Native Command Queing Support

The Western Digital RaptorX WD1500AHFD HDD's specifications include support for Native Command Queuing (NCQ). The benefits of NCQ have been discussed previously, but in essence NCQ allows the hard drive to retrieve data more efficiently off the disk when multiple reads are involved. If you would like to read about the benefits of NCQ, check out the Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-9 motherboard review where we go into depth on the technique.

WD SecureConnect Serial ATA Cable

The Western Digital RaptorX WD1500AHFD includes the companies $9.99 beefy blue WD SecureConnect Serial ATA cable. Anyone who has used a Serial ATA hard drive knows well how flimsy the connectors can be if bent at the socket. The SecureConnect cable (which is sold separately) is said to be 500% firmer than the average SATA cable. With the two large plastic inserts at the end of the cable, there is no way it can come lose from the drive accidentally.

The WD SecureConnect cable doesn't supply power to the hard drive, so remember to plug in a standard molex power connector as well. We've been using the SecureConnect cable around the PCSTATS labs for around half a year, they certainly feel a lot sturdier than regular Serial ATA cables and are much less susceptible to damage, which is always nice.

There's little doubt that the Western Digital RaptorX WD1500AHFD HDD is a very pretty HDD with its clear plastic top. However there is something else to consider. The MTBF rating of the WD1500AH FD is 600,000 hours (68.5 years) while the other Raptors have a MTBF of 1.2 million hours (137 years).

The RaptorX WD1500AHFD comes with a five year warranty and knowing WD, you'll be well taken care of when you have problems. RMA and support is an absolute breeze.

Western Digital Support and Software Utilities

When it comes to a device as complex as a hard drive, it is not if it will fail, rather when. Like all the hard drive manufacturers, Western Digital has well developed easy to use service and support options. From accessible software to a completing an RMA process within five minutes, you can even give Western Digital a call if there are problems.

Having RMA'ed hard drives to every major manufacturer, I can say that Western Digital's level of customer service is excellent. Incidently, if it comes time to RMA a hard drive and you have selected an 'advanced RMA,' Western Digital even goes to the trouble of including a return address sticker with the replacement drive. A couple of support emails are also sent with the latter informing users that the replacement drive has been received by WD.

Another handy bit of kit is the Lifeguard Tools CD, let's run through what that does next.

LIfeguard Tools Software

The Western Digital RaptorX WD1500AHFD Serial ATA hard drive was accompanied by a Western Digital Data Lifeguard Tools CD. The software is available for download via WD's website so anyone can get the same software there.

For many users, a hard drive upgrade is often one of the first upgrades. It can be a complex undertaking, but with the right guidance isn't too difficult. Western Digital's packs in an Installation guide with the Lifeguard Tools CD which is easy to understand, and detailed. Illustrations clearly guide users along the RaptorX WD1500AHFD installation steps and cable hook ups.

The Western Digital Lifeguard Tools works in Windows or DOS mode, and most options will require a reboot into DOS mode before the program can truly function. The "View Installation Tutorial" runs through physically installing an IDE or Serial ATA hard drive step by step, it has lots of pictures to help illustrate the steps. The "Set Up Your Hard Drive" option allows users to partition and format the HDD directly from the console. You do not need a WD hard disk to run through this, and non WD drives can be used with this utility.

The "Maintenance Options" allow users to update, backup or restore the hard drives master boot record. This is a very useful feature since if the boot record is lost, the data on the hard drive is pretty much toast (also see PCSTATS guide to hard drive data recovery for other options). In the "Utilities" section users can clone partitions and entire drives. This is useful for anyone who wants to replace an existing hard drive with the operating system, with something larger. Finally in the "Hard Drive Information" section, users can get technical information on the hard drive; like number of heads, cylinders, etc.

Prelude to Benchmarks

The details of how the Western Digital RaptorX WD1500AHFD hard drive test system was configured for benchmarking, including the specific hardware, software drivers, operating system and benchmark versions are indicated below. In the second column are the general specs for the reference platforms this serial ATA hard drive is to be compared against. Please take a moment to look over PCSTATS test system configurations before moving on to the individual benchmark results.

PCStats Test System Specs:

processor: amd Athlon 64 4000+ Clock Speed: 12 x 200 MHz = 2.4 GHz Motherboards: Asus A8N-SLI Premium Videocard: MSI NX7800GTX-VT1D256E Memory: 2x 512MB OCZ Gold GX PC3500 Hard Drives: Western Digital WD740 Raptor Western Digital WD4000KD Caviar SE16 CDROM: Aopen DVD-RW/CD-RW Combo Drive PowerSupply: PC Power & Cooling 510 SLI Software Setup WindowsXP Build 2600 nForce4 6.53 Forceware 78.01 Benchmarks Business Winstone 2004 SiSoft Sandra 2005 HDTach 3.0.1.0 PCMark04 PCMark05