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Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1.0TB SATA Hard Drive Review
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1.0TB SATA Hard Drive Review - PCSTATS
WD's Caviar Black series SATA II hard drives feature a faster spindle speed and 32MB of onboard cache. Drive capacities range from 500GB through to 1.0TB, but all the Caviar Black series drives use Perpendicular Magnetic Recording.
 86% Rating:   
Filed under: Hard Drives/SSD Published:  Author: 
External Mfg. Website: Western Digital Jun 17 2009   Max Page  
Home > Reviews > Hard Drives/SSD > Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS

Prelude to Benchmarks & HD Tune

Gamers like to pair two identical hard drives in RAID 0 to speeding up game load times, but the word on the street is that WD's Caviar Black drives doesn't handle RAID 0 very well... we'll find out. Once again, the Caviar Black is a 7,200RPM drive with a peak external transfer rating of 3GB/s and sustained rate of 106MB/s - let's see how close to those numbers it actually gets.

Evolution of Western Digital Hard Drives
Drive Capacity Spindle Speed Cache
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1,000 GB (1TB) 7,200RPM 32MB
Western Digital Raptor WD1500AHFD 150 GB 10,000 RPM 16MB
Western Digital Raptor WD740 75 GB 10,000 RPM 8MB

The details of how the Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS hard drive test system was configured for benchmarking, including the specific hardware, software drivers, operating system and benchmark versions are indicated below. In the second column are the general specs for the reference platforms this SATA hard drive is to be compared against. Please take a moment to look over PCSTATS test system configurations before moving on to the individual benchmark results.

PCSTATS Test System Configurations
test system
processor: intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (45nm)
Motherboard: ASUS Striker II NSE (NF 790i)
Videocard: MSI NX8800GTS-T2D320E
Memory: 2GB Crucial Ballistix PC3-12800 (DDR3)
Hard Drive: 1TB Western Digital WD1001FALS
CDROM: ASUS BC-1205PT-BD Blu-Ray Drive
Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling TurboCool 750W
Monitor: ASUS MK241 24" LCD
Heatsink: Intel LGA775 Reference
Software Setup:

Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate
Intel INF 9.0.0.1008
nVIDIA Forceware 169.25

Benchmarks: SiSoft Sandra 2008
PCMark Vantage
HDTach 3.0.1.0

HD Tune Pro 3.5 READ / WRITE Drive Benchmark Source: HD TUNE

HD Tune Pro is an extended version of HD Tune which includes many new features such as: write benchmark, secure erasing, AAM setting, folder usage view, disk monitor, command line parameters and file benchmark. The benchmark measures raw performance in a couple different ways to measure a hard drive for Read and Write tests, which are conducted separately. To read the results below consider that highest minimum/maximum/average transfer rates are better, while lower (quicker) access times are best. Lastly, highest burst rates are better.

PCSTATS Benchmark ReportHD Tune Pro 3.5 - READ Tests
Minimum Transfer Rate: MB/s Ranking
Western Digital WD1001FALS 52.2
Western Digital WD1001FALS (RAID 0) 100.3
Western Digital WD1001FALS (RAID 1) 51.1
Maximum Transfer Rate: MB/s Ranking
Western Digital WD1001FALS 108.7
Western Digital WD1001FALS (RAID 0) 204.6
Western Digital WD1001FALS (RAID 1) 108.6
Average Transfer Rate: MB/s Ranking
Western Digital WD1001FALS 86.1
Western Digital WD1001FALS (RAID 0) 165.1
Western Digital WD1001FALS (RAID 1) 86
Access Time: ms Ranking
Western Digital WD1001FALS 12.2
Western Digital WD1001FALS (RAID 0) 10.1
Western Digital WD1001FALS (RAID 1) 10.2
Burst Rate: MB/s Ranking
Western Digital WD1001FALS 134.4
Western Digital WD1001FALS (RAID 0) 143.6
Western Digital WD1001FALS (RAID 1) 144.7

The benchmarks certainly benefit from a nice speed boost when the Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS hard drive is configured in RAID 0, although access time and burst rates do not see any improvement.

  • PCSTATS Benchmark ReportHD Tune Pro 3.5 - WRITE Tests
    Minimum Transfer Rate: MB/s Ranking
    Western Digital WD1001FALS 52.1
    Western Digital WD1001FALS (RAID 0) 102.1
    Western Digital WD1001FALS (RAID 1) 51.8
    Maximum Transfer Rate: MB/s Ranking
    Western Digital WD1001FALS 107.6
    Western Digital WD1001FALS (RAID 0) 203.9
    Western Digital WD1001FALS (RAID 1) 103.5
    Average Transfer Rate: MB/s Ranking
    Western Digital WD1001FALS 85.4
    Western Digital WD1001FALS (RAID 0) 161.9
    Western Digital WD1001FALS (RAID 1) 83.5
    Access Time: ms Ranking
    Western Digital WD1001FALS 12.1
    Western Digital WD1001FALS (RAID 0) 12.1
    Western Digital WD1001FALS (RAID 1) 10
    Burst Rate: MB/s Ranking
    Western Digital WD1001FALS 134.3
    Western Digital WD1001FALS (RAID 0) 134.3
    Western Digital WD1001FALS (RAID 1) 144.7

    The write tests in HD Tune Pro 3.5 illustrate similar points with the Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS hard drive. Transfer rates improve with RAID 0 as expected, but access times and burst rates remain stationary.

    < Previous Page © 2023 PCSTATS.com Next Page >

     

    Contents of Article: Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS
     Pg 1.  Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1.0TB SATA Hard Drive Review
     Pg 2.  — Prelude to Benchmarks & HD Tune
     Pg 3.  HDD Benchmarks: Sandra 2009, HD Tach
     Pg 4.  HDD Benchmarks: PCMark Vantage

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