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    Weird HDD Access Times

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by Tommo53, May 19, 2008.

  1. Tommo53

    Tommo53 Notebook Guru

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    Just recently I ran HD-Tune on my desktops WD Caviar 250GB 7200RPM, I got these results:

    Minimum: 1.3MB/sec (dropped suddenly, then picked back up again)
    Maximum: 58.7MB/sec
    Average: 48.9MB/sec

    Access Time: 18.8ms
    Burst Rate: 120.8MB/sec
    CPU Usage: 3.7%

    After having a look through some reviews, I saw that some laptops with 5400rpm drives are getting better access times. Any ideas on how to improve mine, or why it is so slow?
     
    Tommo53, May 19, 2008
    #1
  2. The_Observer

    The_Observer 9262 is the best:)

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    It could be the power saver.Do u use NHC or something similar?
     
    The_Observer, May 19, 2008
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  3. Tommo53

    Tommo53 Notebook Guru

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    Nope, not using any power saving software...
     
    Tommo53, May 19, 2008
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  4. Commander Wolf

    Commander Wolf can i haz broadwell?

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    18ms is pretty typical for 5400rpm drives; I'm getting the same sort of access times on both of my 5400rpm drives. Variations shouldn't be any greater than like 1ms between different flavors of 5400rpm drives and that will be due to things like platter count and platter density; nothing that the end user can change.

    You can probably shave a small amount from the seeks by stopping unnecessary programs and all, but it won't make much of a difference. Where do we see other 5400rpm drives getting significantly better access times?
     
    Commander Wolf, May 20, 2008
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  5. goofball

    goofball Notebook Deity

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    They tested their WD 7200RPM desktop drives and got those access times, they just mentioned 5400rpm laptop drives for comparison.

    Exactly what model of drive is this? I know there were some WD 500GB drives out there that had this exact same issue, they had high access times. The only way to get them lower was to have them replaced.
     
    goofball, May 20, 2008
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  6. iRis9091

    iRis9091 Notebook Consultant

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    wait.. leave the access times, my 250gb 5400rpm samsung spinpoint on my laptop gives 59mb/sec maximum transfer rates?
    how come yours is 58?
    my old IDE 80GB gives about 59 or 60 too..
     
    iRis9091, May 20, 2008
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  7. Tommo53

    Tommo53 Notebook Guru

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    Thats what I want to know, this is a SATA Drive..... 7200rpm in a desktop. Not a 5400 laptop drive. Its a WD2500JS aka WD Caviar SE.
     
    Tommo53, May 20, 2008
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  8. eleron911

    eleron911 HighSpeedFreak

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    It may vary if you had some apps running in the background or the hdd itself was pretty warm.
    If you want to perform an HD test,reboot, wait 5 mins (do nothing in that time) and the perform the test.
     
    eleron911, May 20, 2008
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