PCMark05
For these tests, we use RankDisk, an application developed and copyrighted by Intel. In our testing, we found RankDisk to be suitable for a neutral benchmark. RankDisk is used to record a trace of disk activity during usage of typical applications. These traces can then be replayed to measure the performance of disk operations for that usage.
RankDisk records disk access events using the device drivers and bypasses the file system and the operating system’s cache. This makes the measurement independent of the file system overhead or the current state of the operating system. In replaying traces, RankDisk always creates and operates on a new dummy file. This file is created in the same (or closest possible) physical location of the target hard disk. This allows the replaying of traces to be safe (does not destroy any existing files) and comparable across different systems. Due to the natural fragmentation of hard disks over time, they should be defragmented before running these tests.
The traces used for each test were created from real usage. The traces contain different amount of writing and reading on the disk; total ratio in the HDD test suite disk operations is 53% reads and 47% of writes.
The following input traces are used:
Windows XP Startup: This is the Windows XP start trace, which contains disk activities occurring at operating system start-up. The test is 90% reading and 10% writes. This trace contains no user activity.
Application Loading: This is a trace containing disk activities from loading various applications. It includes opening and closing of the following applications:
Microsoft® Word
Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 5
Windows® Media Player
3DMark®2001SE
Leadtek® Winfast® DVD
Mozilla Internet Browser
The application loading trace is 83% reads and 17% writes.
General Hard Disk Drive Usage: This trace contains disk activities from using several common applications.
These are:
Opening a Microsoft® Word document, performing grammar check, saving and closing
Compression and decompression using Winzip
Encrypting and decrypting a file using PowerCrypt
Scanning files for viruses using F-Secure® Antivirus.
Playing an MP3 file with Winamp
Playing a WAV file with Winamp
Playing a DivX video using DivX codec and Windows® Media Player
Playing a WMV video file using Windows® Media Player
Viewing pictures using Windows® Picture Viewer
Browsing the internet using Microsoft® Internet Explorer
Loading, playing and exiting a game using Ubisoft Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon
The General Usage trace is 60% reads and 40% writes.
Virus Scanning: Virus scanning is a critical task in today’s PC usage. As the major bottleneck of scanning viruses is in hard disk activity, it is reasonable to include virus scanning as a HDD test. The test consists of HDD activity of scanning 600MB of files for viruses. The Virus Scanning test is mostly disk reading (99.5%).
File Write: This trace contains disk activities from writing 680MB files on the hard disk and no read operations are involved in this test.
The Corsair units did well in PCMark, but fell a bit short of the OCZ Vertex 3, most likely due to tweaks OCZ does to the stock SandForce firmware.
I installed the 120 gb as my
I installed the 120 gb as my boot disk and am very happy with the speed. It really helps me with 3d models in Autodesk Inventor and Revit. I would recommend going for a higher capacity than I did. I’ve installed windows 7, autodesk factory design and autodesk building design suites and i only have about 6 – 7 gigs left. WIsh I went for the 240.
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It is highly recommended to
It is highly recommended to Install the latest firmware especially if you’re planning to run the drives in RAID.
Corsair Force 3/GT 3 1.3.3 Firmware
Allyn, I have the choice
Allyn, I have the choice between the 120gb Patriot Pyro for $182AUD or the 120gb Corsair Force 3 for $195AUD. What would you get at these price points?
Corsairs specs indicate
Corsairs specs indicate IOMeter 2008 was used for this test, and it’s important to note that 2008’s writes were a repeating pattern that is easily and fully compressible by the SandForce controller, meaning those specs were derived using fully compressible data.
http://www.aspectenterprises.com.au/