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1 2 3 4 NextJuly 14, 2005 by Devon
Cooke
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Product
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Samsung SpinPoint P120 SP2004C
200GB, 7200 RPM SATA
Hard drive |
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Manufacturer
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Samsung |
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Market Price
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~US$110 |
Jan 30, 2006 POSTSCRIPT: SP2504C 250GB HDD
Samsung's SpinPoint P80 line of hard drives has been an SPCR favorite for some
time now, but of late it has been looking a bit long in tooth. The maximum capacity
of the P80 series — 160 GB — doesn't compare to the 300, 400, and
even 500 GB models available from other manufacturers. The limited capacity
is a function of platter density; the 80 GB platters that the P80 is based on are
quickly becoming obsolete as the industry embraces higher areal densities.
The P120 series, which pushes the maximum capacity to 250 GB, is
a welcome addition to Samsung's hard drive offerings.
At present, only the 200GB model appears to be in widespread circulation, but
hopefully the larger model should become more readily available soon. Although the primary model is meant
to be the SATA-II version, a PATA version is also available (and for $20 cheaper).
The real question, though, is not whether the drive can deliver more capacity
but whether it can do so at the same level of noise we have come to expect from
Samsung's older drives.
From the outside, the P120 looks no different from the older P80 line.
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| FEATURE & BRIEF |
COMMENT |
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100GB/125GB Formatted Capacity Per Disk
|
No, that's not a misprint. "Disk" is a more proper term
for what is often called a "platter". These listed disk capacities
suggest that both the 200 and 250 GB models have two platters.
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Serial ATA 3.0 Gbps Interface Support
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Also known as SATA-II. |
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SATA Native Command Queuing Feature Set
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Included in the support
for SATA 3.0 Gbps. |
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Device Initiated SATA Power Management
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Sounds interesting, but
no details are given. |
| Staggered Spin-up
Support |
Another SATA feature;
for use in RAID. |
|
High Speed Dual Digital Signal Processor (DSP) Based Architecture
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A long-time feature that
shows up even on Samsung's 5,400 RPM models. |
|
ATA S.M.A.R.T. Compliant
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Standard. |
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ATA Automatic Acoustic Management Feature Set
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Crucial for reducing
seek noise. |
| ATA 48-bit Address
Feature Set |
Required to support high
capacities. |
| ATA Streaming Feature
Set (Optional) |
AKA ATA-7. Most useful
for use in stand-alone applications, such as DVRs. |
| ATA Device Configuration
Overlay Feature Set |
Used for modifying the
apparent features supported by the drive, for security or information hiding
purposes. |
| NoiseGuard™ |
A series of technical
improvements that Samsung has decided to trademark as being good for drive
noise. |
| SilentSeek™ |
Supposedly different
from AAM, although from the marketing description it seems to work in the
same way. Samsung claims it does not impact performance. |
SPECIFICATIONS
The specifications below are specific to the model that we examined. Capacity,
cache size, platter number, interface, and even performance vary from model
to model even within a single product line. Acoustics and power dissipation
also vary depending on the number of platters in the drive; smaller capacity
drives tend to have fewer platters, and tend to produce less noise and use less
power.
There was some confusion determining the number of platters. The Samsung USA
web site lists the SP2004C as a single platter, which is implausible given that
current drive technology tops out at around 133 GB / platter. A call to their
customer service served to confuse the matter even further: I was told that
SATA technology had made platters (and read/write heads) obsolete, proving that
my question had not been properly understood.
It is most likely that both the 200 and 250 GB models have two platters apiece.
The formatted capacity per disk is listed (in the features, not
the specifications) as either 100 or 125 GB, which corresponds to exactly half
the capacity of the two models. This means that the difference between the two
drives is not the number of platters or heads, but the data capacity of the platters
themselves. .
| HDD Model |
Samsung SpinPoint P120 SP2004C
|
| Capacity |
200 GB
|
| Cache |
8 MB
|
| Platters |
2
|
| Rotation Speed |
7,200 RPM
|
| Form Factor |
3.5"
|
| Interface |
SATA 3.0 Gbps
|
| Average Seek |
8.9 ms
|
| Start/Stop cycles (at 40°C) |
50,000
|
| Operating Temperature |
0 - 60°C
|
| Power Consumption: Idle / Seek |
7.5 / 9.5 W
|
| Acoustics: Idle / Seek |
2.5 / 2.8 Bels
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