No no no Darwin, we won't tell you a thing. You'll have to find it the hard way.
I spent a little while yesterday looking at different models. I thought that the Seagate Momentus was the best choice in its category (at the store where I can buy it :
http://www.microbyte...p;sort=4a&page=2), but it seems like there are other interesting contenders...
They also have the Samsung HM250JI,
250gb 5400 rpm... This one is 139 $, compared to 179 $ for the Seagate 160 gb ST9160823ASG 7200 rpm.
So I went searched a bit more, and here's what I found at tom's hardware :
The M5S top model is called HD250JI, spins at 5,400 RPM and outperforms almost every other 2.5" hard drive. Even better, it does so without requiring more energy than its direct competitors. Only 7,200 RPM drives such as the Fujitsu MHW2160BJ deliver quicker access times and better I/O performance, but in terms of data transfer performance the new Samsung drive is already very close. Both drives are backed by a three-year factory warranty.
Fujitsu shows better overall performance and quicker access times, while Samsung's drive offers 50% higher capacity and lower energy requirements. So, which one should the real enthusiast go for? If you're looking for maximum performance, there is no way around the MHW2160BJ, as it even surpasses Seagate's Momentus 7200.2 with higher transfer rates and better energy efficiency. For maximum performance for desktop replacement PCs, I'd go for the Fujitsu drive at this time, because additional storage can be added via external storage devices. The mobile user should rather go for the Samsung HM250JI, because it offers almost comparable performance, but has the capacity reserves you might need on the road.
http://www.tomshardw...capacity/page10.htmlAnd elsewhere (
http://www23.tomshar...e.com/storage25.html ) when compared to others (and particularly the Seagate), the 5400 rpm Samsung scores impressive results. Apart from I/O benchmarks, the Samsung is almost neck to neck with the Seagate, it's cheaper, and it's got at least 80 GB more of storage. Not bad.
But I'm certainly not a specialist in benchmarks and I don't know what these I/O benchmarks tell exactly...
------------------------------------------Samsung-----Seagate
Storage capacity------------------------------250gb 160gb [OUPS : I MADE A TERRIBLE MISTAKE HERE...]
Price------------------------------------------139$CA 179$CA
Interface performance (Mb/s)------------------115.8 121.4
Random access time (ms)----------------------17.3 14.2
Maximum read transfer rate (Mb/s)-------------61.8 59.6
Average read transfer performance (Mb/s)------46.9 45.8
Minimum read transfer performance (Mb/s)------31.1 30.6
Maximum write transfer performance (Mb/s)-----61.6 56.5
Average write transfer performance (Mb/s)-----46.6 44.8
Minimum write transfer performance (Mb/s)-----30.7 30.2
Windows XP startup performance (Mb/s)--------7.0 7.9
File writing performance (Mb/s)-----------------59.0 53.9
Fileserver I/O benchmark pattern (I/O op. /s)----581 671
Web server I/O benchmark pattern (I/O op. /s)--552 663
Database I/O benchmark pattern (I/O op. /s)----603 678
Workstation I/O benchmark pattern (I/O op. /s)--643 756
Idle power consumption (W)---------------------0.9 1.1
Maximum power consumption (W)----------------3.1 3.8 |
what do you think ?
Edit : by the way, I've read in some forums that the Samsung had some firmware problems when it first shipped the hard drive, but according to Tom's hardware, it should be a problem of the past...
http://www.tomshardw..._capacity/page4.htmlEdt 2 :
Darwin : one thing that the benchmarks seem to tell is that it's not
so much about the rotating speed anymore... seeing some 5400 rpm drives beat 7200 rpm drives certainly tells something... or am I misunderstanding the numbers???
Edit3 : added the price and storage capacity of the beasts
