Verdict: We can't help feeling that Western Digital is being held back by its platter technology
We've waited some time for the next generation of Western Digital's Caviar, one of the oldest hard disk brands. Unfortunately, we'll have to wait a little bit longer, because the SE16 isn't a revolutionary change to the Caviar design; it does improve on its predecessor in some important areas, but the core technology remains the same.
The primary upgrades to the SE16 are the doubled amount of cache, up to 16MB, and a S-ATA II interface. What hasn't changed is the aerial data density of the platters, which, given it's a 250GB drive, are still 83GB each. While a big cache and high RPM speeds look good on the box, in testing we've always found that data density makes more of a difference to performance. Considering that the top 320GB model in the standard S-ATA SE range has more than 100GB per platter, it's strange that the SE16 has such below-par data density.
Testing the SE16 with Simpli Software's HD Tach 3 RW revealed the effect of the low data density. On average, the SE16 is marginally faster than the standard Caviar SE, particularly when writing, but it still averaged a significantly lower throughput than the Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 and the Samsung SpinPoint P120S. Looking at the graphical representation of the SE16's performance next to the Samsung, the SE16 was consistently between five and 10MB/sec slower across its entire surface. The average access time of 13.5ms was also only, well, average.
Synthetic benchmarks aren't everything, though, and the picture certainly improved when we turned to our Far Cry and Paint Shop Pro tests. As with the Samsung , we decided to give the SE16 the best possible test platform by using our Asus A8N-SLI-based graphics test rig. This is based on the Nvidia nForce4 SLI chipset, so it supports S-ATA II.
The SE16's image editing score of 1.85 was extremely impressive, particularly as, when fitted with a 10,000rpm Western Digital Raptor, the same test rig scored 1.76. The SE16's 16MB of cache, S-ATA II and Native Command Queuing (NCQ) abilities obviously offer some benefits.
However, this good result was overshadowed by the Samsung's score of 1.92 in the same test. The SE16 did manage to equal the Samsung in our Far Cry level-loading test, and outpaced the Raptor by 20 per cent. Although the SE16's performance is nothing to be sneezed at, it isn't quite the showcase of S-ATA II power that Western Digital might have hoped for.
Western Digital has made considerable improvements in terms of noise output but the SE16 is still mid-table when it comes to sound. With an output of 28dBA when idle, and up to 33dBA when seeking, it has considerably higher noise specs than the Samsung. The SE16 was only slightly the more vociferous of the pair, but the Samsung is still the drive we'd rather have in a PC in which every decibel counts, such as a lounge-dwelling media PC.
One area in which the SE16 does excel is in its MTBF. Rated at 1,000,000 hours, on average, this drive is almost half as likely to fail as most mainstream models. This is one advantage of the tried-and-tested platter and head configuration.
CONCLUSION
We can't help feeling that Western Digital is being held back by its platter technology. Doubling the cache and adding S-ATA II to an antiquated 83GB-per-platter design seem like quick fixes, rather than a real upgrade. Why wasn't the SE16 launched with the 107GB-per-platter density of the 320GB version of the regular SE? Instead, the SE16 is just a slightly faster member of the Caviar range.
The SE16 is more like a family home in Bermondsey than a luxury loft in Surrey Quays. There's a better home for your data, with faster performance, lower noise levels and better value for money, in the shape of the Samsung SpinPoint P120S.
