Now, let’s see the drives doing reading.

Strangely enough, the Hitachi HDS752412VLAT20 wins the Install pattern (you may recall its being obsessed with reading), followed by the Samsung SP1203N. Three drives from Seagate are good in this test: ST3120026A, ST3120022A and ST3120026AS.

The Samsung SP1213C and Maxtor 6Y120P0/80 have got closer to the leader at reading the ISO pattern. WD1200LB and WD1200JD from Western Digital also look good in this test. In this case we see a clear correlation between the areal density and the reading speed. Well, with files that large we are in fact measuring the linear read speed. Only anticipatory reading influences the results.

The Samsung SP1213C was the fastest at reading files of the MP3 pattern. The Seagate ST3120022A took the second place, replacing the ex-leader Hitachi HDS752512VLAT20.

Hard disk drives from Hitachi take the lead at reading small files.

The Samsung SP1203N and Seagate ST3120022A are trying to compete with them in the Programs pattern. In the Windows pattern, the Hitachi team takes the whole podium.