Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000: Terabyte Storage arrives on the Desktop
by Gary Key on March 19, 2007 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Storage
Feature Set: Hitachi 7K1000
The external design of the Hitachi 7K1000 is the same as the majority of the TK or K series drives. The drive is based on the industry standard 3.5" form factor platform and would normally have the pertinent part number and warranty information embossed on a white sticker on the top of the casing. However, our O.E.M. sample was graciously provided by Dell and does not include this information. The only other differences between the O.E.M. and retail units will be the inclusion of an accessory kit, HD Feature Tool software (that can be downloaded separately), and the obligatory retail packaging.
The Deskstar 7K1000 ships with the Serial ATA data and power connector along with a space for a 4-pin Molex power connector designed for use with older ATX power supplies. Our early press photos included the 4-pin Molex connector but it appears the inclusion of it will be at the discretion of the O.E.M. or distribution locality. The 32MB of cache memory and controller logic is located on the outer side of the PCB.
Hitachi offers their excellent DOS based HD Feature Tool that allows the user to view the specifics of the drive and change certain options such as S.M.A.R.T., AAM, Power Management, and read and write optimizations. Our drive arrived with Automatic Acoustic Management turned on and set to the quietest level. We were able to easily set different levels or turn off AAM altogether. We found in our limited acoustical testing there was not a real difference between the 128 and 256 setting. Performance was slightly affected with AAM implemented but we felt the benefits of having it turned on outweighed any performance impact.
Hard Disk Test Comparison and Features
The Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000 is the first 1TB drive to ship based upon manufacturer's specifications with a 750 GB offering scheduled for availability next quarter. Of course the actual capacity of the drive is 931.5 GB, but due to the way manufacturers report capacity the drive is considered to be a 1TB offering. This drive is also Hitachi's first 3.5-inch hard drive to use PMR technology. Additional 1TB versions for the Enterprise and DVR/Set-Top markets will be released later this year.
The 7K1000 features a 5-platter 10-head perpendicular magnetic recording design with rotational speeds at 7200rpm. The cache size has been increased to 32MB from the previous 16MB on the TK series. Hitachi includes their ramp load/unload, advanced low-power idle modes, and thermal-fly height control technologies. This drive series also supports Native Command Queuing and hot-swap capabilities. The Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000 drives ship with a three year warranty and additional specifications can be found here.
The Hitachi 7K1000 drive we are reviewing today will be compared directly against the Seagate ST3750640AS 750GB and WD WD1500AHFD 150GB drives in our limited benchmark test suite. We have also included the results of drives from our previous articles and will provide additional results of the 7K1000 in our upcoming 500GB roundup.
The external design of the Hitachi 7K1000 is the same as the majority of the TK or K series drives. The drive is based on the industry standard 3.5" form factor platform and would normally have the pertinent part number and warranty information embossed on a white sticker on the top of the casing. However, our O.E.M. sample was graciously provided by Dell and does not include this information. The only other differences between the O.E.M. and retail units will be the inclusion of an accessory kit, HD Feature Tool software (that can be downloaded separately), and the obligatory retail packaging.
The Deskstar 7K1000 ships with the Serial ATA data and power connector along with a space for a 4-pin Molex power connector designed for use with older ATX power supplies. Our early press photos included the 4-pin Molex connector but it appears the inclusion of it will be at the discretion of the O.E.M. or distribution locality. The 32MB of cache memory and controller logic is located on the outer side of the PCB.
Hitachi offers their excellent DOS based HD Feature Tool that allows the user to view the specifics of the drive and change certain options such as S.M.A.R.T., AAM, Power Management, and read and write optimizations. Our drive arrived with Automatic Acoustic Management turned on and set to the quietest level. We were able to easily set different levels or turn off AAM altogether. We found in our limited acoustical testing there was not a real difference between the 128 and 256 setting. Performance was slightly affected with AAM implemented but we felt the benefits of having it turned on outweighed any performance impact.
Hard Disk Test Comparison and Features
| Hard Drive Specifications | |||
| Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000 1000GB HDS721010KLA330 | Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 750GB ST3750640AS | Western Digital Raptor 150GB WD1500ADFD | |
| Manufacturer's Stated Capacity: | 1000.2GB (1 Terabyte) | 750GB | 150GB |
| Operating System Stated Capacity: | 931.5 GB | 698.6 GB | 139.73 GB |
| Interface: | SATA 3Gb/s | SATA 3Gb/s | SATA 1.5Gb/s |
| Rotational Speed: | 7,200 RPM | 7,200 RPM | 10,000 RPM |
| Cache Size: | 32 MB | 16 MB | 16 MB |
| Average Latency: | 4.17 ms (nominal) | 4.16 ms (nominal) | 2.99 ms (nominal) |
| Read Seek Time: | 8.5 ms / 14ms Silent | 11 ms | 4.6 ms |
| Number of Heads: | 10 | 8 | 4 |
| Number of Platters: | 5 | 4 | 2 |
| Power Draw Idle / Load: | 8.1W / 12.8W | 9.3W / 12.6W | 9.19W / 10.02W |
| Power Draw Silent I / L: | 4.3W / 9.9W | - | - |
| Command Queuing: | Native Command Queuing | Native Command Queuing | Native Command Queuing |
| Warranty: | 3 Year - Retail or OEM | 5 Year - Retail or OEM | 5 Year - Retail or OEM |
The Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000 is the first 1TB drive to ship based upon manufacturer's specifications with a 750 GB offering scheduled for availability next quarter. Of course the actual capacity of the drive is 931.5 GB, but due to the way manufacturers report capacity the drive is considered to be a 1TB offering. This drive is also Hitachi's first 3.5-inch hard drive to use PMR technology. Additional 1TB versions for the Enterprise and DVR/Set-Top markets will be released later this year.
The 7K1000 features a 5-platter 10-head perpendicular magnetic recording design with rotational speeds at 7200rpm. The cache size has been increased to 32MB from the previous 16MB on the TK series. Hitachi includes their ramp load/unload, advanced low-power idle modes, and thermal-fly height control technologies. This drive series also supports Native Command Queuing and hot-swap capabilities. The Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000 drives ship with a three year warranty and additional specifications can be found here.
The Hitachi 7K1000 drive we are reviewing today will be compared directly against the Seagate ST3750640AS 750GB and WD WD1500AHFD 150GB drives in our limited benchmark test suite. We have also included the results of drives from our previous articles and will provide additional results of the 7K1000 in our upcoming 500GB roundup.
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74 Comments
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mino - Tuesday, March 20, 2007 - link
Sorry Jared, didn't saw you comment...Otherwise, thanks for a nice review. Especially that explanation of AAM.
Many guys ask me reguraly why I don't buy non-AAM drives...
yacoub - Monday, March 19, 2007 - link
51C is a bit warm for a HD, no? I wonder how that impacts its life expectancy...yyrkoon - Tuesday, March 20, 2007 - link
To be a bit more specific, I think it was google who did testing of enterprise type drives, and did a bunch of testing, I'm sure google will turn something up ;)yyrkoon - Monday, March 19, 2007 - link
According to multiple studies done, HDD life expectancy is not affected by heat. I'm sure there are situations, where you literally have parts melting, that could be problematic, but there you have it.Justin Case - Wednesday, March 21, 2007 - link
Yes and no. A temperature around 50-60 ºC will not slowly "cook" the drive, but if it rises above a certain level (ex., 120º C), it can kill it instantly. Fast drives with a lot of platters can get hot very quickly, and if they're mounted on plastic rails (poor thermal conductors) with poor air circulation, their life expectancy is probably less than a day. I've seen it happen more than once.yyrkoon - Thursday, March 22, 2007 - link
Boiling point of water is around ~191F-212F, 120C is 248F, a CPU could not handle this temperature, what makes you think a HDD could ? Most consumer grade electronic do not take kindly to anything hottter than ~70C-80C. The only exception I can think of in a computer, might possibly be a graphics card, and even then, I personally would not expect it to last long as these temperatures.Most computers will not / should not exceed ~40C-50C ambient case temperature, and a lot (mine included) run much cooler. It is not uncommon for my CPU to run sub 100F (winter time), and sub 120F (summer time) under a load. Most of the time, the ambient case temperature of my case is easily under 105F.
Anyhow, the whole point here is: practise common sense with your electronics concerning heat. 120C is obviously WAY too hot for a HDD, as well as most consumer grade electronics. This also doesnt negate the fact that several studies have been done in enterprise envoirnments, to prove that heat ( again, within reason ) is not a factor in HDD falure. The whole point of these studies were to prove ( or disprove ) the point of buying enterprise grade hard drives vs. regular HDDs.
I have always wondered why you guys ( who ever claims that HDD fails often ) buy new HDDs with your new system, now I think I know ;)
phusg - Tuesday, March 20, 2007 - link
Please refer us to these multiple studies. AFAIK the only one that corroborates this is the google one, which you mention in a later post. Also I'd question this one study's relevance to home use, as not everyone leaves their drives running 24/7 as google does. My personal feeling is that repeated expansion and contraction damages drives most, and obviously if the drive is running hotter then the expansion will be greater and so will the damage to the longevity of the drive.yyrkoon - Thursday, March 22, 2007 - link
What you're reffering to is known as 'Hysteresus'. Excuse the bad spelling, if I misspelled that (it is not a word I used often). Anyhow, this is the effect, that rapid cooling / heating has on an object over time, and the object eventually becomming brittle because of this.As for the refferal, use google. Do not expect everyone to do your homework for you ;) However, I can tell you that, I personally have many HDDs, some of which are over 12 years old, have seen a lot of heat in their time, and are fully functional. One of which is a 80MB Maxtor . . .
Spoelie - Tuesday, March 20, 2007 - link
According to my own experience that's not really true. Last summer I had trouble with my main OS drive (a Seagate 7200.8 160GB) where windows would slow to a grind, there were multiple IO errors in the event log, then DMA would switch off and corrupt data showed up on the disc. I thought it died to be honest.However, before throwing it out I tried upping the cooling. I had 3 Seagate HDs in the HD chamber in front without intake fans, and they were incredibly warm to the touch. Directing a 120mm 800rpm fan over them to test immediately solved all issues, and the drive was as reliable again as ever (no permanent damage even). They're now very cool to the touch. Kinda obvious when I think about it, in a normal case the drive makes metal to metal contact and the HD bay itself functions as a large heat sink, while in the Antec there is no contact at all and the drive is "suspended in the air" on rubber grommets.
It was a particular hot summer period but still, heat shouldn't be ignored.
Gary Key - Monday, March 19, 2007 - link
It is well within the drives operating range and remember the temp dropped to 43C once we turned the front fan on in the case. I was expecting it to run warmer actually.