Another interesting product is in for reviewing.
One of the very few complete 2.5” mechanical hard drives that doesn’t have to compromise between capacity and speed.
Usually it’s one or the other, but this one has it all: 7200 RPM with 32 MB cache buffer and 1 Terabyte (2x 500 GB platters) in a 2.5″ size, via a SATA 6 GB/s interface.
Very promising.
Made by HGST, formerly Hitachi Global Storage Technologies founded in 2003, but now a subsidiary of Western Digital (acquired in 2012) that produces hard disk drives, solid-state drives, and external storage products and services.
Prices when reviewed:
Amazon.co.uk – £ 48
Hitachi HTS721010A9E630 Travelstar 7K1000 1000 GB Internal
Amazon.com – 74 $
HGST Travelstar 2.5-Inch 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache Mobile retail kit
So let’s see how it performs.
Specifications:
Manufacturer: Hitachi
Model: Travelstar 7K1000
Model Number: HTS721010A9E630
Form Factor: 2.5″
Capacity: 1 TB
Platters: 2
Rotational Speed: 7200 RPM
Cache Size: 32 MB
Interface: SATA 6 Gb/s
Dimensions: 2.75″ (W) x 3.93″ (L) x 9.5 mm (H)
Weight: 4 oz.
Warranty: Three Years
Pictures
It’s well secured in the box.
Testing facilities:
Processor: Intel i7 2700k Sandy Bridge 32nm, HT and Turbo Boost Enabled
Cpu cooler: Thermalright AXP-100R
Motherboard: MSI B75IA-E33 mITX
RAM: 2 x 4 GB Crucial Ballistix Tactical Tracers 1600 Mhz CL8 (3 years old)
HDD : WD 640 GB AAKS 3.5″ 7200 Rpm 16 Mb buffer (6 years old)
SSD : Samsung 840 Evo 120 GB (1 year old)
External HDD : WD Passport 1 TB 2.5″ 5400 Rpm 8 Mb buffer WD10TMVW @ USB 3.0
Video card: MSI GTX 760 OC 4 GB Twin Frozr
Case: NCase M1 mITX
PSU: Seasonic S12II 500W ATX
Benchmarks and software used:
Windows 7 x64 Ultimate SP1
Crystal Disk Mark 3.0.2
HD Tune 5.50
Defraggler 2.14
And here are the results:
Analysis
In all the tests the 7k1000 beats it’s 2.5″ brother by 20 – 50% showing that the 7200 RPM and 32 MB buffer is better not only on paper but also in real life than the 5400 RPM and 8 MB combo.
And even more interesting it wins against a regular 3.5” also at 7200 but with 16 MB buffer.
Both HD Tune and Crystal Disk Mark prove the above.
Regarding noise, also silent.
Can’t hear it even in load and this is where we keep it in our build.
And heat-wise, in that position with all these tests we didn’t see it go over 39-40 degrees C.
It idles at 30-32 degrees C.
Again, super.
We didn’t include in the tests versus an SSD because we know it won’t even come close but just for fun, only one to see why SSD are so good.
Conclusions.
We think this 2.5″ HDD is the sweet spot for anyone who needs an upgrade regardless of its purpose like laptop, gaming console, HTPC, external drive etc
It’s small, fast, quiet, cool and with an excellent price quality ratio.
We like it so much it’s now our main hard drive in our small form factor builds.
So we give it our:
Globetrotters Award – 4.5 out of 5
