Hitachi Deskstar P7K500 500GB SATA2 drive
As most technically inclined people will recall, the "DeskStar" brand was something to be avoided like the plague a couple years back. Although the "DeathStar" stigma only applied to one model of drives under the DeskStar brand, it was widely (and falsely) believed that all drives under the brand were unreliable and to be avoided. Move forward a couple of years, and the memory of this particular model is far from gone. This is perhaps why the Hitachi has very aggressively priced the Deskstar P7K500 drive compared to other drives of the same size and functionality.
Overview
The drive itself is the classic "shaped top" drive that Hitachi and a few other manufacturers use. It is a standard 7200 RPM SATA drive and is mountable easily in both level and side configurations. We had no issues with installation and detection on an abit AB9 Pro motherboard using all 3 controllers located on the motherboard.
In terms of features, this drive is a native SATA2 NCQ device. It supports most common hard disk features as can be seen above. It features 16 MB of buffer memory, which is average for drives in the class.
According to Hitachi, this drive is the "world's most efficient desktop hard drive." The drive is able to save up to 40% more power, when idle, compared to previous generations. This is partially accomplished by lowering the drives' platter RPM when it is not in use, which reduced idle power consumption to a mere 4.5W. One would think this would affect seek/access time, but we did not notice this during testing.
Performance
Performance is quite good on the drive. It starts off at around 85 MB/s and goes downwards at the 50% mark towards 50 MB/s, while burst rates reached up to 165.3 MB/s. The test was done with an ICH8R controller.
Value
Coming it at around $89 USD/CAD, it is one of the lowest priced 500 GB drives on the market, and is at par with other competitors in the 500 GB market. Furthermore, if you live in a location where electricity is not cheap, this drive will save you a couple dozen dollars over the years.
Conclusion/Award
Overall, a solid drive which should not be overlooked. Thanks to the "DeathStar" stigma associated with the series, it has no doubt contributed to the lower price of this drive. A highly recommended drive, which we award our "Top Value" award to.
Score
Performance: 8/10
Value: 9/10
Overall: 9/10
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