Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 40 GB 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive

There are two technologies that make the DiamondMax Plus the screamer that it is: spindle speed and areal density. (For more information on these technologies, see our FAQ.) The DiamondMax Plus 40 boasts a spindle speed of 7,200 RPM, which is currently the fastest spindle speed for ATA-based hard drives (drives that utilize an IDE interface). The DiamondMax Plus 40 also has an areal density of 7.245 gigabits per square inch. With the ability to pack 7.245 Gb of data into a single square inch of hard drive media, the DiamondMax 40 can store 10.2 GB per platter; and since it has four platters, the DiamondMax 40 can hold over 40 GB of data. Why is this important? Because the spindle speed is a constant, the only way to get more data passing under the drive's read heads is to pack the data closer together; that way, the read heads can read more data on each rotation.

In our benchmark tests, we found the DiamondMax 40 delivered an average sequential-read speed of around 24.4 MB per second and a write speed of 17.3 MB per second. While the read speed is close to that of Seagate's Barracuda ATA II (another drive in its class), the write speed is faster by 1 MB per second. The DiamondMax Plus 40 also has an excellent read burst speed, which is a measurement for the amount of data the drive can pump from the 2 MB of onboard memory buffer (cache) across the UltraDMA 66 bus. Since this bus has a bandwidth limitation of 66 MB per second, the read burst speed won't be higher. We measured it at 58.8 MB per second, a full 10 MB per second faster than Seagate's Barracuda ATA II. CPU use was negligible at a relatively standard 3.3 percent. Only the random access time left us desiring more, as its 14.3-millisecond score was 1 millisecond slower than the Barracuda ATA II and upwards of 3 milliseconds slower than Quantum's last generation Fireball Plus hard drive. Fortunately, it didn't affect the DiamondMax Plus's other scores, such as the real-world copy test, which times the copying of a directory containing 644 MB of data (a typical CD's worth of data) to another directory on the same drive. The DiamondMax Plus 40 came in at 1 minute and 34 seconds, which was 30 seconds faster than Seagate and minutes faster than others, including last-generation drives from Quantum, IBM, and Fujitsu.

We found the performance of the Maxtor DiamondMax 40 to be first rate and the heat and noise to be minimal. This is an excellent combination for a 40 GB behemoth that delivers state-of-the-art hard-drive technology, unparalleled performance, and ultimate bragging rights. --Sean Cleveland

Pros:

• High areal density--largest drive in its class
• High data throughput
• Built on the latest drive technologies
• Runs quiet and cool

Cons:

• Slower random-access speeds