Performance in PCMark 2004

PCMark04 benchmarks drives 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; the Hard Disk Drive Usage parameter reflects the disk activity in a number of popular applications. These four parameters are used to calculate the overall performance rating using the following formula:

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

Curiously enough, it is the Hitachi 7K200 that takes less time than the others to boot the OS up. It even outperforms the Seagate 7200.10! As for the Seagate 7200.7, it is slower than almost every 2.5” 7200rpm drive, being barely ahead of the Seagate 7200.1. The HDDs with lower spindle rotation speeds take two last places.

The Hitachi 7K200 is in the lead again when loading applications. It is quite far ahead of both 3.5” HDDs from Seagate. The Fujitsu MHW2 BJ is surprisingly slow, probably due to some flaws in the firmware algorithms. Next go the 7200rpm drives with low recording density. The HDDs with low spindle rotation speeds are the slowest.

The Hitachi 7K200 triumphs again. The results could have been predicted basing on the previous tests, but we’d like to note the good performance of the Fujitsu MHY2 BH – it outperformed both 2.5” 7200rpm HDDs with low recording density.

The leader doesn’t change. The other 7200rpm drives have similar results irrespective of the form-factor. The Seagate 7200.1 is the only exception, yet it is also faster than the HDDs with lower spindle rotation speeds.

Of course, it is the Hitachi 7K200 that has the highest overall score. It is followed by the Seagate 7200.10 and Fujitsu MHW2 BJ. The HDDs with low spindle rotation speeds cannot leave last places in this test.