WD VelociRaptor 300GB

Western Digital says it has blurred the lines between drive classes with the release of the VelociRaptor, the latest generation of its Raptor high-speed hard disks. The 300GB drive is targeted as much at enthusiasts as professionals and holds twice as much as the most recent Raptor while outperforming it: while spinning at the same 10,000RPM, the VelociRaptor benchmarks about 35 percent faster, the company claims.

Unusually, the new drive also abandons the normal preference towards full-size, 3.5-inch hard drives by switching to a 2.5-inch disk; the switch lets Western Digital surround the VelociRaptor with a passive heatsink that safely cools the drive inside a hot computer case. The disk also modernizes the Raptor with a Serial ATA II connection and 16MB of cache to cut down on unnecessary hard drive access.

The hard drive ships as an add-in for Macs, Windows PCs, and most other SATA-capable computers in mid-May for $300. Alienware is slated as the first PC maker to offer the drive and will give buyers the option of equipping the Area-51 ALX with the VelociRaptor in late April. Up to two drives will be available in a RAID 0 stripe for even faster performance.

By Electronista Staff

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gadgets, upgrades/storage, Western Digital, VelociRaptor