Performance in PCMark 2004

PCMark04 benchmarks the HDD in four different modes: Windows XP Startup is the typical disk subsystem load at system startup; Application Loading is the disk activity at sequential starting-up and closing of six popular applications; File Copying measures the HDD performance when copying a set of files; the Hard Disk Drive Usage parameter reflects the disk activity in a number of popular applications. These four parameters are used to calculate the overall performance rating according to the following formula:

HDD Score= (XP Startup Trace x 120) + (Application Load Trace x 180) + (File Copy Trace x 28) + (General Usage x 265)

The HDD from Western Digital steps up on the top of the podium, the Hitachi occupying the second step of it. The drives from Fujitsu take last places again.

The Hitachi is the fastest at loading applications. On the other hand, it is a mere 0.04MB/s ahead of the Western Digital, so the two are roughly similar.

You can see the difference between the HDDs due to the spindle rotation speed again. Performance and power consumption are hardly compatible – you have to choose one at the expense of the other.

The Samsung wins this copying test. It did have very good copying results in the File-Copy Test, yet they hardly agree with the 1.5MB/s lead over the Hitachi we can see here. PCMark produces really odd results sometimes.

The Samsung is the best drive for General Usage. The Western Digital, which has won many of the previous tests, is only third here.

The HM250JI has the highest overall score, followed closely by the HTS542525K9SA00. The WD25000BEVS takes third place. The leading trio have similar scores as opposed to the two sluggish drives from Fujitsu.