Conclusion

It is in very rare cases that a comparison of so many hard disk drives can reveal an undisputed leader. There’s always a test where the seemingly best drive shows poor results. So let’s try to determine winners in every particular test we used today.

The drives from Hitachi were good in the Intel IOMeter tests, especially the IC35L120AVV207-1 model. The WD1200BB and WD1200JD from Western Digital also handle server workloads well.

The Maxtor 6Y120P0 drives on any platters and the 6Y120M0 were the best in WinBench 99. The Samsung SP1213C showed the fastest linear read speed.

In our favorite test, FileCopy Test, the Samsung team was preferable with their flagship, the SATA-interfaced SP1213C drive being the best of them.

The SV1203N, the only 5400rpm drive in this review, made a good impression, too. It may suit to people who care about money and/or silence.

The drives from Maxtor easily handle large files, which makes them a good choice for capturing video and such applications. The drives from Hitachi, in our opinion, suit best for standard Windows applications.