Performance in FC-Test
For this test two 32GB partitions are created on the disk and formatted in NTFS and then in FAT32. After that a file-set is created. It is then read from the disk, copied within the same partition and then copied into another partition. The time taken to perform these operations is measured and the speed of the disk is calculated. The Windows and Programs file-sets consist of a large number of small files whereas the other three patterns (ISO, MP3, and Install) include a few large files each, the ISO pattern having the largest files.
We’d like to note that the copying test is indicative of the drive’s behavior under complex load. In fact, the HDD is working with two threads (one for reading and one for writing) when copying files.
FC-Test produces too many numbers, so we will only discuss the NTFS data in the Install, ISO and Programs patterns. You can use the links below to view the full results:
Interestingly, Seagate’s HDDs do not show their superb linear speeds in this test even with large ISO files. Their speeds are very slow. WD takes the three top places, the 2TB Caviar Green being as fast as the Caviar Black.
Seagate wins the read test, though. The new models with higher-density platters are not as faster with large files as we might have expected, but they are very good with small files, unlike the old 1TB model. The 2TB WD Caviar Green has a lower growth of speed relative to the 1TB model, too. It is, however, ahead of the Caviar Black with large files.
The speed of copying is largely determined by firmware algorithms and Western Digital is good here. Take note that its drives deliver similar performance irrespective of the spindle rotation speed or recording density. Seagate’s products show a steady growth of speed but we are not sure if it is due to the increased recording density or a progress in firmware algorithms.