14 DAY TRIAL // Storage specialist Western Digital has announced that it started shipping the 640 GB version of the Caviar SE16 3.5-inch desktop hard-disk drive. The storage capacity may be no reason for the company to be proud, given the fact that 1 TB drives are almost mainstream parts, but the technology inside the 3.5-inch casing is quite an achievement.
While the vast majority of the currently shipping 750 disk drives come as 3-platter (3x250 GB) or 4-platter (4x188GB) models, 1 TB of storage space is usually achieved using 3x334 GB, 4x250 GB and 5x200GB platters. However, Western digital managed to stuff 640 GB of storage space on only two magnetic platters (2x320GB).
The recording density improvement places Western Digital in the second position on the storage market, right after Samsung, who managed to "compress" 334 GB of storage space per platter. Western Digital's achievement will result in both faster and cooler hard-disk drives, given the fact that the drive's motor will have to spin fewer platters.
The 2-platter disk drive will also cut down on manufacturing costs. The 640 GB version is currently listed for an estimative retail price of $140, which is exactly the same price as the 500 GB model. The Caviar SE16 hard-disk drive seems to be one of the first implementations of Komag's technology, purchased with the entire company last year.
The disk can be used in both SATA and SATA-II systems and will come with 16 MB of buffer memory to process larger amounts of data at the same time. Western Digital has not post additional specifications such as disk's weight or power consumption yet.
According to the company, the 640 GB hard-disk drives are available immediately through the retailers' stores, while computer systems with the new Western Digital hard drive are expected to arrive during the next quarter.