Western Digital claims fastest SATA HD

Speedy spinner

Western Digital is making bold claims about having the fastest SATA hard drives on the planet.

The Californian company reckons its WD Velociraptor enterprise drives are 'bigger, faster and hungrier' than the competition with spin speeds of 10,000 RPM and capacities up to 600GB.

The drives come in 2.5 or 3.5 inch cases with 6Gb/s interfaces on the 450GB models or 3Gb/s on the 600GB versions.

In fact the 3.5-inch models look very much like their smaller siblings crammed into a larger heat-sink-equipped chassis.

The 450GB drives weigh in at around $300 and for another $30 you can have 600GB of storage but a slower I/O interface. All come with a reassuring five-year warranty.