Got my new HD103SJ just before the holiday and pretty much finished installing everything and copying files etc. This is my mini-review.
Did some crystalmark comparison to see how much an upgrade this would make from the HD510LJ I was replacing, also throwing in my storage drive (WD15EARS) for good measure:
........... HD501LJ ........... WD15EARS ...... HD103SJ (AAM disabled)
........... Read Write ..... Read . Write ..... Read . Write
Seq..... 85.32 85.78 .... 66.20 . 65.23 .... 145.40 143.30
512K... 38.06 50.19 .... 21.80 . 38.19 .... 50.06 65.04
4K...... 0.544 1.035 ..... 0.258 . 0.759 .... 0.603 1.206
QD32.. 0.651 1.025 .... 0.421 . 0.748 .... 0.749 1.222
The new drive cut down my boot time by some 10 seconds with Tiny7. I always make a separate 32 GB first partition for OS and apps, since drives are faster in the beginning of the disk.
My HD103SJ is noticeably less hot than the HD501LJ, it also has less vibration and spin whine. Seeks were louder at default with AAM disabled and very noticeable even from within a Scythe Silent Drive, constant ticking sounds when torrent was running.
With AAM set to quiet, seeks are only noticeable from the HD103SJ if I put my head next to the computer, they are unaudiable from 0.5 meter away. This with the drive in Scythe Silent Drive enclosure. Now I can run torrent without annoyance.
So, for me AAM made a clear difference.