Western Digital Releases 1TB VelociRaptor; 25% Faster than Last-Gen

Rob Williams · 04-16-2012, 04:17 PM

By now, the benefits that an SSD can bring to a computer are hardly unknown, but we still haven't reached a point where everyone is ready to equip their PC with one. When talking to potential buyers, the most common complaint I hear relates to the lack of storage space - a real concern for those who love having lots of games installed. Just the other day, someone told me they refuse to go below 240GB, but that at the current time, such drives still don't fit their budget.

Read the rest of our post and then discuss it here!

Psi* · 04-16-2012, 09:04 PM

Nice. Similar to the copper versus fiber (network connectivity) war. $300 is more than I would pay for my application. But I do like the simplicity ... and the performance.

Rob Williams · 04-16-2012, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Psi*

Nice. Similar to the copper versus fiber (network connectivity) war. $300 is more than I would pay for my application. But I do like the simplicity ... and the performance.

The reason this is dubbed as a "workstation" drive is because it's best-suited for heavier applications, on par with the same ones you would run, or video editing and that sort of thing. $300 for 1TB is a lot cheaper than what you could match on the SSD side, and since the performance is much better than traditional hard drives - even RAID-esque ones - then there could be a huge market for this.

For those who want even better performance, WD has told us that when two of these are used in RAID, the performance is closer to 2x than what was possible with previous drives.

For a gamer, I think this drive would be an amazing addition to a system because it would allow a LOT of games to be installed on a high-speed device, while the OS and apps are left to an actual SSD. I'm tempted to pick up one for my personal rig to use it for just such a configuration.

Psi* · 04-17-2012, 02:29 PM

I am listening and interested in the RAID benchmarks when available.

Rob Williams · 04-18-2012, 07:19 PM

Will see what I can do. Won't be for a while though as I'm moving in the next week or so and don't have a good Raid controller on hand (not sure if I need one, though).

Kayden · 04-19-2012, 09:19 PM

This might be what I want for my Steam drive, be better then getting a SSD just for games. Price perGB is much more reasonable here.

EDIT: BTW Damn that company (the one that shall not be named) and you for that matter, for making me wait on the TG review! (c;

Rob Williams · 05-01-2012, 03:11 PM

I am sooo anxious to begin using a VR 1TB for a Steam drive, just to go long-term with it and see how it compares to the standard 7200 RPM 500GB all my games have been on for a while. I especially want to follow-up to this test I did with Lineage II:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUGPVFcElkI

04-16-2012, 04:17 PM	#1
Rob Williams Editor-in-Chief Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 13,231	Western Digital Releases 1TB VelociRaptor; 25% Faster than Last-Gen By now, the benefits that an SSD can bring to a computer are hardly unknown, but we still haven't reached a point where everyone is ready to equip their PC with one. When talking to potential buyers, the most common complaint I hear relates to the lack of storage space - a real concern for those who love having lots of games installed. Just the other day, someone told me they refuse to go below 240GB, but that at the current time, such drives still don't fit their budget. Read the rest of our post and then discuss it here! __________________ Intel Core i7-990X EE @ 3.43GHz, GIGABYTE X58A-UD5, Kingston 12GB DDR3-1333, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD, WD VR 1TB, WD 2TB, Seagate 2TB, LG BD-ROM, ASUS DVD-RW, Corsair 1000HX, Corsair H60 Cooler Corsair 800D, Dell 2408WFP 24", ASUS Xonar Essence STX, Gentoo (KDE 4.10, 3.7 Kernel) "Take care to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get!" - H.P. Baxxter <Toad772> I don't always drink alcohol, but when I do, I take it too far.

04-18-2012, 07:19 PM	#5
Rob Williams Editor-in-Chief Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 13,231	Will see what I can do. Won't be for a while though as I'm moving in the next week or so and don't have a good Raid controller on hand (not sure if I need one, though). __________________ Intel Core i7-990X EE @ 3.43GHz, GIGABYTE X58A-UD5, Kingston 12GB DDR3-1333, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD, WD VR 1TB, WD 2TB, Seagate 2TB, LG BD-ROM, ASUS DVD-RW, Corsair 1000HX, Corsair H60 Cooler Corsair 800D, Dell 2408WFP 24", ASUS Xonar Essence STX, Gentoo (KDE 4.10, 3.7 Kernel) "Take care to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get!" - H.P. Baxxter <Toad772> I don't always drink alcohol, but when I do, I take it too far.

04-19-2012, 09:19 PM	#6
Kayden Techgage Staff Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: CA Posts: 709	This might be what I want for my Steam drive, be better then getting a SSD just for games. Price perGB is much more reasonable here. EDIT: BTW Damn that company (the one that shall not be named) and you for that matter, for making me wait on the TG review! (c; __________________ Koolance PC4-1036BK Liquid Cooled Aluminum Full Tower Case (Upgraded to displace 1320watt of heat) - Koolance 360 ver 1.2 CPU Water Block - PrimoChill ICE Non-Conductive Fluid - Asus P6X58D Premium - Intel I7 950 - Evga GTX580 FTW Hydro Copper 2 x2 in SLI - Tt SMART M1200W PSU - Mushkin Enhanced Radioactive 12GB 1600 XMP - Klipsch 5.1 THX Cert Speakers - Sata II OCZ Vertex 4 128GB, Kingston 120GB SV300, WD 2TB, 320GB & 1TB - Cyborg RAT 7 MMO Mouse - Logitech G19 - Logitech G13 Gameboard - 1-over-3 Viewsonic's VA2448M-LED 24-Inch for Nvidia Surround - Ergotech Triple Horizontal LCD Monitor Arm Desk Stand Last edited by Kayden; 04-19-2012 at 09:21 PM. Reason: cause i'm strange?

05-01-2012, 03:11 PM	#7
Rob Williams Editor-in-Chief Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Atlantic Canada Posts: 13,231	I am sooo anxious to begin using a VR 1TB for a Steam drive, just to go long-term with it and see how it compares to the standard 7200 RPM 500GB all my games have been on for a while. I especially want to follow-up to this test I did with Lineage II: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUGPVFcElkI __________________ Intel Core i7-990X EE @ 3.43GHz, GIGABYTE X58A-UD5, Kingston 12GB DDR3-1333, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 2GB Kingston HyperX 3K 240GB SSD, WD VR 1TB, WD 2TB, Seagate 2TB, LG BD-ROM, ASUS DVD-RW, Corsair 1000HX, Corsair H60 Cooler Corsair 800D, Dell 2408WFP 24", ASUS Xonar Essence STX, Gentoo (KDE 4.10, 3.7 Kernel) "Take care to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get!" - H.P. Baxxter <Toad772> I don't always drink alcohol, but when I do, I take it too far.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Western Digital VelociRaptor 1TB 10K RPM Hard Drive Review	Rob Williams	Reviews and Articles	0	06-21-2012 06:49 PM
Western Digital Releases 9.5mm 1TB Scorpio Blue Notebook HDD	Rob Williams	Storage Devices and Memory	0	07-20-2011 02:01 PM
Western Digital VelociRaptor 600GB	Rob Williams	Reviews and Articles	5	03-28-2011 11:05 AM
Western Digital Releases First SATA 3.0 VelociRaptor HDDs	Rob Williams	Storage Devices and Memory	2	04-07-2010 10:16 AM
Western Digital Unleashes the Fierce VelociRaptor VR150	Rob Williams	Storage Devices and Memory	6	05-16-2008 03:23 PM

04-16-2012, 09:04 PM	#2
Psi* Tech Monkey Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Westport, CT Posts: 766	Nice. Similar to the copper versus fiber (network connectivity) war. $300 is more than I would pay for my application. But I do like the simplicity ... and the performance.

04-17-2012, 02:29 PM	#4
Psi* Tech Monkey Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Westport, CT Posts: 766	I am listening and interested in the RAID benchmarks when available.