PCSTATS     
[X]   Directory of
Guides & Reviews

Beginners Guides
Motherboards by Brand
Weekly Newsletter
Archived Newsletters

+70 MORE Beginner GUIDES....
IBM DeskStar 60GXP 40GB HDD Review
IBM DeskStar 60GXP 40GB HDD Review - PCSTATS
BM has been making some of the fastest drives in the market for the last little while now and their 60 GXP line is no different.
Filed under: Hard Drives/SSD Published:  Author: 
External Mfg. Website: IBM Feb 11 2002   C. Sun  
Home > Reviews > Hard Drives/SSD > IBM DeskStar 60GXP

IBM DeskStar 60GXP 40GB HDD Review


IBM has been making some of the fastest drives in the market for the last little while now and their 60 GXP line is no different. Today, we're going to be looking at one of the smaller drives out there in the market, IBM's 40 GB DeskStar 60 GXP.

Yes, 40GB is considered small relatively now. In fact, it's the smallest capacity drive anyone makes now! Despite it's name, the 60GXP is not inferior to the older 75GXP's. The number in the name simply implies the largest capacity of each hard drive product line.

The IBM 40 GB DeskStar 60 GXP uses two 20 GB platters, has a rotational speed of 7200 RPM and uses a the Ultra100 interface. Even though I'm not one for the "quiet PC", the one thing that irked many 75 GXP users was the noise level of the drive. Sure it's faster then everything else in it's class, but it was really too noisy to tolerate. The 60GXP models are much better in that regard.

IBM Deskstar 40GB Deskstar 60 GXP
  • MFG: IBM
  • Model No: 07N6659
  • Est Drive Cost: $90 USD
  • Cost/GB: ~$ 2.25 USD

Parameter IBM DeskStar 60 GXP
- Capacity 40 GB
- Areal Density 20GB/platter
- Interface Ultra ATA/100
- No. of Platters 2
- No. of Heads 4
- Buffer Size 2 MB
- Rotational Speed 7200 RPM
- Acoustic Noise 3.0 bels
- Avg. Rotational Latency 4.17
- Internal Data Rate (max) 494 Mb/s
- Avg. Seek Time (Read) 8.5 ms
- Avg. Track-to-Track
Seek Time (Read)
1.2 ms
Approx cost/GB:

$2.25

EST unit cost:

$90 USD

The DeskStar doesn't really stand out now, but when it was first released it was quite a bit more advanced then it's competitors.

Still, let's see how this thing performs! The HDD was attached to the VIA 8233 southbridge which has native support for Ultra/100 drives.

test system specs:

computer hardware:

processor: amd athlonxp 2000+
clock speed: 1.67 ghz
motherboard: asus a7v266-e
chipset: via kt266a
videocard:

asus v8200ti500 pure

network card:

allied telesyn at-2700tx 10/100

memory:

2x 256mb corsair xms pc2400 ddr ram

hard drive: ibm deskstar 60 gxp 40 gb hdd
cdrom: 16x pioneer dvd-rom
floppy:

mitsumi 1.44mb

heatsink: foxconn generic
powersupply: antec 400w

software setup:

windows 98se
via 4 in 1 4.37
detonatorxp 22.80

benchmarks:

sisoft sandra 2002 pro
hd tach 2.61
winbench 99

Faster then the reference, it's not really a shock. IBM's have always made pretty fast drives.

HDTach 2.61

IBM DeskStar 60 GXP

Access time (ms) 13.8 ms

Read burst speed (mbps)

Over 80MB/s
Read speed max (kps) 41618 kps
Read speed min (kps) 15447 kps
Read speed avg (kps) 30781.7 kps
CPU utilization 9.7%

The DeskStar 60 GXP doesn't really do too well in the HDTach scores. A slow 13.8 ms access time isn't really characteristic of IBM. It bursts over 80 MB/s which isn't bad, however, average read speed is quite slow at 30781kps and the CPU utilization is very high at 9.7%!

No background applications were running and the hard drive was defragged before the tests.

WinBench 99
IBM DeskStar 60 GXP
Disk Transfer Rate
- Beginning: 36500 KB/s
- End: 21300 KB/s
Disk Access Time: 11.5 ms
CPU Utilization: 5.50%

While the scores the IBM DeskStar 60GXP pumps out with Winbench99 are respectable, they're now easily overshadowed by newer drives. The CPU utilization in Winbench99 is high also at 5.5%.

IBM have always been considered top of the line, hence their price premium over other manufacturers. In general the drives are really worth it now unless you want the IBM name.

The 40GB IBM DeskStar 60 GXP is a decent performer in its class but unfortunately other hard drives are just as fast, and less expensive per/GB. Hopefully IBM's new 120 GXP line of drives can recapture some of their old glory back.


 

Contents of Article: IBM DeskStar 60GXP

 
Hardware Sections 


 
PCSTATS Network Features Information About Us Contact
FrostyTech
PCSTATS Newsletter
Tech Glossary
Technology WebSite Listings
News Archives
(Review RSS Feed)
Site Map
PCstats Wallpaper
About Us
Privacy Policy
Advertise on PCSTATS

How's Our Driving?
© Copyright 1999-2023 www.pcstats.com All rights reserved. Privacy policy and Terms of Use.