Input Output Per Second) at different user configuration settings. We completed a set number of sequential and random tests to give a true indication of the performance on this drive. Notes Benchmark Result WD VelociRaptor 600GB WD VelociRaptor 300GB HDTUNE read avg. HDTUNE read avg. 122.3 MB/s 99.4 MB/s WD VelociRaptor 600GB WD VelociRaptor 300GB HDTUNE write avg. HDTUNE write avg. 119.5 MB/s 102.3 MB/s WD VelociRaptor 600GB WD VelociRaptor 300GB IOMETER 512B RR IOMETER 512B RR 201 IOPS 158 IOPS Random Read Random Read WD VelociRaptor 600GB WD VelociRaptor 300GB Corsair Nova SSD IOMETER 512B RW IOMETER 512B RW IOMETER 512B RW 422 IOPS 256 IOPS 5530 IOPS Random Write Random Write Random Write WD VelociRaptor 600GB WD VelociRaptor 300GB IOMETER 512B SR IOMETER 512B SR 18888 IOPS 18086 IOPS Sequential Read Sequential Read WD VelociRaptor 600GB WD VelociRaptor 300GB IOMETER 512B SW IOMETER 512B SW 14890 IOPS 13717 IOPS Sequential Write Sequential Write WD VelociRaptor 600GB WD VelociRaptor 300GB IOMETER 4K SR IOMETER 4K SR 16157 IOPS 13717 IOPS Sequential Read Sequential Read WD VelociRaptor 600GB WD VelociRaptor 300GB IOMETER 4K RR IOMETER 4K RR 156 IOPS 166 IOPS Random Read Random Read Drive small random reads and a 40% gain in random writes. These are fairly significant and as we indicated with our initial article on the SATA3 interface, we found it increased random IOPS operations. Looking at random write results as compared to the Corsair Nova SSD, we saw that this VelociRaptor much faster than the SATA2 version but is in fact, still a long way behind a mid-range SSD for random IOPS. Moving on to sequential operations we gathered that there’s only a small difference in performance between the two drives, this could indicate that the actual speed of the drives are very similar and the main difference is the SATA3 interface. After all the testing we wondered if there’s anything we couldn’t have expected from this drive and it turned out that the SATA2 drive is actually faster in large random read operations, this is defiantly unexpected and something we were unable find an answer for. Unfortunately for this drive, large random read operations are a fairly regular occurrence in daily use and it’s concerning that the SATA3 disk didn’t show any improvement here. When we plugged our SATA3 drive into the SATA2 interface we did see our results drop slightly, so we can definitively say there is some advantage to a high RPM optical disk using the SATA3 interface at least in most situations.? [ Pro ] We’ve been fans of Western Digital’s range of Raptor and VelociRaptor drives for a while and this drive is another great addition to the range, bringing an increase in size, IOPS gains from the SATA3 interface as well as a 20% improvement to read and write operations. We actually use these drives as our main benchmark drives as they are quite robust, have ample room for mu ??????????????)??????????????????(?5???Y????????????)???????????????????(????IA4?????)Q??????????????????)???????????MM?e?)????????????????????) ????????M????A$???4?(? ??????????????)??????????????????????)???????????????????)????????????????????)M????A$??Q????????????)]?????????????????????)???????????????????)M????A$?????? ??????)????????????????)???????????????MM)??????????????????)Y?????I???????????????)??????????????()]????????????)]?????????????????)??Y?????I??????????)????????????????]????)??????????????????????)?????????????I?????)???????????????????(???????????????)?????????????????)??????????????????)???????????????????????)???????????????????)???????????????)??????????Q??)Y?????I??????????????)????????????????????)??????????????????)????????????I????????)???????????????????)M????A$???????MM????()Q???M???)]????????????????)?????????????????????)????????????????????????)?????????????????????)]????????????]?????)???????????????)?????????????????)?????????????????????)???????????????????)????????MM?((?(????)=??????????Q???=?? ????????((0