Definitive 2TB HD Roundup: WD, Seagate, Samsung
CrystalDiskMark Testing
CrystalDiskMark is a synthetic test that evaluates both sequential as well as random small and large file
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Samsung EcoGreen F3 2TB |
Seagate Barracuda LP 2TB |
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Seagate Barracuda XT 2TB |
Seagate Constellation ES 2TB |
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WD AV-GP 2TB |
WD Caviar Black 1TB |
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WD Caviar Black 2TB |
WD Caviar Green 2TB |
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WD RE4 2TB |
WD RE4-GP 2TB |
As far as CrystalDiskMark's sequential write speeds are concerned, the trend we've seen with the previous tests continues--with the fastest drives being the Seagate Barracuda XT 2TB (142.7MB/Sec), Seagate Constellation ES 2TB (138.4MB/Sec), WD RE4 2TB (138.8MB/Sec), WD Caviar Black 1TB (131.3MB/Sec), and WD Caviar Black 2TB (128MB/Sec). As to the general-purpose drives, the Seagate Barracuda LP 2TB is once again the leader at 116.8MB/Sec.
The same five performance and enterprise drives are also once again the leaders on CrystalDiskMark's sequential read test, but they are also joined here by the WD RE4-GP (157.3MB/Sec). As a matter of fact, the top four drives here are all WD drives, with three in particular having standout performance: the WD Caviar Black 1 TB (193.6MB/Sec), WD Caviar Black 2TB (179.8MB/Sec), and the WD RE4 (177.3MB/Sec). No surprises here either with the best-performing general-purpose drive: the Seagate Barracuda LP 2TB had a read speed of 119.9MB/Sec.
We see similar patterns on the CrystalDiskMark's 512KB and 4KB write and read tests as well--but with a few exceptions creeping in. While the WD RE4 2TB is the undisputed leader on all of these worst-case scenarios, the Seagate Constellation ES 2TB falters a bit on the 512KB and 4KB tests, with middle-of-the-pack performance. The WD RE4-GP 2TB also manages to elbow its way in into the list of better-performing drives. The Seagate Barracuda LP 2TB also takes top honors on the 512KB and 4KB write and read tests for general-purpose drives.
We're starting to sound like a broken record here, but once again the 6Gb/Sec drives didn't see any noticeable performance gains as a result of their faster SATA interfaces. As to our 120GB OCZ Vertex Turbo 2.5-inch SSD, we had one surprise: Its 512KB write speed of 148.5MB/Sec was only a hair faster than the WD RE4 2TB's 145.3MB/Sec write speed. The rest of the OCZ SSD's write and read speeds were significantly faster than its HDD cousins, with a monumentally huge margin on the random 4KB transfer tests: the OCZ SSD's 4KB write speed was 17.83MB/Sec and 4KB read speed was 29.38MB/Sec. The best performing HDD on this test--the WD RE4 2TB--could only manage a 4KB write speed of 3.35MB/Sec and 4KB read speed of 1.32MB/Sec. This exemplifies just one of the many performance areas where HDDs just can't hold a candle to SSDs.
