The hard drive capacity war isn't
coming to any end anytime soon and it's obvious from the way the
industry’s top manufacturers are raising the stakes. Western
Digital is one of those key players and recently introduced a single-platter
320GB desktop hard drive. This new platter density falls slightly behind Samsung's high water mark of 334GB/platter.
The Caviar
SE16 series will lead this new 320GB platter into the market
starting with a single-platter 320GB desktop hard drive, model
WD3200AAKS, that will feature a 16MB buffer and Native Command
Queuing. All of the other specifications of this drive adhere to the
Caviar SE16 line with a SATA 3.0 Gb/sec interface and a maximum
buffer-to-disk transfer rate of 972 Mb/sec.
The single platter, 320GB model will no doubt pave the way for higher-capacity two and four platter drives in the future.
Pricing on the Western Digital
Caviar SE16 320GB (WD3200AAKS) is listed at $100, but a quick search
on your favorite price search engine will show prices as low as $70
from various e-tailers.
Update 1/25/2008: According to a close source at Western Digital, the WD3200AAKS model
number is currently in use for the single 320GB platter model as well
as the double 160GB platter model until the latter is phased out of the
lineup.
