Hitachi TravelStar 7K200

Greetings Everyone!

I had a question regarding the TravelStar 7K200. According to the PDF file I've included which comes from the Hitachi website. It mentions only the 100gb and 200gb version having media transfer rate of 876ms/sec. While the 120gb and 160gb version has a media transfer rate 695ms/sec. Is it correct to assume that to get the maximized benefits you should stick with either a 100gb or 200gb version?

http://tinyurl.com/2vqkuk

 

The reason that there is a difference in the sustained transfer rate, is that every 7K200 hdd utilize the same platters. The 100Gb uses 1 platter and the 200Gb uses 2 platters. The capacities of 120 and 160gb are possible because the hard drive heads have a limited motion. Since the heads are limited in movement, space decreases, and so does centripetal acceleration and thus speed is affected. The manufacturers do this in order to save money. All of the platters are the same.

K-TRON

 

I had always assumed that the lower capacities in a HDD family range were the result of lower data densities but it is also possible that less of the surface area is used (this would enable platters with some defects to still be sold).

However, the bottom line is that the best data transfer rate comes from the maximum data density on one platter. However, note that the maximum data transfer rate only applies to the fastest part of the HDDs. The slowest part (the inner tracks) has a transfer rate that is usually about 50% of the peak.

John