November 2006 Hard Drive Price Guide - Page 4

Serial ATA Hard Drive Value

Just as in the previous PATA chart, we are also taking a close look at our Serial ATA drives and determining exactly which models and capacities offer the best overall value. We do this through the tried-and-true method of determining hard drive value, or "price per GB", which is then used as a sorting criteria to ensure the best $/GB deals rise to the top. Of course, no method is foolproof, and other factors like performance or features certainly come into play, but it does give us a different view on which brands, speeds and capacities offer the best bang for the buck.

The Serial ATA value chart repeats many of the same trends of the PATA drive listings, and the 250GB to 320GB hard drive range continues to offer the top overall value. These accounted for eight of the top nine SATA drive values, which again was a slight improvement compared to October. The Samsung T133 400GB drive continues its rise up the SATA ranks, moving up from fifth to second, and causing the only 400GB blip in the chart. The top SATA value is once again the Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB, while the Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 250GB and Western Digital SE 250GB drives follow close behind. The five Western Digital Raptor models are at their usual position at the bottom of the chart, as this line of high-end 10K RPM drives has always been about pure performance and reliability, not value.

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