Performance in PCMark04

We once again make use of PCMark04 to see a fuller picture of the performance of tested hard disk drives. This program benchmarks the performance of the drive in four different modes: Windows XP Startup reflects the disk subsystem load at system startup; Application Loading is the disk activity at sequential starting-up and closing of six popular applications; File Copying measures the HDD performance when copying a set of files; Hard Disk Drive Usage reflects the disk activity in a number of popular applications. These four parameters are used to calculate the overall performance rating according to this formula:

HDD Score= (XP Startup Trace x 120) + (Application Load Trace x 180) + (File Copy Trace x 28) + (General Usage x 265)

You can refer to this article for details about the benchmark.

We ran each test ten times and averaged the results which were then represented in tables and diagrams that follow below.

Unfortunately, we didn’t perform this test when we were testing the Hitachi 7K60 60GB (HTS726060M9AT00), so only four devices take part in it.

The Seagate Momentus 7200.1 100GB ATA (ST910021A) comes out on top in the Windows XP Startup test and is followed by the Hitachi 7K100 100GB (HTS721010G9SA00) which outperforms its SATA-interfaced opponent from Seagate. The Hitachi 7K100 60GB (HTS721060G9AT00) has the lowest result here.

The Hitachi 7K100 100GB (HTS721010G9SA00) beats the Seagate Momentus 7200.1 100GB ATA (ST910021A) in the Application Loading test. The 7K100 60GB (HTS721060G9AT00) is third, and the Seagate Momentus 7200.1 100GB SATA (ST910021AS) has the lowest result.

The File Copying diagram shows that the Seagate Momentus 7200.1 100GB ATA (ST910021A) regains the top position, pushing the Hitachi 7K100 100GB (HTS721010G9SA00) down to the second place. The Seagate Momentus 7200.1 100GB SATA (ST910021AS) is only third, however. The 7K100 60GB (HTS721060G9AT00) has the lowest performance here and is considerably slower than the other participating drives.

Hitachi’s drives are better than Seagate’s in this HDD Usage test, the 7K100 100GB (HTS721010G9SA00) and 7K100 60GB (HTS721060G9AT00) models taking the first and second place, respectively. The Seagate Momentus 7200.1 100GB SATA (ST910021AS) is third and the Seagate Momentus 7200.1 100GB ATA is fourth and they are both far behind the Hitachi drives.

The last diagram shows the overall HDD scores. The Hitachi 7K100 100GB (HTS721010G9SA00) is unrivalled, its main opponent Seagate Momentus 7200.1 100GB ATA (ST910021A) occupying the second position. Next goes the SATA-interfaced drive from Seagate; the Hitachi 7K100 60GB (HTS721060G9AT00) has the lowest performance score in PCMark04.