Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS Hard Disk Drive Review

Introduction

VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS is the latest 10,000 rpm drive from Western Digital, with 300 GB capacity, SATA-300 interface and 16 MB buffer. The faster the hard disk drive spins, the higher performance is, as it can read data from the magnetic plates at a faster rate. We always wanted to review a 10,000 rpm unit to see how much faster it is compared to a mainstream 7,200 rpm unit. Also, since 10,000 rpm drives are far more expensive than 7,200 rpm units, we were curious to see what provides a higher performance, a single 10,000 rpm drive or two mainstream 7,200 rpm drives in RAID0 configuration.

In our review we are going to compare VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS, which costs USD 300, to Seagate Barracuda 7200.10, which is a 160 GB 7,200 rpm drive with 8 MB cache also using SATA-300 interface, but costing only USD 48. We will also build a RAID0 array with two Barracuda 7200.10 drives, giving an array with around the same capacity of VelociRaptor, 300 GB, but at 1/3 of the cost.

Compared to the famous Raptor also from Western Digital the new VelociRaptor brings two main advantages: the use of SATA-300 interface and double the capacity. Both drives spin at 10,000 rpm and have 16 MB buffer, but according to Western Digital VelociRaptor is 35% faster than Raptor. The original Raptor is quoted at USD 270 on Western Digital’s website, but can be bought by USD 170 at Newegg.com.

On the pictures below you can see how the new VelociRaptor looks like. As you can see, it is in fact a 2.5” drive coming with a 3.5” adapter that works as a passive heatsink.

Figure 1: Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS hard disk drive.

Figure 2: Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS hard disk drive.

Figure 3: Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS hard disk drive.

Now let’s see the performance from this baby.