The
first two Quantum
drives we reviewed here at Hot Hardware, were
very high
end products with SCSI interfaces and targeted
at the Server/Professional market.
Today we are going to look at one from Quantum's
"Desktop" offering. This drive
is still targeted at the high end of the segment
but with an ATA100 interface, it will most
likely find its way to a system the likes of
which are configured by many of you loyal Hot
Hardware readers.
As
we all know, both spindle speeds and ATA
interfaces have be driving bandwidth almost as
rigorously as the semiconductor technology that
is utilized to build them. These days 7200
RPM drives are commonplace and the ATA100
interface, with its theoretical 100Mb of
throughput, is the standard being implemented in
every new major motherboard chipset. IBM
was the forerunner in the ATA100 race and their
line of Deskstar 75GXP, 7200 RPM drives, have
done very well in the marketplace. The Quantum
Fireball Plus AS series of drives that we will
evaluate for you here, go head to head with this
product family from "Big Blue".
With nearly identical specifications, let's see
how they match up and what the Fireball Plus
brethren brings to the table.
Specifications
/ Features Of The Quantum Fireball
Plus AS
7200
RPM and quiet
Storage
Capacity:
10.2 GB to 60.0 GB
Average
Seek Time: 8.5 ms
Rotational
Speed:
7,200 RPM
Interface
Options: Ultra
ATA/100
Shock
Protection System II
QDT
- Quite Drive Technology
Data
Protection System (DPS)
Quantum
Fireball Plus AS Family
Line-Up
Quantum
Fireball Plus AS
10.2G
20.5G
30.0G
40.0G
60.0G
Form
Factor
3.5
inch (low
profile)
3.5
inch (low
profile)
3.5
inch (low
profile)
3.5
inch (low
profile)
3.5
inch (low
profile)
Interface
Ultra
ATA/100
Ultra
ATA/100
Ultra
ATA/100
Ultra
ATA/100
Ultra
ATA/100
Formatted
Capacity (MB1)
10,273
20,547
30,020
40,027
60,040
Disk
Drive Configuration
Recording
Surfaces
1
2
3
4
6
ATA
Logical*
Cylinders
16,383
16,383
16,383
16,383
16,383
Heads
15
16
16
16
16
Sectors
63
63
63
63
63
Performance
Specifications
Typical
Seek Times (ms)
Average
8.5
Track-to-Track
0.8
Full
Stroke
17
Average
Rotational Latency (ms)
4.17
Rotational
Speed (RPM)
7,200
Data
Transfer Rates (Buffer-to-Host) (Mb/sec)
Ultra
ATA/100
100
Ultra
ATA/66
66.6
Ultra
ATA/33
33.3
PIO
Mode 4
16.6
PIO
Mode 2
16.6
Buffer
Size (MB)
2
Typical
Power on to Drive Ready (sec)
15
Click
images for full view
The specifications
in the above tables are fairly impressive with
snappy average seek times of 8.5ms and a nice
large data buffer of 2Mb on board. As we
noted earlier, this drive's criticals are nearly
the same as the IBM
75GXP line. The only major difference
is that IBM has slightly higher areal density at
30 Gig and higher. The 75GXP utilizes 15G
platters and the Fireball Plus AS uses 10G
platters all the way up through its 60G
drive.
One final note
and simple observation, is the fact that the
Fireball Plus AS is a sturdily built drive with
one small draw back. Bring your specs with
you when installing this drive or be prepared to
break out the manual. The jumper legend
that is on this drive, is not very descriptive
and hard to read. A minor drawback but
worth mentioning, for those of you that
typically don't like to follow directions.
We'll draw upon a
few test scores later, to show you how the
Fireball Plus AS fairs against its very
competitive counterpart from IBM. For now,
let's set things up and talk about some of the
aspects that you can't read in a benchmark.
