Aug 08
Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD
150GB
10,000 RPM
16MB Cache
Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
$194.99
Click Here for Product Details
Pros: this drive is SOOO fast, ultra quick everything, easy install, the smaller SATA interface and power cable make for much more room inside case and better air flow
Cons: it’s noticeable louder than the Seegate Barracuda it replaced, the included drive copy software leaves much to be desired, you are better off with say Norton Ghost
August 8th, 2007 at 6:57 am
I plugged two of these into my NVRaid equipped A8N-SLI Deluxe motherboard and have had no problems at all. The performance I’m getting out of them is truly stellar and I havn’t had any glitches at all.
August 8th, 2007 at 6:58 am
EVERYONE NOTE!! THIS DRIVE IS NOT FOR RAID 0!!! The drive was intended as an alternative to RAID 0. You get better performance than any RAID 0 setup with a single drive (see tomshardware). It gives you all the conveniences of a super fast drive, without the lack of safety like you have in a two drive raid system. You don’t have to worry about one of the drives failing and losing all your data.
If you buy two of these for a RAID setup, you’re an idiot. I promise, you will be more than happy if you keep this drive in a standalone setup.
August 8th, 2007 at 6:58 am
Ok i hate to debate raid 0 because if your dumb enough to think it wont make your computer faster then well you dont deserve the speed increase. If raid 0 doesnt up your avarage system performance then you have something else on your computer restricting the flow of data sure on boot up it will take a few extra sec to initalize your raid aray but so what. Large file transfers are way faster but so is runnnig a game server or just loading any thing although be ware of the extra heat generated by runing 2 raptors side by side
August 8th, 2007 at 6:59 am
The “lack” of the 3.0Gb interface does NOT hinder performance in any way considering the fact that this drive can never come close to saturating the SATA150 interface, so disregard the previous user’s commentary.
It is hard to fault this drive, because it doesn’t have any. Anyone buying this knows that they are sacrificing storage space for performance. The lower storage space also isn’t a surprise because this is intended for Enterprise/server environments, which spread data across more drives (smaller and faster) to ensure data access speeds and redundancy.
Buy this drive if you want to load apps, games, OS, etc. faster and then buy a 300+GB 7200RPM drive for secondary storage.
August 8th, 2007 at 7:01 am
Dont have the drive but plan to get soon to replace my 36G Raptor. For those saying raid doesnt help in real time, try subscribing to MaximumPC and reading their reviews, raid0 helps in synthetic AND real world benchmarks, ESPECIALLY if you image games.
August 8th, 2007 at 7:03 am
You simply cannot go wrong in purchasing this drive. I have worked with hundreds of hard drives overy the past 19 years and this little Raptor is the king of world. I can’t wait for WD to release one with a larger capacity
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
August 8th, 2007 at 7:03 am
Super Fast boot and application launch times. My xp boot time went from 2 1/2 min (from power up until drive activity stopped) to just under a minute and a half. got rid of a big bottle neck in my system.
runs a tad warm, but I put it in the bottom drive bay of my antec p180 case, so it’s gets great airflow. Yes it’s pricey, but I remember paying 500 for my first one gig drive, so go figure.
to address the size limitation I moved my browser cache and my documents folder to my second hard drive. The raptor only has OS, apps and games on it.
August 8th, 2007 at 7:04 am
This is most certainly an increadible drive, I have never felt such speed on my PC before. Windows boot time dropped by over half. Applications open seemingly instantly. After I get some more upgrades for my system, I will definately be getting another one of these. Just a fair warning, they don’t lie when they say that this is an OEM drive, there is no documentation, nor an included SATA cable, I’m only lucky I have a few spares. On another note as to how satisfied a costmer I am: I live in California nd must pay a 7.75% sales tax on items. Even though it meant paying a little more, I went with newegg on my ram(after taxes this haddrive was still cheaper) because thus far I have only had good experiences with you.
August 8th, 2007 at 7:04 am
Excellent seek time, speed, and cache. The clear windows aids in going beyond your average mod. From a tech stand point, if you have this drive then your most likely running a gig or more of RAM. Turn off your page file completely and you’ll notice that XP will now load in “6 sec!”
August 8th, 2007 at 7:05 am
It’s no secret that this drive is fast. Some reviews indicate that it’s the fastest on the market, even considering 15K SCSI drives. I haven’t benchmarked it myself, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the review was right, based on my experience. It is also surprisingly quiet compared to drives in its performance class (10K and 15K SCSI drives). If you want a really quiet drive, however, this is not for you. Even inside a Smart Drive enclosure, it makes noise. The price point is very reasonable.
August 8th, 2007 at 7:05 am
I use these on my Gentoo Linux and Windows XP machines. Please take the info given in these reviews with a grain of salt. There are many poeple claiming to have a high understanding, but have shown they know very little and just repeat incorrect info from other sources. Please do your own real research on SATA1&2, and the disadvantages and advantages of RAID0 and its effects. Find out if it will actually benifit you for your use. Also SATA1 is plenty unless you plan on building a large array and only then you might approach the 150 speed. So dont worry this is a great drive and you will be happy with it.
August 8th, 2007 at 7:06 am
Hesitated a lot due to number of reviews describing Raptor as a noise beast… Guys, these drives are dead silent. Cannot hear any spins or clicks. I even opened the case and stuck my ear inside… Nothing! I do not know if it is my antec p150 case (standard silicone washers!) or the fact that NCQ is enabled (my friends states there is less movement of the actuator.) I feel sorry for the customers with noisy raptors (Ha!) Regarding the fact they run hot, I am sorry to disagree… Again, maybe it’s the case. My advice: if you have enough money to buy a Mercedes, please get a decent garage…. I recomend antec p150… One more, I do not understand how they do it, but they got to me in 22 hours from the time I ordered with ground shipping, and that is because the UPS guy knows I am not at home and came at 6 PM otherwise it would’ve taken only 16…. Newegg rules too much. I don’t even feel like trying other companies. I swear, if they sold food, I wouldn’t go to supermarket anymore
August 8th, 2007 at 7:06 am
Lightning fast compared to what I have been used to- a RAID 0 setup of IDE drives. OUTSTANDING Western Digital support via their 1-800 line. The tech was Allison and answered my call within a few minutes. She listened to my issue and informed me I had a bad Raptor 1500 drive. No hassles with Newegg.com RMA phone service- I shipped it out on Friday.
August 8th, 2007 at 7:07 am
Since so many have purchased this drive as their dedicated gaming drive (and using Battlefield 2 as a basis), I figured I’d note some of my experiences… Typically, depending on BF2 map, it takes this drive a mere 14-18 seconds to load a map compared to over 60 seconds on an old 7200rpm IDE drive. This is critical in first rounds where early spawners get their choice of any vehicle or a HUGE head start when flag rushing. As such, buying this drive for gaming is akin to buying a significant gaming advantage for yourself.
August 8th, 2007 at 7:07 am
With my “dream machine” finsihed i score a little above 14000 on 3dmark06. All games at 1900×1200 with everything turned up makes and avg on all games 100-120fps plus. These drives make my system boot, respond, and load, faster than i could ever imagine, or do so with any other drive on the market excpet scsi of course but that is for servers and not the average user or gamers. This is a must for gamers or the “X” version.
August 8th, 2007 at 7:08 am
These drives are quite fast good read write speeds. I have two running in Raid0 nice audio video recording ripping very smooth. Windows loads really quick. all my programs seem to be loading very rapidly. I Like the fact that you have an option with the power connections if you are installing 3 or 4 drives you don’t have to run out to buy an extra connector. they have a five year warranty!!!!
My drives are grinding coffee or nuts or something. What is all that noise coming out of my very expensive computer? Oh yeah it’s my very expensive hard drives. Even when I’m not working one of the drive makes this unnerving grinding gurgling sound. Is it me or is anyone else experiancing this. I ran the WD error utility the drive check out OK. I don’t recommend using them for a Media Center PC.
I would still buy them dispite the noise. They have a 16mb c 10,000 rpm.150 gigs. I wish they would make them larger say maybe 300 gigs.I know if they grind to a stop within 5-years WD will replace them with rebuilts. what a deal.Did i mention that newegg got them to me in 2 days.
August 8th, 2007 at 7:08 am
Biggest raptor yet, and fastest with 16mb cache. As soon as I was done building my computer, from the time I pressed the power button to the time I was totally installing Windows® took 23 minutes. Wow. Runs cooler than some of the caviar® drives and is also very quiet despite its high speed. Also, I know Starcraft is old, but it is the best game of all time. It took less then 1 minute to fully install Starcraft and the expansion pack, counting the time it took to eject and replace the disk. My PC boots in about 25 seconds and I notice very fast loads in Doom3 and BF2. I dont even see the loading screen for starcraft.