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 is the typical 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 the following 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 the article called PCMark04: Benchmark for Hard Disk Drives? 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.

Having an average result, the Fujitsu MHV2120BH finds a place in the middle of the Windows XP Startup diagram.

The Fujitsu MHV2120BH shows nothing exceptional in the Application Loading test, either. It is the least effective of all the participating 120GB hard drives and is only ahead of the Seagate ST9160821A.

The Fujitsu drive has the lowest File Copying score. That’s not what we’d want to have from it, of course.

Hard Disk Drive Usage is the only test of PCMark04’s in which the Fujitsu MHV2120BH has a good result. It takes the second place here.

In the diagram with the overall scores of the drives the Fujitsu MHV2120BH is deservedly placed the last but one. This agrees with the results of the previous four tests.